Sticks'N'Sushi

Last night, I went to Sticks'N'Sushi to try out their re-designed menu. The set plates are now humorously split into sections ranging from Economy Class through Business and First Class to Private Jet, with funny sarcastic comments - nevertheless, jokes aside, all of the food looks stunning and it's clear that everyone gets the same charming service.

We started with iras-shai (or 'welcome' in Japanese), which was like a Japanese/Danish take on mezze: edamame hummus was wonderfully refreshing atop wafer-thin black bread; Danish cheese was combined with seaweed to produce a crispy and very moreish snack; a sweet and salty miso dip accompanied yasai (vegetable) sticks. It's beautifully simple but so delicious, just like the tomato salad which although modest-looking turned out to be a real delight with a great dressing which included soy sauce, ginger and spring onion.

The sushi was very good too. We had traditional gunkan (battleship), a special type of nigiri with a nori perimeter which allows loose ingredients such as roe to be included in the sushi. The halibut was excellent, fresh-tasting and delicate, but my favourite was the spicy tuna - not too spicy, with the interesting added flavour of quail egg yolk which broke as it was eaten, and black tobiko for a balance of texture.

The 'coal crab' maki looked really cool, with black rice and towering tempura of softshell crab. The batter on the crab was perhaps too thick and crunchy, but with soft avocado and a delicious spicy sauce, still made for some great sushi.

We finished with sea bass yakitori which was highly impressive. No messing about with unnecessarily complicated sauces, these were served with seasalt and lime, allowing the full taste of the fish to come through. Complimented by the smoky flavour and crisp skin from the coal grill, these were divine.

Yet again I was very pleased with my meal at Sticks'N'Sushi, and hope to return soon!

Celia Brooks at French & Grace

I had a lovely vegetarian lunch today at French and Grace, where Celia Brooks was serving a special menu as a guest chef. She's written some great recipe books with interesting vegetarian recipes which I'm definitely going to try out some time and will probably take to university!

French and Grace is located in the very cool Brixton Village, which is full of good restaurants with reasonably-priced food and also hosts a few shops.

I really liked these caramelised onion, mushroom and cheddar tarts because the crispy cheese gave them a strong parmesan-like taste and the tartness (pun intended) of the onions made a good combination.

The trio of veg pâtés was stunning. I loved the three vibrant colours, especially of the purple pâté, made with beetroot, walnut and Stilton. I found the Stilton a little overpowering in this one, but the more subtle flavours of broad bean and basil were a hit with me. The brazil nut and garlic pâté was also delicious, with a great nutty flavour.

These gnocchi, made with wild greens, rather than just plain-old potatoes, were amazing. Served with a sage and porcini butter sauce and roasted courgettes, the whole dish was full of lovely deep earthy flavours. The salad of all sorts of different varieties of tomatoes, pomegranate seeds and olives was great. I really liked the olives which had been spice-roasted giving them a soft texture and slightly sweet taste.

The dessert was yummy - raspberry Eton mess: crunchy meringue and a rich, creamy sauce. It was sprinkled with leaves from the Stevia plant - a sweet leaf sometimes processed to be used as a sugar alternative. This, like most of the vegetables used in the meal, had been grown in Celia's allotment, making them all as fresh as possible.

I think I shall have to return to French and Grace another time to try out their street food, which includes delicious-sounding flatbread and hummus wraps as well!