Hallie

I thought it might be worth sharing a minor but pleasant discovery. The winds of good fortune blew me down Charlotte Street tonight, where my husband and I took refuge in a little cafe-bistro place called Fin. The menu seemed decent enough while standing on the rain lashed street; lots of seafood and the odd duck and lamb dish at quite reasonable prices, so we went in. Fin has a very unassuming appearance, quite IKEA-sparse along a street filled with carnival coloured restaurant fronts. Really, we weren't expecting anything great, just a quick meal and then off home. We were totally surprised at what we found. We shared a starter of sauteed squid with rocket and parmesan - really nice lemony squid, cooked perfectly. I then had seared tuna with rice noodles and bak choi, and Frank had the cod and chips. My tuna was fabulous. It had been marinated in ginger and rice wine and was served with very finely diced pieces of ginger and chives. The rice noodles had been puffed up and added a lively crunch to the dish. Frank's cod had been done in a tempura batter - and the chips were heavenly - not a whiff of previously frozen about them, the type of chips that waft by in a carb-craving induced dream; perfectly crunchy on the outside, pillow soft and flavourful on the inside. Both portions were more than generous and the quality of the fish was tip top. Its a weird sort of place, Fin. We nearly passed by thinking it was a spruced up lunchtime cafe. There is a real air of informality about it, which makes it quite nice. Apparently, they've only been open for 6 weeks, so trade is still a bit slow but by the time we left their tables were filling up with stragglers from the Charlotte Street Hotel across the way. Perhaps a promising sign.

To complain that British food has been recently polluted by outside influences from other parts of Europe and Asia misses the point. While a number of dishes (such as those mentioned above) can, I would think, be considered native delicacies, so many more; Coronation Chicken (made with 'curry' powder), Macaroni cheese (which came from Italy in the 18th century), jacket potatoes (16th century imports from South America), just to name a few are staples that originated elsewhere. This is not even to mention the variety of 'British' condiments (piccalili, chutney and brown sauce) which were re-created back in Blighty in the 18th and 19th centuries by those who had enjoyed similar things in India. British cuisine has a habit of absorbing and modifying outside influences. I'm sure Italian and French cuisine are similar and those dishes that you think have been eaten since the dawn of time may have only just arrived in the 19th century. The French by the way, seem equally as enamoured with Middle Eastern and North African influences as we are with Southern European. On a recent trip to France, I enjoyed a tagine of scallops and an ice cream made with rose water and cardamon, both at a 'traditional' French fish restaurant. I think the recent wide scale absorption of far-flung influences is more of a haut cuisine phenomenon than something that seems to be strictly afflicting the 'traditional' cuisine of the British Isles. And, as with most things, trends that start at the top end of the market eventually find their way into the main stream in a more modified form. I don't think British cuisine is anymore under threat from this than it was from similar influences one hundred, two hundred or three hundred years ago. Its a simple case of evolution.

On an equally ethereal note, yet quite practical, click for recipes ...And speaking of ethereal - white asparagus, morel and foie gras soup - oh my GOD!

The warm weather has ignited my desire to eat lots of chilled soup! In the past I've made Russian beet borscht and gaspacho (though I seem to have lost the recipe). I'd like to experiment with other savoury soups that are: 1. fairly quick to make, and 2. don't include cream (or that aren't very high fat). I know that fresh garden peas are often used in chilled soups, but beyond that my knowledge of ingredients falls away. Your good ideas are much needed.

Yes, I finally managed to eat at the Wolseley. I not only had dinner at the Wolseley but the weekend before I had tea there too. It was a good weekend for getting into places that have been turning me away at the door - I even dined at Yauatacha. I have to say, I really like the Wolseley. I like the food and the ambiance. As most people on this thread have agreed, the food is basic stuff - but its good. Its easy to forget the virtues of dishes that don't include coulis, confit and nage in the description. My starter was a beautiful and simple plate of steamed asparagus with a moussiline sauce. My main course was the one dish I had been eyeing-up for weeks as I passed the menu outside; roast suckling pig with roast root vegetables. Both were excellent choices, tender and crispy in the right places. What I really admire about the Wolseley however is the 'grand cafe' like feel of the place. I've been moaning for the past year or so that London has nothing like the lovely people watching hives of Vienna and Paris. This is the closest I've found and it doesn't fail to disappoint. I'm not interested in B-list celeb spotting, just the aquarium like environment, the hustle and bustle, the well-turned out wait-staff - something quiet old fashioned and romantic about it. If you can't get in for lunch or dinner, I'd recommend tea. They do set teas and lots of little froo-froo cakes and biscuits at the front of the restaurant where you can watch people stroll by on Piccadilly . Everything arrives on silver and feels just that wee bit special.

