The Canbury Arms, Kingston Upon Thames, KT2

The Canbury Arms was the venue of choice for Robert’s birthday lunch on Sunday. I was massively hungover from his soirée the night before and so could only stomach a main when it came to the food.

The rest of the group tested out most of the starters; Rob’s duck terrine and toasted brioche was by far the biggest crowd-pleaser with a cute little china spoon topped with spiced apple chutney. The chilli squid and whitebait were also warmly received.

A main was more than enough as the food portions were extremely generous! I always think it is a good sign when you struggle to pick from the menu choices - I’m notoriously indecisive but after briefly flirting with the slow roast pork belly and bubble and squeak I opted for the confit of duck leg with dauphinoise potatoes, braised red cabbage, game chips and blueberry jus.

I initially thought that game chips were...chips made out of...game. Bit of an odd and unnecessary addition, I thought. They were actually trellis-shaped deep fried potato chips. They added an interesting texture to the dish but I don’t think they were needed, after all the duck skin was crispy enough and the tang of the blueberry reduction meant the dish was already quite busy.

Rob’s game pie was delicious and had lots of flavoursome gravy to help the pastry go down-it was probably too much pie even for the Gourmandiser but was so authentic tasting I thought four and twenty blackbirds were going to fly out!

The pub itself is what one would expect from an up-market gastro-pub. A roaring fire welcomes you at the entrance but unfortunately we were seated in the less cosy conservatory surroundings where there were lots of boisterous children running around. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not adverse to rugrats having fun but the acoustics made conversation with people sat at the opposite end of our table nigh on impossible. I’ll definitely return for a meal but perhaps on a school night when I have a fresher head and more of an appetite to try out the full range of entrées and sweets.

Tierra Brindisa, Broadwick St, W1

Jen (that’s my mum by the way) was down for the evening on Friday so we had some tapas at Tierra Brindisa on Broadwick Street. Normally she’s reluctant to look beyond Le Pain Quotidien on Great Marlborough Street but I managed to twist her arm this time.

I’ve had a disappointing meal at this branch of Brindisa before but I must have chosen badly on previous occasions as the dishes were really good. Brindisa in Borough is always heaving and used to have a no-booking policy but still had buckets of hungry eaters through their doors.

Whenever I go for tapas I have to have Padron peppers with sea salt. You can get the occasional hot one but generally they’re very mild - these weren’t quite as good as those I’ve tried at Saltyard and Dehesa but were nice enough, perhaps could have done with 5 minutes more roasting time.

Next was some iberico loin, one of the more reasonably priced charcuteries with country toast with aioli. Then roasted butternut squash with pancetta, wild mushrooms, pine nuts and Manchego cheese and seared foie gras with lentil stew and PX vinegar - never heard of the variety and thought it sounded like some sort of blue-rated vinegar.

The foie gras had the perfect melt in the mouth factor and the pancetta had a satisfying salty crunch which complemented the sweet squash really well. Only gripe would be that the lentil stew was quite soupy so either could have done with being reduced down to a thicker consistency or they should have equipped us with a spoon!

Grilled rack of lamb with oven potatoes and green olives was good, cooked to perfection as it was medium rare.

Deep fried Monte Enebro goats cheese with orange blossom honey was nice though came as a rather intimidating large hunk with a few beetroot crisps - I prefer less of it - Saltyard serves it in deep fried courgette flowers as a trademark dish and that is far superior.

Desserts were ok but didn’t bowl me over. I had the soft vanilla meringue with blood orange sorbet and passion fruit. The sorbet was refreshing and a real palette cleaner after the tapas gorging that had gone before but the meringue was average.

Jen had the Spanish flan with rhubarb compote which was a bit like a crème caramel, nice enough but no wow factor and Robert had the chocolate fondant with vanilla and flaked almonds- by far the best out of the three.

Fond of fondue

For me a good cheese fondue encapsulates winter nights and heady Savoie living so it was more than fitting to have one for our last supper in St. Luc.

The term fondue originates from the French verb ‘fondre’, meaning to melt, so literally melted cheese.

Ours consisted of a mixture of Gruyère/Emmental and dry white wine- pretty commonplace for Swiss fondues - with a stack of baguette squares to spear the melting pot but Jarslberg, Comté, Beaufort, Vacherin or Appenzeller are equally good cheese substitutes. I think it's all about new combinations.

Fondues are not just restricted to cheese. From my last few posts I’m sure it’s no secret that I’m a bit of a red meat fan and so for me life probably doesn’t get much better than a fondue Bourguignonne -a classic meat fondue that involves dipping cubes of beef into spitting oil. I have fond memories of flouting fondue etiquette with ‘double dipping’ and chasing lost cubes around the bottom of the hotpot.

