Kinloch Lodge is a small luxury hotel on the Isle of Skye. Located in an area of outstanding beauty, the hotel is lovely, the guest bedrooms turned out to a very high standard and the communal areas and sitting rooms welcoming with real log fires. Staff throughout our short stay there were all very friendly and hospitable. What's more, the location is ideal if the next day, like us, you're taking an early morning ferry to Mallaig, but the other big draw for Kinloch Lodge is that it also has a Michelin starred restaurant. 

Sadly the meal was a huge disappointment. While the main thread of the ingredients are local produce, salmon, scallops, venison, none are allowed to shine. At the point of ordering the venison main, the waitress said it came medium rare, was that okay? Yes of course, perfect, but sadly when it arrived it was at best medium well rendering it chewy and flavourless. Nothing can save a venison dish when the venison is cooked this poorly but nothing else on the plate was close to approaching that role anyhow.

The venison however had got off lightly compared to the salmon. We had to stifle an near audible gasp of disbelief as the plate was set down in front of us for the salmon had been entirely smothered in a bright pink sauce. If you have a beautiful piece of salmon, why would you possibly do this to it? Where's the subtlety, where's the finesse, where's the love? This is after all a Michelin starred restaurant (and The Three Chimneys is not)? Even if the sauce had been any good (it was not), this in our opinion is no way to showcase one of Scotland's finest ingredients for under all that sauce, it's impossible to get any essence of salmon. What a waste.

Scallops fared only a little better, at least they were visible on the plate, but here a peanut sauce and Parma ham is thought necessary to make a West coast scallop shine. Again, we beg to differ.

There seemed little point in dessert. Located in an area surrounded by some of the finest ingredients in the world, all were taken to the point of ruin. We retired early, surprised and saddened.   

Even after you leave the mainland and cross the bridge to Skye, The Three Chimneys is still over an hour's drive in a broadly North West direction, Skye is a bigger place than you might think. Accordingly, it is unlikely that you will ever just be 'passing by' or visit the restaurant on a whim unless you already live on Skye. On our previous trips to Scotland, we had been unable to fit a visit to The Three Chimneys into our schedule but the strength of their reputation and the high praise afforded to Chef Michael Smith personally from other great chefs we know and respect meant that we have been aching to go there for some time and we pretty much planned our recent Scottish adventure around our stay there.

With a two night stay in their on site accommodation (The House Over-By) and consecutive dinners booked in the restaurant, we really hope we are going to like it or things could get a little awkward for everyone. Expectation too can be the enemy of experience and we had been looking forward to our Skye holiday for some time. Fortunately, there was no need to worry, The Three Chimneys is absolutely fantastic, the food, everything you could ever wish for on a plate, and all the people there so lovely that when it was time to leave, even though it had been just two days, we felt that we were saying goodbye to old and dear friends. 

Dining options at The Three Chimneys centre on two menus, an a la carte and a tasting menu (Taste of Skye), both of which can be enjoyed in the cosy front restaurant, while the tasting menu can also be taken at the Kitchen Table, which here, is exactly that, a table in the kitchen with space for up to six people. But this is more than just a chefs table experience peering into the kitchen form a favourable vantage point, for all guests at the kitchen table are invited to get up from the table between courses and be a part of the kitchen, stand at the pass if you like, talk to the staff and generally be involved. On our part, after a few queries of 'really?' and 'sure you don't mind?' to Michael, it was clear that it is a genuine invitation to join the kitchen family and we soon lost all inhibitions to wander freely around the kitchen at will. And to be clear on this point, this is their normal practice and not simply an invitation extended to us as bloggers. Without doubt it is one of the friendliest and most welcoming kitchens we have ever stepped in. 

The menu they offer is heaven and includes everything you would hope to find when going north of the border: oysters, crab, lobster, prawn, scallop, lamb, venison. As the menu name suggests, Taste of Skye, this is a very local affair so that oysters are from just over the way, the crab from Loch Bracadale on Skye, the lobster from Loch Dunvegan on Skye... you get the idea. A splash of Talisker also finds its way onto the menu just in case the penny has still not already dropped.