This might not be as much of a fantasy as we think. Apparently both Edinburgh and Dublin restaurants are smoke-free zones. If Ken seriously proposes it, its enough to make me vote for him again.

8. Enact an honesty policy about reservations. 'Sorry we have nothing available for three weeks' is to no longer include the unspoken proviso, 'unless your name is Sting, Madonna, Kate Moss, or David Beckham'.

This has been driving me bonkers for some time. Why and how is it that whispering over a meal in a restaurant ever came about? Obviously, at some point someone believed this was appropriate and polite behaviour. I just find it infuriating. There is nothing more likely to ruin a meal for me than going somewhere to find everyone speaking as if there is an infant asleep in the next room. The nervous, self-consciousness that whispering implies is a real ambiance killer. In my experience, whispering dining rooms are most likely to be found outside of London, though I have never encountered them anywhere else apart from the UK - the French, Italians and Americans don't seem to give a monkey's about being overheard. Certainly since half of dining is about sharing company and conversation, the whipsering dining room seems to fly in the face of many of the joys of eating out. Your opinions please.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. Unfortunately things did not turn out as well as I had hoped. I really botched the stuffing - too much liquid made it pulpy rather than stuffing like. I think I also over-stuffed the squid and the texture didn't turn out as I had hoped. I'm not sure they were the greatest quality squid either. Next time I'm going to try a steaming method. Oh well, as they say, practice makes perfect. In the mean time, next time I fancy them I'll have to pay a visit to Carluccio's Deli.

What temperature for roasting and should I add any juices/liquid to the roasting tin?

Yesterday I ran out and bought several small squid after tasting what must have been the most mouth watering squid dish I've ever had. London e-gulleters will know about Carluccio's deli on Neal Street - they came from behind the counter there (if anyone else has had the joy of discovering them you'll know what I'm referring to). Now, perhaps rather fool heartedly, I'm going to attempt to recreate what I've tried. Basically the squid tubes were stuffed with a mixture of bread crumbs, olive oil, lots of garlic and artichoke hearts. They came on a bed of thinly sliced sauteed potatoes. The problem is, I'm not sure exactly how they cooked the squid - no grill marks were apparent, neither was there evidence of pan frying. My guess is that they were steamed (maybe baked? Probably not..?). They were still quite tender. I know when it comes to cooking squid there is a very fine line between rubbery and just right - this was just right. Can anyone give me a suggestion for what to do after stuffing; steam? Bake? Pan fry? If so for how long and at what temp? Thanks!

Yes, I'm afraid that this is my problem too.

Broad Bean, asparagus and spinach salad with lemon dressing - Rivington Grill (so good, so healthy) chocolate fudge cake with rose water and white chocolate frosting - my house (so good, so unhealthy) prawn and cod ravioli - Da Fiori, Venice Tagine of scallops and saffron - La Mattelote, Bolougne black bean, pumpkin and smoked chicken casserole - my house warm figs, ricotta and honey - my house (again) buckwheat crepes with smoked pork loin and cider sauce - La Galette Unfortunately, no matter how good the dish I have a frighteningly short-term memory for these things. After 2 - 3 months time, my brain efficiently archives the experience under the categories of 'very memorable' and 'avoid in future'. Aside from those dishes mentioned, I recall three very lovely meals this year: the Orrery, the Sir Charles Napier, and at our local Italian eatery, Artigiano. Hopefully more to come if the impending flat-buying experience doesn't totally empty our coffers.