According to Swiss tradition, if a man drops his forkful into the cheese abyss he must buy a bottle of wine, and if it is a woman, she must kiss the man on her left - in St. Luc I had my brother on my left and my mum on my right so needless to say we scrapped the rules!

Purple potatoes

I've just come back from a few days skiing in Switzerland and am on a quest to seek out purple potatoes!

The potatoes in question are Vitelottes potatoes - I had them with a rump-steak while out for dinner at the Bella Tola hotel in St. Luc- they looked bizarre but tasted delicious.

Apparently they are naturally violet/blackish when plucked from the soil and manage to retain their colour when they're cooked. My dad has grown some purple Royal Burgundy beans but they lose their colour when you boil them so aren't nearly as impressive.

These potatoes had a really earthy flavour and were crushed with nuts to bring out the flavour- I'm sure they must be available over here so I'll be scouring the supermarket aisles and market stalls to find them!

Plum Valley, Gerrard St, W1

Crispy chilli squid

Nest of crispy shredded beef and braised pork belly

Last night, Robert and I had dinner at Plum Valley on Gerrard Street in Chinatown as we were looking for a cheap eat near to Leicester Square. I booked through toptable as they were offering 50 per cent off food except for set menus which seemed like a good deal.

The restaurant dubs itself as "Chinese fine dining". The dark restaurant facade certainly lends itself to this and the decor was sleek - (apparently not dissimilar to Hakkasan, Robert said, though i haven't had the luck of being taken there with work yet) but the Lazy Susan didn't exude fine dining even if the prices did.

The restaurant staff were a little odd, though attentive and Robert thought the Oriental mix playing in the background was a rehash of an old AC/DC song. But that aside, it had a nice atmosphere and we scored a cosy little corner seat for plenty of people watching.

To start, we shared the dim sum platter which had six generously sized dumplings filled with prawn and scallops and salt and chilli squid which was delicious.

For main I had a nest of crispy shredded beef with mango which was nice enough but was more foil tin than fine dining and Robert had slow braised pork belly which was much better. We had some special fried rice alongside, washed down with two glasses of pinot noir at £4.50 a glass.

I really enjoyed the meal up until about two thirds of the way through when I bit into something that didn't taste quite right. Feta-like in a sort of gone off way. Yuck. I'm pretty sure there wasn't suppose to be cheese in any of the dishes we ordered.

Robert unfortunately didn't get a share of this and thought I was going mad. He blamed it on the "Wotsit" shaped beef twiglets but I'm certain it was something in the rice and anyway the aftertaste was there to stay and soured my memory of all the other positives.

I would go back, despite the cheesy rice though probably only if there was an offer on as I can't see how they justify the prices with the likes of Ping-pong and Yauatcha which dominate nearby. The waitress initially tried to charge us full whack and the bill came to around £60 which I wouldn't have been happy paying. I've heard the lunchtime dim-sum menu is good with an innovative take on old classics so I'd probably be inclined to try it in the daytime and stick to Imperial China for dinner which is a few shop-fronts along offering consistent food, clichéd interiors and a cheaper eat.

"That is a tasty burger!"

Last night I had a burger craving when I came out of work so decided to make some homemade patties for dinner. I don't want this post to be teaching you all to suck eggs as my recipe's pretty basic but I thought I'd put it down here as it was the meal I cooked on my first date with Robert and it went down a treat! I use my dad's skeleton recipe and then vary the spices and herbs depending on how i feel. These used sage but I've made Jamie Oliver's Elvis burgers which use tarragon, nutmeg and parmesan etc and they're delicious.

I bought Aberdeen Angus beef mince from M&S but if it was a weekend I would go to the butcher's and buy some steak cuts and ask them to mince it for me for an even meatier bite.

Finely slice a whole red onion and crush a clove or two of garlic and fry in plenty of oil until soft. Take off the heat and mix with the uncooked mince.

Crack an egg into a bowl then slice some sage leaves and add both to the mixture along with a teaspoon of mustard. Knead into patties and season generously with salt and pepper- I was surprised how much salt I needed.

These patties took just over 10 minutes to cook, though obviously it varies according to their size and the heat of the hob. Burgers aren't burgers without cheese so I melted some Blacksticks blue on top- it's a really creamy Lancashire cheese that doesn't overpower. Other cheeses like Swiss Gruyère or Beaufort (which is similar) are good as they melt easily.

I was out of gherkins but they are really good for cutting though the flavours. Failing that a sharp relish works equally well. I sandwiched the burger between a slice of the left over Focaccia I got at the weekend- it was perhaps past it's best but it softened up ok in the oven and the tomatoes added a nice flavour.

