A Moveable Feast - Five Nights Out in London

25 days into 2008 and one solitary post. Not very impressive. It's easy to please busy-ness but everyone's busy. In my defence, I have eaten out every night this week. All but one with work, putting my health on the line for the job. The roll call of dishes is long: delicately flavoured scallops steamed in their shells, a dull rendering of steak rossini, an over egged bread and butter pudding, a slab of roquefort with a handful of walnuts, pheasant ravioli (decent if a little dry), a perfectly pink rack of lamb, a hunk of parmesan, an overspiced chicken supreme with raw parsnips, more scallops, a prawn, a plate-filling slab of aged ribeye (with unimpeachable bearnaise), an old school chocolate sundae, a dissected and reassembled rabbit, some venison with spiced pears and, (deep breath) finally, at eleven o'clock last night, a course of ten different and delicious cheeses.

Of all the restaurants only Hawksmoor and Chez Bruce were really worth it for the food. Hawksmoor is a steak house pure and simple. I'm not sure the starters and desserts are really worth bothering with. But, god, the steaks are good. Big, beefy, tender, ripe. They are last meal meats.

Chez Bruce is just brilliant. It has everything going for it, not least that it is less than a mile from the flat. Classy service, impeccable execution in the kitchen and a magical wine list put together by a passionate and capable sommelier. I'll write more later.