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.