Hélène Darroze at The Connaught

I had brunch today at The Connaught - Hélène Darroze, whose cuisine is usually inspired by her roots in south-west France, bizarrely was doing an traditional American-style brunch, with dishes ranging from "The Connaught hot dog" to a posh burger.

First off, there was an impressive buffet, with lots of things to choose from. I went for some smoked salmon from a remote Scottish island, which was good but not quite on par with Forman's in my opinion, which is less smoky. I liked the salad of prawns and celery with a bloody Mary dressing, and the buffalo mozzarella and beetroot were refreshing. An interesting concept were these filled brioches - one with milk chocolate, the other with raspberry. I tried the raspberry one, which was delicious - a bit like a doughnut!

For my main course, I had macaroni cheese. I was a little shocked to see that all of the main courses had meat in them, but they were very kind and cooked some macaroni without the Bellota ham for me! It was truly scrumptious, with tasty Comté cheese and a crispy gratin - but still managing to be not too heavy.

Dessert was a real treat. The waffle was cooked to order, and topped with whatever I wanted - I opted for the waffle-maker's favourite: a drizzle of maple syrup, a dollop of Chantilly cream, a dusting of icing sugar and a dash of chocolate sauce. Indulgent, oh yes.

Apsleys

Last night I dined at Apsleys, an Italian restaurant at The Lanesborough in Hyde Park Corner. It was created three years ago by Heinz Beck, whose restaurant La Pergola in Rome has three Michelin stars.

First I had poached lobster, which had lots of lovely fresh flavours from the fish to avocado, tomato and bean sprouts which added an interesting taste and texture. It also looked beautiful, with a strange purple garnish which tasted like popcorn!

Then I tried what was called "Fish Crudo" - crudo means 'raw' in Italian, so this was effectively a platter of sashimi, just my sort of thing. The little plates just kept on coming, it was almost overwhelming! There were lots of completely different ways in which the fish was served, one even in a cocktail glass. I particularly liked the sea-bass, which was coated in a crisp cannelloni-shaped crust, on a bed of melon. It actually tasted a bit like seaside scampi. There were three different types of tuna - my favourite was the yellow-fin. I also enjoyed the scallops, which were in a sauce that tasted of white miso paste.

For my main course, I had a fantastic risotto with langoustine carpaccio, continuing the fish theme. The risotto was rich and creamy and the langoustine delicate and flavoursome. The little 'crisps' on top gave a nice, contrasting texture. I've never had a risotto quite like this before.

For dessert, I started with a fruit salad which was full of lovely exotic fruits and served with a great ice cream. The raspberry sauce was delicious with a very intense flavour.

And finally, I had this stunning dessert. The Amadei 'Chuao' chocolate dome, which has an unbelievably rich chocolatey flavour, was accompanied by hibiscus ice cream and berries, and adorned with a beautiful white spiral.

Nahm at Benares

As part of 'Chef Season' at Benares, Atul Kochhar teamed up with David Thompson, the renowned expert in Thai cuisine from Nahm restaurant in Bangkok, to create a shared menu of Thai dishes. I went this evening to check it out ...

We tried David's menu first. I had a 'miang' of lobster - miang is a Thai street dish in which the food is wrapped in a special leaf. Personally, I found this a little too spicy since there was a lot of chilli in it, which overpowered any taste of the sea from the lobster. However, the diverse texture was great with the crunchy leaf against the soft lobster.

My favourite of David's dishes was the 'yam pak', which is a mixed vegetable and fruit salad and was dressed with tamarind, palm sugar and sesame seeds. Again, there was a fantastic range of textures, and this was combined with a lovely sweet and spicy dressing. There were some interesting vegetables used including raw aubergine. The whole dish was lovely and refreshing.

I really liked Atul's paneer with apricot and tamarind chutney. The paneer is an Indian cheese, which was cooked on a tandoor giving it a smoky flavour. This went well with the sweet tamarind chutney.

Also cooked on the tandoor was some trout, which had a great smoky flavour as well. The crispy skin was encrusted with chilli and garlic, and the whole fish was full of complex spicy flavours.

To drink, I had a wonderfully refreshing lassi of blueberry and hibiscus, which was useful to cool off after the hotter dishes. I tried my mum's cocktail made with vodka, ginger and wasabi - it had a real kick!