Brasserie Chavot, London

Brasserie Chavot looks and sounds as though you've been transported magically from the posh shops of Conduit St (or the very London lobby of the Westbury) through a magic portal to gay Paris.

The music (Peppermoon!) the uniformed (and mostly French) wait staff and most notably the decor all speak of Eric Chavot's home land.

Marco Pierre White once called Chavot “the best” and while it's too bold a statement for me he's surely in the top class. The restaurant was amongst this year's Michelin star winners.

Heirloom tomato salad was heartier than it sounds and mixes tart, sweet and savoury with even a little cheese in there.

Daube de boeuf rests in a rich gravy with artichoke and carrot. I substituted green beans in a light butter sauce for the mash it usually comes with without regret. The beef is extremely tender and the mix of juicy insides with a crispy top layer is ideal for me.

I was forewarned by my waiter that chocolate pot was in fact more pistachio than chocolate. No loss. Nut+ice cream+chocolate=Delicious.

With a glass of a more than decent Bordeaux dinner came to £52 inc service.

Overall very nice, and no Eurostar journey required.

My Michelin tally

New state of play below. Some have since lost their stars, some have closed.

UK 30

One-star: L’Escargot, Northcote Manor, Nobu, Nobu Berkley St., Adlard’s, Room in The Elephant, Orestone Manor, Juniper, One Lombard Street, Arbutus, Wild Honey, Tom Aitkens, Rhodes 24, Auberge du Lac, Viajante, Gauthier Soho, Texture, St John Clerkenwell, St John Soho, The Hinds Head, Dabbous, Pollen Street Social, Brasserie Chavot. 

Two-stars: L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon, Hibiscus, Hélène Darroze at the Connaught, The Ledbury, Dinner.

Three-stars: The Fat Duck, Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester 

USA 17

California one stars: Fleur De Lys, La Folie, Boulevard, The Plumed Horse, One Market, Frances.

California two-stars: Aqua, Michael Mina, Manresa, Atelier Crenn, Coi.

Vegas one-star: Bradley Ogden, Mix, Mesa Grill, Restaurant Charlie, Aureole, Le Cirque.

Vegas two-stars: Picasso.

Spain 1

One-star: Cinc Sentits (Barcelona)

Hong Kong 3

One-star: Tim Ho Wan, Loaf On (aka Luk Fook)

Two-stars: T'ang Court

Dabbous, London

Dabbous, anyone will tell you, is hot. Tables are tricky to come by, though getting easier it seems since I actually had a choice of three consecutive times (for lunch, no dinner slots this week) and the plaudits continue to rain in, including a Michelin star for chef Ollie Dabbous who is ex-of Le Manoir Au Quat' Saisons, Mugaritz and London's excellent Texture.

A Basil Fawlty is a gin and mint cocktail, served tall, and very pleasant. In the warmth of the intimate restaurant one could be forgiven for imagining its a lovely summer day with this in hand.

Olives keep you occupied while browsing the choice of a seven/eight course tasting menu or a four course set menu. You get a bag of bread, stamped with today's date, and tap water gratis.

With four courses for just £28 pounds you might expect some to be slender. Toast is covered with translucent lard and thin slices of black truffle. You eat it with your fingers and it's very more-ish. Carrots are three long, thin carrots adrift in a soup bowl with an oxtail gravy and blob of savory cream. My guess, given a fork and spoon, was that you ate the carrots then mixed the remaining cream and gravy. It looked terrible and tasted good but I must admit I've never been served anything quite like it before. When it was placed in front of me my first though was that something more must be about to be added. The table next to me laughed uncomfortably at its frugalness when their turn came.

Grain feed barbecue beef with roast onion and a buttermilk sauce was the 'main' course. The beef was excellent (about 150g I'm guessing) but no spoon this time so I was glad to have bread left for the sauce.

The dessert I wanted, Burrata with crushed apple (tasted stewed but I might be wrong), required a hefty £5 supplement, cheese apparently being a premium ingredient (someone should tell the Roux at the Landau where cheese is a straight dessert option in the similarly priced set lunch). The first few bites are quite savoury, with nut too, and then the apple reveals its sweetness. It was nice but not premium price worthy. To end there are three tiny green Japanese peaches.

So what did I make of the hottest restaurant in London? It was a casual, relaxed cafe like space with attentive, slightly pushy service. The food was tasty, if too often not much too look at, and my initial fear that I'd leave hungry turned out to be quite unfounded.

Unfortunately I wasn't expecting tasty. I was expecting delicious. Was that fair? All I can really say is: if you want a similarly priced, similarly Michelin starred, experience then in my opinion L'Atelier Joel Robuchon knocks seven bells out of Dabbous. Actually I'd say the same for the unstarred Roux at the Landau which has the additional advantage of a lovely space.

Lunch inc. service and one cocktail was just under £43.

