Nopi Restaurant - London

Sorry, didnt take a picture of any of the food so here's an image from Google

This place has had mixed reviews but all the people who I know have been, have thoroughly enjoyed themselves. However, this was my second visit to the restaurant having been turned away last time because of a cock up with the reservation. Normally I wouldnt bother going back but friends and colleages suggested I make a special effort and get down there. My visit was with my wife, business partner and his wife and after double checking they had my reservation this time, I was looking forward to it.

Nopi is situated just North of Picadiliy, hence the name 'Nopi'....yeah, great! The first thing that hits you about this place as you walk through the door is the smell, it smells amazing! To the left of the entrance they also have what I can only describe as a 'salad bar'...sounds crap I know but it's not. It's an array of salads and things on the menu that dont require cooking and it all looks delicious. That coupled with the smell leaves you desperate to get on with dinner.

After being led to our table, we cast our eye over the menu. The whole affair is like a middle eastern tapas type thing, you choose maybe three dishes each and share away, experiencing difference flavours as you go. It's broken down into Veg, Fish, Meat and Sweets so we ordered around eight dishes between the four of us to start with...couple of veg and the rest split between meat and fish...

The vegetarian dishes were awesome and made you realise what really can be done with vegetables. The French beans, smoked wheat and tahini dressing was lovely, as was the Vadeon cheescake. I could have turned vegetarian had it not been for the arrival of the other courses.

Highlights for me were the seared scallops. pig's ears, black bean and ginger sauce - it was absolutely spot on. The twice cooked baby chicken, lemon myrtle salt and chilli sauce was immense too along with the lamb sadle with pickled aubergine, preserved lemons and ginger sauce. Reading all this back, seems nuts, so many flavours, so much going on but trust me the whole things works a treat.

We tried a few other dishes, too many to mention and they were all really good. I dont think I can fault any of them, each and everyone left you thinking 'WOW' even the deserts.

We'd scoffed a whole load of food, drank far too much vino but had a great evening. Great atomosphere, good service and spectacular food. It's very informal, buzzy, fun and a great way to eat. We absolutely loved it and would recommend it highly.

Marks out of ten? I'd have to give this one a 9/10.

It's one of the best places I've been to in a long time.

Arbutus - London

The 'nice' squid & mackerel 'burger' with parsley, cockles and sea purslane

I visited Arbutus in London whilst looking for a quick bite to eat. There I was in Frith Street and thought why not?! As you might imagine they were pretty busy but managed to find room for my business partner and I at their bar. This all sounded great and we were offered a drink by the barman who enquired as to what we might be ordering - very nice Irish chap, very friendly and also very helpful when it came to the menu too. He suggested we try a couple of glassed of a portugese red which we were more than happy to do and it was lovely. I ordered the squid & mackerel 'burger' to start followed by the Saddle of rabbit with a shoulder cottage pie and enjoyed some more wine and a nibble on some very nice bread while we waited for our grub.

Along came the starters within good time. I'm not sure what I was expecting but basically the burger was a fishcake. A nice fishcake but a fishcake. The flavours were good, the food well cooked and all in all I quite enjoyed it. I liked the herbs on the side, not sure where the sea purslane was or indeed what is was but the dish was a goodun that's for sure. So, for the main course, I'd gone for the rabbit which was ok, dont get me wrong there was nothing wrong with it but it didnt blow me away. The cottage pie that accompanied the dish was good, lots of flavour but for some reason it felt like I had two dishes.

We supped a bit more wine, chatted to an Israeli chap who was sitting at the bar next to us and had a very good evening. Would I go back? Probably not, not by choice anyway as there are tons of similar restaurants all over the place. I'd much rather go back to Wild Honey, depsite the smelly waiter. The food was much more impressive and left me wanting more.

Marks out of ten? I'd have to give Arbutus a 6/10

Bellevue Restaurant - Prague, Czech Republic

For my wifes birthday this year, we decided to head off to Prague, a city we'd heard so much about. We booked a lovely little hotel on the castle side of the Charles Bridge, near the embassy's and did some searching on the internet for a decent restaurant. I came across the Bellevue Restaurant which we understood was in Central Prague and very close to the Charles Bridge.

We booked a table for the Saturday night and had a little look for where the restaurant was situated when we arrived on the Friday. The location is fantastic with great views over the river, straight across to the bridge and castle beyond that. We'd seen a sample menu online and were excited about what was in store on the Saturday night.

So when Saturday night arrived, we wandered down across the bridge heading for the restaurant. Once inside, we were greated by a lady who checked our reservation and led us to our table. Champagne? Oh yes please that would be lovely. An amuse boche arrived which were so memorable that I've forgotten what they were!