Da Fiore Not impressed. Visited them last week while in Venice: 13 May 2004. Unfortunately we could only get a table for lunch. As Venice's only 1 star restaurant (and I have no idea how they maintain it as the service we experienced was terrible!) they were booked up weeks in advance. The food was good, but hardly the best meal we have had in Italy over the years (Il Principe in Pompei, also 1 star receives that honour). I had an artichoke and truffle pecorino salad which was fine. A prima of seafood ravioli (very good) and a prawn and artichoke heart gratinee as a seconda which was really nothing special. My dessert; lemon and liquorice sorbet did not work at all - too much liquorice overwhelmed the lemon. What really disappointed, however was the service. After our second course we were totally ignored! Everyone in the dining room recieved petit fours with their coffee but us. We had to ask the wait staff for coffee after lunch, we had to summon them again for liquors and to ask for dessert menus. After our second course arrived, we were left to top up our own wine glasses. The wait staff passed our tables several times and just looked at us, as if they were off shift. This is hardly what we expected for the prices printed on the menus. Perhaps things are better in the evening...

Sadly, I was planning to eat here for my birthday on Saturday night but they have a very bizarre reservations system. I tried ringing early Thursday evening to make a booking for Saturday night but found that after a certain time of day they no longer take bookings unless its for that evening. I tried back on Friday and still failed to speak with a human being. Finally, Saturday morning came and when I rang they told me they were fully booked for both lunch and dinner. I was heartbroken. I consoled myself with a dinner at the Sugar Club.

And on that note (yes Maggie, this is a Pandora's box) I just have to add this little anecdote; First of all, I don't usually begin conversations by prefacing them with 'I was listening to 'You and Yours' on Radio 4 the other week, but this is, shall we say, a one-off. A number of people were ringing in with ideas about how to save water. One particularly well-meaning woman claimed that in order to save water, whenever she was about to do her washing up she patroled the house in search of unfinished glasses of drinking water that her family had left lying about. She then would gather up the glasses and pour the contents into her sink and do the washing up in the 'dregs'. While using half consumed glasses of water is a noble pursuit, pouring vessels filled with particles of skin, traces of saliva, dust and whatever else into one's sink for the purposes of cleaning dishes is absolutely and positively disgusting. A house plant would appreciate it far more. I so wanted the host to point out that if restaurants did that their doors would be closed faster than you could say 'public health risk'. I think this whole clean dish debate can be easily put into perspective by posing the question; if you knew that a restaurant was doing what you or others did to dirty dishes at home, would you still eat there?

The Sir Charles Napier in Chinnor (Sprigg's Alley, actually which is just outside of Chinnor in the middle of nowhere) is outstanding. This is gastro pub-restaurant food at its finest. We were there on a cold winter's night in February and warmed ourselves in front of the fire before sitting down to a delight game menu. They also have an outside area for warmer weather. Their phone number is 01494 483 011. They are also listed in the Michelin Guide.

I have been waiting for some time for someone to start this thread - not having the guts to do it myself, of course. Dishwashing in the UK has been my one and only bugbear since moving here over 11 years ago. In my opinion (and this is only an opinion) there are only two ways of washing dishes by hand; the right way and the potentially harmful way. The right way is naturally the way I learned when I was young; you turn on the tap, grab a soapy sponge or other implement such as a bottle filled with sudsy liquid with a brush on the top, rinse dish under FLOWING water, scrub away debris, then rinse dish under FLOWING water again. This seems to make sense as all of the potentially harmful things (eg; raw chicken juices, festering dairy products, and other bits of untasty crap) are jettisoned away in a stream of water and down the drain. During my time in the UK I have seen the above exercise in dish washing performed but, much to my horror, I have also seen the following: Fill unclean sink with water and put plug in. Watch as grease and other unnamed bits from the sink floats to the surface of the basin. Fill with washing up liquid until sudsy. Dip dish in sudsy sink water and rub with a sponge (or sometimes a greasy cloth! Yes, I have seen this and it almost makes me retch to remember it). Put dish on side with suds (and other crusts) still clinging to it. The above, mind you, is a very bad case of 'unwashed dish phenomenon'. You can usually recognise it because the next time a glass is handed to you its greasy and plates always retain a bit of what was eaten last from them. Being an historian, I have come to the conclusion that this indeed is a very old method of washing dishes that predates running water. Water was collected from the pump or standpipe in a bucket and brought into the scullery where dishes were done on site. It also predates common understanding of the workings of bacteria or food handling. As with many ancient and august institutions in the UK, this method of washing up dishes remains, regardless of advancements in the field (such as the additon of hot and cold running water which flows directly into the sink and the widely put about knowledge of what causes stomach upsets). My dear husband still lapses from time to time. Just yesterday I picked up a 'clean' mug where my lipstick still decorated the rim and a gentle stain of coffee was still apparent on the inside. I realise that I may have opened an a pandora's box here - but since the main objective behind this thread was to dispell cultural food rumours; not all dishes are washed this way in the UK. Some people are fortunate enough to have dishwashers.

