The excitement of getting to dine at Bruno Loubet’s latest London reincarnation – Bistrot Bruno Loubet at The Zetter Hotel – was surpassed, for me anyway, by the fact that we got to sit next to Sir Michael Caine during dinner. To be precise, he was actually sitting at the table next to us with his beautiful wife Shakira (you would never believe she’s 63), but he was so close to me I could have easily tapped him on his shoulder. He sounds just like he does on the big screen, all nasally in that charming, endearing kind of way. I pretended to be all cool, like I hadn’t noticed him, but I must admit to secretly gaping at him out of the corner of my eye.

Well it was no surprise that he would get fawned over – he is a huge celebrity after all. But what was surprising was just how useless our assigned waiter was. He took his time to come and take our order. And when he did come, he didn’t have a pen, so he walked off to get one, and then for some reason forgot to come back. What kind of waiter doesn’t have a pen? He also took his time delivering our bread. But that said, some of the other waiters who also served us during the evening were lovely and attentive, so I don’t think it would be fair to say that all of the service was bad.

Bruno Loubet earnt a notable reputation as a chef under the likes of Pierre Koffman and Raymond Blanc in the 1990s, before going on to successfully head up restaurants Bistro Bruno and L’Odeon. He spent much of the Noughties in Australia, but a decade later, and he’s back in London. With his background, it’s unsurprising that Bistrot Bruno Loubet is classically French.

Guinea fowl boudin blanc (£7) was exquisitely light with a mousse-like texture, but it was a touch heavy on the seasoning. The accompanying creamy leek fondue and chervil sauce married beautifully with the gentle guinea fowl flavour. Having once watched a boudin blanc demonstration at Le Cordon Bleu, this is a fairly complex dish to make. This was a wonderful rendition of the Lyonnaise classic.

Guinea fowl boudin blanc

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When Quo Vadis reopened in 2008 following a buyout and revamp by the famous restaurateur brothers, Sam and Eddie Hart (their other restaurants include Fino and Barrafina), it was virtually impossible to get a reservation. That distinction now belongs to Dean Street Townhouse, where despite numerous attempts to secure a booking, I have only ever been offered 6pm or 10pm timeslots. Two years on, and its much easier to get a table at Quo Vadis, so with any luck, in about two years time, I might actually get to have the pleasure of dining at Dean Street Townhouse.

Quo Vadis first opened its doors in 1926, and at one point it had the distinction of being Karl Marx’s workplace. Before the Hart Brothers took over the restaurant, it was part of the empire of Marco Pierre White, the chef who once held three Michelin stars but has fallen so spectacularly from grace that he is now a spokesman for Bernard Matthews.

The Edwardian building that is Quo Vadis has maintained much of its original charm. Art deco mirrors and elaborate art works, including a Damien Hirst, grace the walls. The furnishings are comfortable and elegant.

A starter of octopus, chorizo and artichoke salad (£8.50) was generously filled with the bite-sized pieces of soft octopus, hearty chorizo and tender artichoke. The dressing was light and pleasing, and overall, this was a lovely salad.

Octopus, chorizo and artichoke salad

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Kettner’s owes its name to Auguste Kettner, who as chef to Napoleon III, opened up a restaurant 1867. A ‘Soho institution’ that has seen the likes of Agatha Christie and Oscar Wilde passing through its doors, the restaurant has been through several reincarnations including that of a pizza parlour. The latest transformation took place in 2008 when it was extensively refurbished in its current guise as a restaurant and champagne bar.

Interior designer Ilse Crawford has created a rococo-style décor which has been softened with muted lighting to maximise the allure of the various objets d’art that graces the grand dining room and champagne bar. Large windows allow a bird’s eye view of all the Soho street activity.

The food is French/European, and we started with a grilled quail with orange and pomegranate salad (£7). The quail was nicely cooked, leaving the flesh moist, but the skin had been charred to the point where it was slightly burnt. It was also very peppery, which left a heavy pepper aftertaste. The salad was fresh, but it was overwhelmed by too much orange dressing.

Grilled quail, orange & pomegranate salad

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It would not be an understatement to say that Galvin La Chapelle, the third restaurant to be opened by the Galvin brothers (Chris and Jeff), has to be one of the most stunning looking restaurants in London. A converted Grade-II listed building that was once a school chapel, the room soars high up towards the almighty, ending in the complex framework of crisscrossed beams that support the ceiling. It’s a palatial space that has been decorated to good effect. There is a fine interplay between modern urban features and classically elegant touches – the glass and steel mezzanine level that overlooks the main dining floor is coupled with crisp white linen tablecloths and leather seating. If you are looking for a place to impress, then this probably ranks in the top three in London in terms of design.