Anyway, from the menu we opted for the four course taster with wines to accompany the meal. So to the first course which was a trio of seafood - they called Bellevue seafood degustation and included Lobster in Lardo di Colonata , Scallops with Barley Kuba and Tempura of Tiger Prawns. It was paired with a glass of Chardonnay and arrived at the table, looked great. It was a very pretty dish, served on a long horizontal plate. Tasty? I really liked it, lots of flavours but everything worked really well including the wine.

Second course was a Dashi Infused Cod served with a wasabi potato puree, spinach leaves and shi-take mushrooms with a safron oil. Looked lovely, very nicely presented but couldn't help wondering what happened to the wasabi....it just wasnt there. However the dish was nice and local Czech wine it was served with went very well.

Up next was Grilled Saddle of Venison (pictured above) which claimed to have roasted mushrooms and a rosehip sauce. Couldnt find any mushrooms anywhere but the spinach spatzle was fantastic enhancing the texture of the dish. This was my favourite despite the missing mushrooms and I could have eaten another one. I'm not sure the picture does it justice but it was absolutely lovely...perfectly cooked and the sauce worked really well. The wine was good too, nothing special but a nice red to go with the venison.

The final course for me was cheese, not being big on deserts but my wife had the Apple Strudel which she loved. My cheese was delicious, a really good selection which I'd had my eye on all night. I was persuaded to have some port to go with it, that went down a treat.

All in all, we had a lovely experience and would go back again if we visit Prague. It's a lovely restaurant with spectacular views over the river to the bridge and castle. Great ambience, good service, very friendly and not at all snobbish. The food was splendid too and represented excellent value for money. I'd certainly recommend it as somewhere special to go in Prague if you get the chance.

HIX Restaurant - Soho, London

I visited HIX recently for a business lunch with our PR agency and a journalist. Having never been there before but know of Mark Hix I was very much looking forward to it.

On arrival, I wasnt really greeted by anybody but having already spotted my colleague headed straight to the table. The restaurant was very busy and with a great atmostphere although probably not ideal for a business meeting, particularly given my dodgy hearing! We were offered some water while we looked at the menu and waited for our guest. On his arrival we got down to business and started checking out the menu - somebody brought along a board full of raw meat, the various cuts to select. I liked this, and I liked the guy explaining what everything was...despite knowing what they were it was a nice touch.

So we decided to dive straight into the main course, ordering a few nibbles to keep us occupied til they arrived and a bottle of Rioja to stop us getting thirsty. My choice being the Hangar Steak served with Marrowbone which I was very much looking forward to. We ordered some veggies and some chips as these didnt come with the dishes and were extra.

Our nibbles arrived, which were parsnip crisps (they were nice) and some Pork Crackling which was tasty but rock hard and went all over the place when you tried to break it or it it. Grease all over my napkin which was a bit annoying!

Main course arrived, it looked great even though the Marrowbone was quite big but the steak looked lovely. it tasted good too, although a little chewy and not so succulent. I ordered medium rare but would say that it was a little under that.

Consclusion? Well at £170 for the three of us, I didnt think it was great value, considering we only had the main course plus some nibbles. The food was average, service informal but very good, the wine lovely and the atompshere buzzing. I wouldnt go back in a hurry but will try it again at some point, even just to try out Mark's Bar downstairs from the restaurant - that looks a great place to chill out.

Fifteen, Jamie Oliver - London

I visited Fifteen for lunch with a colleague and we opted eat in the Trattoria which had a really good vibe, was buzzing and very welcoming. The waiter was really laid back, made us feel very welcome and was quick to get our drinks order in. He was good with the menu, explaining all the options and making a few suggestions too.

For starters we opted for the Fifteen Signature Antipasti, a board to share with a selection of meats, vegetables, chees and olives which when it arrived at the table looked absolutely amazing. It tasted great too, fantastic fresh flavours and smells it was a great start to the afternoon.

We orderd a bottle of Chianti to wash it down with and both decided to run with the Rib Eye steak for main course. The steak came perfectly cooked and seasoned with Parmesan which was lovely and served with a rocket salad on top. It was a great piece of steak, succulent and tasy and with more of the Chianti we were having a great time!

The decision to skip desert was mine but not in favour of leaving, just to sample some of the beverages available. Frangelico, Strega and a lovely Limoncello with tiny Strawberries in it....by this point we were a tad tipsy but had a great afternoon.

Cost? I think we spent around £100 each plus a tip - a bit over the top but we only had ourselves to blame given decision to go off piste!