Funny you should ask. I was just in Belfast last week for our usual Easter visit. This time we tried the Oxford Exchange (at least I think that's what its called - its in the newly renovated part of town near the water front). Food wise, it wasn't bad but the service was jaw-droppingly horrific. We reserved a table and arrived 15 minutes late. Our host gestured to what undoubtedly was the worst table in the house (behind a pillar and directly in the entry way to the restaurant) and said 'there's you over there' - not even the courtesy of showing us to our seats. We then waited 10 minutes for menus. The place was far from full, so unless we were being persecuted for sectarian reasons, there seemed to be no logical reason why the service was so bad. After attempting to catch the wait staff's eye for several minutes we were asked for our drinks order - and believe it or not, our waiter turned on his heel and walked away from us while we were still giving it!! Although ready to order our food (we had now been sitting there with menus for 15 minutes - no bread arrived and we were famished by then) no one ever appeared to take our order. When someone did turn up, they were surly and rude. We then waited a further 30 minutes for our starters when the host came up to us and apologised for 'misplacing' our order. We had to order again. At last the starters arrived, nearly 45 minutes after we had initially ordered them. To be honest, I can't even recall what we had - I ate mine so fast (it was now just after 10pm). I do remember being pleasantly surprised at its quality. 20 minutes later our main courses arrived. Again - quite good venison but the details are all a blur due to the fact that I was on the verge of passing out with hunger and had consumed the contents of a very large goblet of cabernet on an empty stomach. At that point it might as well have been a kebab for all I cared. In the end, there was no attempt to compensate. Any good restaurant would have offered us at least a free glass of wine. As a parting gesture we completely withheld the tip and left very quickly. Another Belfast thumbs down, I'm afraid.

This sounds brilliant. Now all I have to do is figure out where Palmer's Green is! One of the many joys I have to look forward to when relocating to N10. Thanks!

John - those dates sound good. We now need to get the ball rolling. Maybe I can draft Bapi in on it and we can post something under another heading.

Why suspicious? Am I going to get mugged in Borough? Here is their website: El Vergel It says they are a catering/events company, but I got their name from the Cool Chile Company as a cafe... I think I'll have to try the Peruvian also... a 2 stop lunch.... Suspcious only because of so many other previous disappointments. Also, I wasn't aware that Latin American cuisine was noted for their breakfasts

This is sounding like a plan. What are the possibilities of doing it on a Friday or Saturday night? Something to think about for late April, early May, maybe? (We'll be away on hols from 8 May - the 15th) but a date after then might be alright as well. Who else might be up for this?

A font of information as always John. Thank you for the suggestions - especially the Indian take-away. I was a bit worried about the possibility of wandering into a take-away waste land. At the moment we live and die by the Weng Wah Chinese on Haverstock Hill. I don't know how we will ever replace that loss, but a fabulous Indian is a good consolation. I am interested to see that so many of us live in North London. Its a good sign!

Bapi - The move probably won't happen until mid to late summer, as we are waiting for the people we are buying from to find a new house. Its the way of the property chain, as Kirsty Allsop might say. Nevertheless, if we could get a group together and target one restaurant (maybe one that someone heard was good but not many have tried) we could get this idea to fly. What do you think?