NatashaH

I'm heading off to Venice next month to celebrate my mother's 75th birthday. I want to take her somewhere special for lunch on the actual day – good honest food rather than haute cuisine, and a view would be nice, but not essential. Normally I'd think of taking her somewhere like Corte Sconta or Alle Testiere, but there are two problems. 1) The birthday falls on a Sunday, when a lot of restaurants (including the two mentioned above) are closed. 2) My nephew (aged 6) is allergic to both seafood and eggs, so that rules out both seafood specialty restaurants and pasta places.

Hi, We're off to the Yucatan next month, staying in Valladolid, Merida, Campeche and Tulum. We're only just beginning to catch on to good Mexican food here in the UK and I really want to explore the culinary opportunities to the full while I'm out there. Has anyone got any great recommendations? Thanks - in advance, Natasha

Thanks, all, for the feedback...

Hi, Does anyone have any restaurant recommendations for Cambodia? We're going to Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Kep.

Thanks for the advice. I'll be spending 2-3 nights in each place, apart from northern goa, where I'll be staying a week or so... I'm keen to taste as much Goa/Maharashtra/Karnataka food as possible. I'll be writing a travel article and, quite possibly, one or two food articles based on my trip, so I'm keen to ensure I get to eat as authentically as possible.

I'll be in India later this year, staying for a few nights in Mumbai, then travelling a bit before ending up in Panaji, then northern Goa (near Ashvem) for 10 days. Has anyone got any recommendations for restaurants? I'm particularly interested in eating good local/regional Indian food.

Berry Bros are fantastic, with some really classic wines in their portfolio, but I think it's fair to say that South America isn't one of their strengths. The website, by the way, is slightly less daunting than the gentleman's club atmosphere of the shop...

The wine shop at Gaucho Grill in Swallow Street, near Piccadilly Circus, would be your best bet for Argentine wines.

You want to get in touch with the Cool Chile Company (http://www.coolchile.co.uk/). They do everything from chillies (habanero, ancho, chipotle, etc) to hibiscus flowers, masa harina and tomatillos. Pretty much everything you need to get going with the recipes from Rick Bayless's books. Good luck - it's worth the effort...

I've been lucky enough to eat at both in the past month, and it's a bit like comparing chalk and cheese (or should that be Comté and Chaource?) Eating at Marcus Wareing is a bit like being taken for a spin in a chauffeur-driven Rolls: it's luxurious, sedate and deliciously extravagant. A meal at Tom Aikens is more like going for a burl round a racetrack in a Porsche: it can be very exciting, but it can also skid off piste. In short, both chefs are capable of greatness, but there's a different vibe to the food. For what it's worth, neither place has the buzziest atmosphere at the moment. MW has a kind of heavily carpeted hush about it while TA was only 2/3rds full when I last went, so it felt a bit sterile.

The other restaurant in the group is Chez Bruce, just on Wandsworth Common. A bit off the beaten track for most, but it's the perfect neighbourhood restaurant. The food is - in my experience at least - startlingly good, without being pretentious. It's mainly French, although it digresses into Italy occasionally or the occasional Asian nuance - the slow-cooked bunny with polenta and 'nicoise' jus is sublime. Like all the other restaurants, the wine list is a stonker too...

Thanks all for your advice. I'm really looking forward to visiting some of the restaurants on your list.

I can second the recommendation of Terroirs as a great place to eat alone - especially if you're into natural and/or biodynamic wines. Another wine bar with good food is Cellar Gascon, which is owned and run by the same people as Club Gascon. Otherwise, tapas bars (any of the Brindisa ones, Barrafina, Salt Yard or Dehesa in particular) are good, and, if you like Japanese, you might want to try getting a seat at the bar at Roka.

Also, although I know what you mean, I don't know that I'd use "French-based" to describe Degustation (Spanish), Blue Hill (American), and WD-50 (Martian/American). ←

Point taken about the Mexican restaurants - it's just I have an American friend based here in the UK who's constantly telling anyone who'll listen that the Mexican food scene in the US is way ahead of anything we have over here, so I thought it might be worth asking. Burgers and pizzas sound good - any specific recommendations? And I'll check out the bars.