We love the Scottish larder and this is a beautiful Scottish affair. Chef Michael clearly has a deep affinity with the local area and that translates into a massive respect for the ingredients. There are nods to heritage so the meal starts with tiny bowl of Scotch broth that is hearty and comforting and leaves you wanting more (which we fabulously got the next day for lunch). Colbost Skink comes with Stornoway black pudding (Marag Dubh) and a drizzle of Talisker, perfect for a Hebridian February night (was raining cats and dogs outside).

Other big flavours come for example with the lamb rib where Talisker again lends smokiness to the deep and sticky BBQ sauce, but Michael also displays much lighter touches where required. The early seafood dishes such as the crab, lobster and scallop are all well judged affairs, nicely enhanced with the additions on the plate but never gilded, so the point of the dish is never lost and the principal ingredients shine; it's Scottish seafood heaven. 

The other special mention must go to The Three Chimneys famous marmalade, an allowable exception to their local ethos. The marmalade pudding has been on the menu for 30 years and is unlikely to ever come off and it is absolutely fabulous, while serving it with Drambuie custard then moves it on a step further to pudding nirvana. On the tasting menu it is sightly transformed into an orange marmalade souffle, but really, don't go all the way to Skye and leave without having eaten this pud.

This was a glorious meal, fun to eat but serious in execution, and a beautiful celebration of local ingredients. If Robbie Burns is Scotland's national poet, Michael Smith must surely be a candidate for their national chef (and he is @kiltkuisine on Twitter after all). For us, spending a night at the Kitchen Table, enjoying this food, being a nuisance in the kitchen yet still being so warmly embraced there, not only was a it a highlight of the holiday, it was as much fun as we can remember having in a restaurant since starting the blog. It made us happy then and it makes us happy now simply remembering. 

The Three Chimneys is 633 miles from our house but is without doubt worth every mile of the journey. We are already plotting our return.

If one name has become synonymous with the best cooking of the best fish in the UK (and world), it's surely Nathan Outlaw and his flagship two Michelin starred restaurant at St Enodoc Hotel continues to go from strength to strength. A trip to the Cornwall hardly seems complete without a visit there and it was fabulous to return. The fish is of course perfect, and the staff, well, they're pretty perfect too. The same FOH team from our previous visit continues to offer guests the warmest of welcomes, which was so nice to see, while Nathan himself was in the kitchen working hard cooking up fish directly sourced from local fishermen.

A full write up of our previous visit to Restaurant Nathan Outlaw can be read here. 

Serious chefs (Thomas Keller) to serious food journalists (Matthew Fort) all agree there's no such thing as perfection in hospitality... and yet? 

And yet, when we pull our thesaurus off the shelf in search of synonyms, we find: completeness, exactness, excellence, exquisiteness, faultlessness, integrity, maturity, precision, purity, sublimity. This to us sounds a lot like Le Manoir. In fact, it doesn't just sound like Le Manoir, it is Le Manoir and following a visit there to celebrate a special day, we again reflect with wonder how they can get everything so right every time.

While the question 'any dietary requirements' for us is usually met with the straightforward answer 'no', on this occasion we said yes: being truffle season and a special occasion, we would like truffles incorporated into every dish please! We should add that advance notice was given to the kitchen on this request, rather than surprise them on the day, and our thanks to Chef Gary Jones and team for working so hard to make this happen.

Still in the car, the pulse always quickens slightly as Le Manoir comes into view and as you pull up the drive to the front of the house. After the warmest of greetings at the door (Le Manoir team are unrivaled in knowing how to make you feel welcome on arrival), we have a drink, canapes and time to view the menu in front of a real log fire in one of the Manoir's sitting rooms. Through to the dining room, we feel excited about the experience to come and so it seems do the staff. The staff at Le Manoir have the highest professional standards and yet are able to engage without awkwardness at a very personal level which again is really very special and while all members of staff were amazing yesterday, James and Brad who specifically looked after us deserve their own mention: thank you.

Truffled eggs start the menu and immediately send you into sensory heaven. What we discover throughout the menu is that it's not just a menu where truffles are shaved on top (which of course is still perfectly nice), but it is a menu where truffles have been fully integrated through the dish so that with our egg, you initially taste the light creamy eggs and the shaved truffle on top, but as you spoon lower into the shell, new layers of truffle and something like a mushroom ketchup awaits, increasing the potency as you discover new depths. Having also selected from the bread basket their bacon bread, it feels like the ultimate breakfast.

