Just a short walk up Baker Street from Portman Square, Royal China is little more than a stone’s throw from Selfridges in Oxford Street. We enjoyed our meal there immensely. I would urge any lover of Chinese food to go there.

A small side salad arrives first to whet the appetite, made with fresh vegetables, topped with homemade coleslaw and crunchy croutons. It’s really good, crunchy and fresh, but then the monster combos arrive. Each plate contains two giant spare ribs, a sizeable portion of pulled pork.

It’s every critics dream to stumble across a diamond in the rough of the culinary world. We all try and locate the next big sensation or discover a superstar chef in the making, probably to enjoy the selfish euphoria of the words ‘I told you so”. Yet from time to time it’s possible to just stumble upon a venue with no real expectations, only to be bowled over by the no frills attitude with taste sensations.

It’s encouraging, the arrival of more and more restaurants where the emphasis is on flavour and value, not seeing how many micro basil leaves chef can make dance on the head of a pin. Antony Demetre has his Michelin stars, but more importantly he has his eye on the culinary ball.

I think it was when the keen young waiter gamely attempted to interest us in his breadbasket for around the sixth time that P’s patience finally snapped. ‘If he reappears with that bread one more time,’ she snarled to me sotto voce, ‘he’s going to find himself with a mini baguette in an unusual place.’

Brought to you by the minds behind Smithfield’s Club Gascon, what was the formerly burger heavy wine bar, Hodgson’s has emerged leavened.

I’ve been keen to review Pho for a while, having endured a frantic September filled with meetings, weddings, stag parties and business trips. I found it’s ideal for a quick meal and an escape from the zombie filled Oxford Street.

Chef Russell Brown is showing us a crippled lobster with one claw. Once a warlord, it now lives in an oxygenated tank in a fish processing plant. These mighty fallen are part of the Dorset fishing haul that makes up the Michelin-starred chef’s menu at his Dorchester restaurant, Sienna.

Amico Bio is billed as “Charming, friendly, welcoming and meat-free- everything you wouldn’t expect of a City restaurant” and although the food was a mixed bag, it’s true to say that the restaurant does feel unique.

‘Fish is the star of the plate, not the chef’ proclaims Buddhist chef, Eric Ripert across two pages of Le Bernardin’s menu…