We started with a slow cooked pork belly with roasted langoustines and pommes mousseline (£14.50). This was a really beautiful dish. The pork was meltingly tender and juicy, and the langoustines (3 pieces) were delectably sweet and firm. The pommes mousseline exuded buttery richness. Finished with a fine reduction of pork and langoustine jus, this starter produced a harmonious symphony of flavours.

Pork belly with roasted langoustines & pommes mousseline

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Foie gras terrine

The last couple of meals that I had with LD (at The Cadogan Arms and Le Café Anglais) proved to be somewhat unsuccessful. This seemed to have the effect of putting a dent in my ‘restaurant choosing capability’ as this time round she suggested (insisted) that she pick the destination for our next meal out. With a sniff, I agreed. I obviously don’t get it right all the time, but I like holding the mantle of ‘restaurant picker’ amongst my friends, even if it is self-bestowed, and it isn’t a title that I wanted to relinquish easily.

So this is how, at LD’s suggestion, we ended up at Marco at Stamford Bridge (sniff). The restaurant is a collaborative effort between Chef Marco Pierre White and as you might have guessed, Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich. The restaurant has the look of money behind it. The room is filled with leather cubicle seating and glamorous black and white photographs of celebrities from a bygone era. It’s dark and decadent, and if cigars were allowed, I would have almost hazarded a guess that this was an old-fashioned gentlemen’s club house.

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Note: Kitchen W8 gained a Michelin star in 2011.

Salted cod fish balls

Kitchen W8, which opened about three weeks ago, is co-owned by none other than Philip Howard of the two star Michelined restaurant The Square, and Rebecca Mascarenhas of Sonny’s (which I also coincidentally visited recently). Wow. Philip Howard is some star backing. But Rebecca is no new comer to the restaurant dining scene either. She owns not only Sonny’s in Barnes, but Sonny’s in Nottingham and The Phoenix in Putney as well. With Kitchen W8 she has her fifth restaurant opening for it is located on the site of one of her previous restaurants, the appropriately named 11 Abingdon Road (the address of the restaurant), which closed in July this year and which subsequently made way for this new joint venture.

The premise for Kitchen W8 is simple – a neighbourhood restaurant that serves good “modern English style food with a French soul” at decent prices. The décor feels too glamorous to be a simple ‘neighbourhood’ restaurant, but then this is Kensington after all. It’s very stylish and warm – the walls are of a grey colour and the floor of a walnut wood. The lighting is also cleverly done to great effect – the restaurant is nicely dimmed, but there are individual spotlights illuminating each table for better visibility.

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Signature dish of pig's trotter stuffed with veal sweetbreads & morel mushrooms

Pierre Koffmann’s Restaurant on the Roof, aka the latest craze in pop-up restaurants, was originally meant to open for six days only during the London Restaurant Festival. But due to popular demand its run was extended to the end of October. I’ve been a bit slow to jump on this bandwagon, procrastinating about whether I should go or not. But in the end curiosity got the better of the cat, so I finally went this past weekend during what I thought was going to be its final week.

However talk by the restaurant staff has it that the restaurant’s run will again be extended until mid-December, although this is still to be confirmed as it’s only in the discussion stage at the moment. My view is that they shouldn’t extend it. Instead, I think they should let the restaurant go out with a bang on the back of all the success and glorified publicity and return in force next year as there’s sure to be another London Restaurant Festival. Another month and a half and there’s the real possibility that the novelty factor will wear thin, although an extended run would give people who haven’t managed to secure a reservation and want to go that opportunity.

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Lutyens

With a school friend visiting from Australia, I wanted to go somewhere elegant for lunch. You see, we’re ladies now, and our tastes have matured as well. Gone are the days when we use to go to the movies on Tuesdays after school (Tuesdays was, and still is, movie discount day in Sydney) and then head to Pizza Hut for $5 all-you-can-eat pizza afterwards. And besides, we needed a nice venue for somewhere to catch up. School friends are a unique breed – they’ve seen you through all the trials and tribulations of growing up, been there through the first schoolboy crush, picked you up after the first heartbreak (and of course stressed with you through all the exams). So there was much to gossip about as I was desperate to get all the latest on love, work and life in general.

Another school friend who now lives in Bristol joined us, so we were three. I chose Lutyens which is named after Edwin Lutyens, the British architect who designed the building in which the restaurant is housed. Lutyens is the new Conran showpiece on Fleet Street, so if you thought that the great maestro was retiring after selling his dining group to D&D London in 2006, then it’s obvious that this is not the case. Two restaurant openings in one year (the other was Boundary) and he looks like he’s on a mission to take the London dining scene by storm again. But Lutyens is more than just a restaurant which seats 130 people. Opening on Monday 29 June and located in the former Reuters building, it features a bar, a charcuterie counter, a crustacean and sushi bar, a members club and 4 private dining and meeting rooms.

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