Scottish langoustine with tender leeks is a characteristically beautiful dish from Le Manoir with splashes of colour, truffles on top and again worked through the dish together with some of the plumpest langoustine you could ever hope to find on your plate. A risotto of Alba truffles is insanely good, loaded with truffle and chanterelles, oozing rich, earthy complex flavours that please in the profoundest way and leaving you torn between satisfaction and devastation as you finish what's in the bowl: more please? Scallop and turbot 'forestiere' continue to deliver exceptional cuisine for your fish course, and then...

If you want to bring a dining room to an inquisitive silence, you could do worse than walk through it with an inflated pig's bladder in a copper saucepan. Our main course was Cotswold chicken breast 'en vessie'. Brought table side, the near perfect hemispherical bladder is punctured and the chicken breast on the bone removed from the bladder, the dark truffles tucked under the luminescent skin clearly visible. With each breast taken off the bone, sliced, then plated, further truffles are shaved on top at the table. In case that's not decadent enough foie gras runs through the sauce and a substantial cep sits on the plate anchoring this chicken in the forest also. It is possibly the best chicken dish we've ever had in a restaurant, the chicken so incredibly moist it's like a rediscovery of what chicken can be.  

Brillat Savarin cheese, always amazing in its own right is made more amazing laced through with truffle and almost cascades off the board it's so runny. It's served with a celery salad and hazelnut for crunch. Our two dessert courses see profiteroles encompassing truffle ice cream followed by millionaire shortbread with black truffle toffee. Both are beautiful and remarkable, a more difficult challenge to encompass truffle into dessert but very smartly done and truffle ice cream is definitely something to crave when executed as cleverly as this. It's a perfect end to a perfect meal and we're too full to even finish petit fours taken in front of the sitting room fire (fortunately they are boxed and make the journey home with us).

Le Manoir offers a remarkable experience at every possible level. The menu we ate was simply incredible, the hotel itself romances you into submission, the staff are without doubt the very best in the industry, and all that means the sum of these parts is a giddy achievement. But above all that, Le Manoir connects with you emotionally, joy and comfort when you're there, separation and longing when you're not, while each visit fuels memories that last a lifetime and cumulatively deepens the bond you feel towards the house and the people who run it. Popular wisdom might say that perfection doesn't exist in the hospitality industry but even if that is true, it doesn't really matter, because Le Manoir is close enough.   

What sets apart the world's best chefs from the pack, in our view, is that instead of trying to incrementally improve or perfect an existing and established recipe, or re-imagine the classics, they instead do entirely their own thing, setting down on the plate a menu that is simply unique. At Simon Rogan's restaurants, whether it is the flagship L'enclume, the pop up/popped down Roganic or his latest Manchester fine dining restaurant The French, this is universally applied, such that when you do eat at The French, you are getting the real deal Simon Rogan experience. The crossover between his restaurants is extensive and that is important to note, for The French is not a case of a big name chef putting his name above the door and disappearing into the night with oodles of money never to be seen again behind the pass. 

There's a shared philosophy too with L'enclume, with only ingredients from the British Isles used, so no chocolate in desserts for example, and no obvious continental luxury like foie gras to do the heavy lifting. For us at least, it adds an extra layer of special that such consistently great food and, let's be clear, exciting food, is all domestic and where no shortcuts are ever taken. In fact, Rogan sources 'in house' where possible and for some time has run a farm in Cumbria (as well as the restaurants). The resulting affinity with his produce derived from that provides an even more closely personal experience for the diner. This approach finds its ultimate expression in the 'Early Autumn Offerings' dish where it is is quite possible that Dan Cox selected veg from the farm earlier that day, delivering unimpeachable freshness and provenance. At L'enclume it is generally the case that if you are eating dinner, the veg was still in the ground that morning.       

The tasting menu, which is mostly what The French is about, starts off in the usual Rogan style, that is, canape type snacks brought to the table such that you've already had five or so nibbles before the main menu food arrives. These snacks however do a brilliant job in setting the stage: usually beautiful to look at, never predictable and always delivering fantastic flavours, putting the table to instant argument over which was best. From crispy chicken skin with horseradish and crab to the vibrancy of nature's artwork in the chickpea, garlic and ox-eye daisy, it makes clear the originality you should expect from the meal to come.