Burgers are best washed down with a nice malty shake. Over the Christmas holidays my brothers and I tried to recreate the milkshakes they serve at The Diner in Islington. My favourites are Vanilla Nutella malt and Peanut butter and banana- they're like a coronary in a sip but soo tasty. Blend full fat milk, at least five big scoops of vanilla ice-cream, a slurp of vanilla extract and a big scoop of Nutella. Once smooth, pour into a schooner glass, then stir in a tablespoon of malt - I had to use Original Ovaltine powder as I couldn't see pure malt in the supermarkets. I leave this bit until the end as that way you're left with yummy clumps of malt when you get to the bottom of the glass. Garnish with a straw and slurp away!

Prix fixe

On Saturday I went for dinner at Prix fixe on Dean street for my friend Rachel’s birthday. I’ll be honest, I was expecting another ubiquitous Soho eaterie but it was actually a really pleasant surprise. Our waiter was a chatty Aussie who effectively managed a group of seven squawking girls and the place had a really relaxed ambiance with old fashioned French prints dotting the walls and a piano in the corner.

I had an entrecôte steak frites, boring I know, but I rarely eat steak at home any more as the decent cuts are quite expensive so occasionally I “treat” myself to it when I go out.

One of my all time pet hates is restaurants overcooking beef so I often err on the side of caution and ask for rare, generally in the hope of being served a steak that is more medium rare/saignant -in other words nice and bloody.

The steak arrived with a fairly simple garlic butter sauce and to my surprise was truly rare (but not unpleasantly so/leaving me chewing incessantly) and with great flavour as it was a traditional entrecôte and cut from the rib. It had lots of nice thin crispy chips and a small salad to soak up all the juices. I don't understand how you can get steak wrong so long as you season adequately and don't charcoal it but I've paid out a lot more than I did on Saturday at other London restos on some really average steaks.

I love puddings but we were ready to hit some bars so didn’t opt for deserts but there weren’t any big surprises on the menu- they had your typical crème brulée, banoffee pie- (perhaps an odd fit for a French bistro non?) and an île flottante.

I’d definitely return as the warm atmosphere and attentive service was a really refreshing break from some of the pretentious haunts that line Soho’s labyrinthine streets.

Bermondsey Farmers' market

Just before Christmas a little farmers' market opened up at the end of Bermondsey Street near our flat. It's like having a mini-Borough market right on our doorstep..not that Borough is far away all but sometimes it takes a fair bit of energy to push your way through the crowds there.

Bermondsey's market obviously hasn't got the same amount of produce or the buzz that Borough has but it's great for a Saturday morning shop for fresh bread, local cheeses, Polish dumplings, pestos and oils, honey, meat and veg. etc

This morning I picked up some focaccia bread which was studded in rosemary and slow baked plum tomatoes and a ball of mozzarella and had it with some prosciutto which i had pilfered from the fridge before I travelled back to London. The bread was delicious, very moist with coarse sea salt creeping into every other bite.

The mozzarella was a disappointment, I had been expecting the depth of flavour of buffalo mozzarella but I suspect it was made of cow's milk as it lacked taste. It wasn't rubbery like the supermarket packs but it didn't fall away satisfyingly in your hand upon tearing like some I've tried. I asked the lady who sold me the cheese whether I could photograph her stall and she was uncomfortable about it as if I was stealing her trade secrets. You would have thought she would be keen for the publicity as the photos below show a few of the stalls - it looks pretty depleted compared to an average Saturday. I hope that this is just because the traders and public are still enjoying the New Year holiday as it would be a shame if the market failed to attract enough interest and closed.

The recession-proof cupcake?

One area of the food industry that seems to be thriving despite the recession is the cupcake business.

I suppose these miniature treats have something of the 'Cath Kidston effect', that comforting kitchenalia brand whose profits bucked the economic downturn last year. They are wholesome, their size means you needn't share and they create nostalgia when you bake them (or at least they do for me!)

At the end of last year Lola's cupcakes of Primrose Hill bakery fame set up shop with a counter in Selfridges, bringing that white picket fence American dream to the masses. In need of a repose during a particularly stressful Christmas shop my boyfriend and I sampled one of their strawberry treats. They were good. But they were pricey, so i think it's all about doing it yourself.

Enter my own baking efforts (left, above). Ok, so visually they're not as pretty as Lola's but they taste just as good. I followed Tarek Malouf's famous vanilla cupcake recipe from the Hummingbird Bakery book. I've long been a fan of his red velvet cupcakes and he has just opened a branch in Soho so these gorgeous cakes are now closer than ever to my office.

Hundreds and thousands or some other garnish are obligatory, as is a really creamy frosting, after all that's the best bit! I opted for the vanilla frosting- the cream cheese topping is dreamy but very rich and hinders the gourmandiser's ability to eat more than just one. Be liberal with the vanilla extract as I found the amount recommended was hard to detect. Although Malouf's recipes always give consistent results you have to cook his cake mix for longer than the book says to really get them to brown up and I always struggle to get the recipe to stretch to a dozen, it's more like 10 at a squeeze! Maybe I'm being over-generous with the helping size?!