Will I continue to haunt toptable to get back in? No! Will I be back once it quietens down? Maybe. There was enough here to make me think maybe it deserves a second chance. But not in any hurry.

The Hind's Head, Bray, UK

One might be tempted to regard The Hind's Head as the 'least' of Heston Blumenthal's restaurants but make no mistake this Michelin starred venue is different rather than to be discounted.

Located a couple of cottages away from The Fat Duck in the tiny village of Bray it's a picturesque location and we were lucky to hit it on an 'indian summer' day. (The car park by the way is opposite the restaurant and quite tricky to spot).

Yes, there's a relaxed atmosphere but it's still more of a restaurant than the 'pub' it claims to be and most of the diners on the Sunday we visited had dressed in their Sunday best (or at least a notch above what I'm used to in a pub on Sunday). It's worth a Sunday trip by the way, as the menu that day includes two special roasts (pork and beef).

I started with Heston's trademark Scotch Eggs, which I'd seen a recipe for online and couldn't wait to try. I had two in lieu of a regular starter. The tricky thing with Heston's eggs in getting the sausage cooked to succulent perfection while the egg yolk remains runny. The first egg was perfect. The second's yolk was more 'done' perhaps due to sitting around while I ate the first one.

I tried the jasmine smoked salmon too which was very nice with a taste that seemed somehow freshly applied rather than deeply inlayed.

I followed that with one of the Sunday specials, roast sirloin of Highland beef with roast potato, mixed veg and Yorkshire pudding. The beef was served medium technically (not bleeding) but very pink indeed. Fat was rendered to the point it melted in the mouth. It was delicious. Given that I'm of Irish extraction is it a terrible cliche to say that I liked the roast potatoes best out of this dish? Frankly I could have eaten a plate full.

The vegetarian main course of warm new potatoes, broccoli and cauliflower puree was likeable, from the small amount I tried.

We'd asked for an extra portion of vegetables but what actually showed up with the main course was a portion of crispy fries. They looked too good to send back so I kept quiet about the mix up. The bill was correct at the end of the meal.

For dessert I had the mess of blackberries, which mixed fruit with a crunchy meringue. I've got a thing for Eton Mess at the moment and this was a neat, if slightly sweet, example. This was a very generous portion and I felt somewhat sleepy after lunch.

Food is not especially cheap if you're thinking of it as a pub, but reasonable enough for its pedigree. Indeed you could probably spend less at Dinner if you went for the set lunch there but the portions are perhaps a little more generous for the most part. I'd perhaps feel a bit short changed if I'd stumped up £32 for the relatively small steak (I'm guessing under 300g by the examples I saw carried by).

Service was excellent and the meal took about two hours, which seemed well paced. Wine list seemed reasonable too (by which I mean there are some decent affordable choices). We had a half bottle of very pleasant Sancerre for £25.

With quality more than deserving of its star and a pleasant, relaxed vibe The Hind's Head is a great place for a meal that delivers more than it demands.

Roux at the Landau, London

Reputedly this collaboration between Albert and Michel Jnr is a more authentic Roux experience than the Parliament Square venue run by a catering company with Roux guidance. It's helped in this by the presence of storied chef Chris King ex of Le Gavroche in London and Per Se in New York.

Chicken pastille was lovely to look at served on slate and a sizeable amuse. My meal came with Albert Roux branded water (tasted like water) and champagne (dry, almost savory).

Decour is lovely art nouveau with huge brass chandeliers dominating the room and closing up the huge space a little. Everything is arranged in curves and most tables are visible to each other but there are a handful of slightly more secluded booths if your in need of a romantic spot/are making shady deals. I'm guessing there are about 100 covers.

Boudin blanc also looked lovely and turned out to be a perfect starter - creamy but not heavy and accompanied with both a purée and thin slices of cauliflower.

Service was very attentive and though I'm not a huge fan of being asked if I'm enjoying a dish while my mouth is full I'd rather have the attention than not. Everyone smiled when they spoke to you which helped leaven the formality of the classic Landau room.

I went for pork collar, glad that I'd passed up the same cut at Heston's Hinds Head at the weekend. This dark rich meat is paired with creamy mash, a little cabbage and, smartly, a light gravy that doesn't fight with the collar. Very impressive.

For dessert I had to go for the beautiful cheese trolley. I had four cheeses, including the legendary stinking bishop (not all that stinky), from a selection of about 15, plus celery, bread, quince and chutney. A friend recently told me the story of mistaking a rather nice butter for cheese in Italy and one of the cow milk cheeses was so rich and buttery I wondered briefly if I was doing the same.

Overall food, value and service were excellent and I'm genuinely surprised the place doesn't have a Michelin star.

Lunch came in at £45 including service, water and coffee. This is a regular price but I got a glass of champagne included by booking with toptable. For £45 ex service you can have a half bottle of wine.