15 November
Gillian Glover finds the food at the Skerries, Dunstane House hotel, Edinburgh, is not for the calorie-shy
The chef's favourite ingredient appears to be cream. He had added ample amounts of it to the seafood chowder with which I started. No potatoes or sweetcorn or anything remotely cheap sullied its silkiness. Just sweet plump mussels, some scallops and prawns, chunky flakes of fish and a fabulously shocking amount of cream. Rosemary Conley would have had a coronary just looking at it. (Two-course Sunday lunch for two, £40 - wine not included).
16 November
Jay Rayner erases his fears of eating bad food alone in Birmingham at Jessica's in Edgbaston
The best thing about this comely dining room lies beyond the kitchen doors, and his name is Glynn Purnell. His cooking is modern but not overwrought, subtle without being flyaway, satisfying without being overly rich. A starter of red mullet, the fillet cooked until the proteins have just set and partnered with a light sauce of Jerusalem artichokes beaten to a foam, shows the way. Bravely the mullet was allowed a distinct fishiness, which the artichoke undercut.
(Meal for two, including wine and service, £75-£100)
15 November
Matthew Fort discovers a crŠme caramel almost as good as his mother's at the Anchor & Hope, London SE1
The trembling, melting crŠme caramel was as fine an example of that pudding as I have eaten in an age, pressing closely on the steady perfection of my mother's version - the standard by which all crŠme caramels must be judged. Before that had come a roasted teal, off the daily specials board. The meat was tender, with that ringing sensuality that you get from wild duck. The sanguinary flow was mercifully sparse and quickly lost in the frisky red cabbage that came with it. (Three-course meal for two, including drinks, £83.30)
16 November
AA Gill tips the nod at Shumi, London, SW1
You're supposed to choose communally and share. But, whatever you choose to share, what you get is an old English curate's egg. The starters - monkfish and tuna carpaccio with aubergine confit, veal tartare with capers, roman artichoke and salted lemon salad - are, for the most part very good, occasionally nudging great. Fried quail's eggs with alba truffle were an absurd pleasure. Where the egg turns is with the main courses, which seem to come from a completely different kitchen.
(Rating: three stars out of five).
15 November
Jan Moir goes Viennese (three times) at Jeremy King and Christopher Corbin's new grand caf‚, the WolSEley, London W1
The main restaurant itself is separated into very distinct areas - a kind of Celebrity Central Zone in the middle, a row of covetable tables by the right-hand windows and one truly terrible table, right in front of the waiters' station, by the bar. Naturally, I was put there on the first of my three visits. The food is straightforward and good, but it does not dazzle. Pastries are very good and please make sure you don't skip the coffee, which is excellent.
(Lunch/dinner for two, excluding drinks, service and cover charges, £64).