During the listed menu, dishes like the Westcombe dumplings with duck sweetbreads offers up something that takes you to the heart or Roganville. When we first had duck sweetbreads at L'enclume back in 2011, the barrage of Tweets we subsequently received all said the same thing - who knew ducks had sweatbreads? Combined here with the to die for cheese dumplings (L'enclume and Roganic) and sweetcorn, it does what Rogan does best: combines technique, puts lesser know ingredients centre stage and tastes fabulous.

Rogan's menus have generally been too varied for there to be one signature dish, but if there is one, it is perhaps becoming his use of coal oil with raw meat, today ox. With the addition of pumpkin seeds, kohlrabi and sunflower shoots, what is in any case top quality ox is lifted by smoky and roasted notes with textures spanning the range. It's this dish in particular that caused Allan Jenkins of The Observer to say on Twitter (18/9/13) 'proof of stone cold genius'.

The French succeeds not only because Rogan works every hour god sends and if his name is attached to it, he wants to make sure it is 100% right, but more so because he has grown a team of loyal colleagues who share his values and can therefore deliver on his vision. Accordingly, in the front of house, Kamila greets you on the front desk, as she did on our visit to L'enclume in 2012. Rebecca, who served us so well on that occasion it compelled us to mention her in the blog post of that meal also is now delivering that same wonderful and knowledgeable FOH manner to customers at The French. As for the kitchen, Simon's chefs know they could be asked to work in any restaurant at the drop of a hat but the result is a consistency of standards on the plate and a dispersion of knowledge within the group.

So why didn't The French get its M star this year? We assume Michelin's finally tuned publicity machine understands the value of letting the press proclaimed 'restaurant wars' between Simon and Aiden simmer for another year with all those column inches and back room chit chat. In our view, it's something of a disgrace and highlights a self serving inconsistency at Michelin, for The French and L'enclume enjoy so much crossover that we cannot fathom how one can be at two stars and the other at none. But don't be fooled, The French is the real deal.

Readers of our blog will know that we are huge fans of Simon's food and each year we ensure we make the trip to Cumbria to sample the delights of L'enclume, which in our books ranks in our top three all time dining experiences (together with El Bulli and Can Roca). At the recent Cateys awards (July 2013), Simon Rogan won not only the Best Chef award for L'enclume but Best Restaurateur also. Having eaten at The French twice now, it is easy to understand why: in opening The French, Simon has created a worthy sister restaurant to L'enclume that succeeds in delivering all that is so special about his unique style of food. That's quite an achievement to pull off once again.

Step through the door of Berners Tavern for the first time and almost certainly your first audible mutterance will be 'wow'. You'll instantly take in that Berners Tavern is not a tavern at all, in fact, it more closely resembles a stately home than a tavern for the building boasts triple height ceilings, chandeliers, intricate original plaster work extending to and across the ceiling and listed building status. And oodles of paintings. Open less than a week and attached to the Ian Schrager hotel The London Edition on Berners Street, there is little doubt that no expense has been spared to make this one of the most visually stunning dining rooms in London right now. Before you even start, you feel like a million dollars and we love it.

But before anyone jumps to the conclusion of style over substance, if you don't already know, Berners Tavern is a Jason Atherton restaurant, and while the pace of Atherton's openings in the past 12 months seems relentless, he has in our opinion maintained quality throughout. What you will also have gathered just by looking at the banner picture is that Berners Tavern is unlike his other restaurants and brings a fresh approach into the Jason Atherton stable. Inspired by all day dining in a style of European grand cafes, Berners Tavern will offer breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner and supper (10:30pm to 12am); we have little doubt it will be a huge success.

The menu here is a well thought through affair, offering comfort style food but with a trademark Atherton twist that takes it to the next level. There is a classic fruits of the sea to share, steaks (Buccleuch Estate and Devon ruby red), and even sandwiches where you can opt for a burger, crispy rock shrimp roll or BBQ pulled old spot pork. We tried the pulled pork and rock shrimp roll at last week's guest launch and both delivered not only excellent food, but excellent value too, priced at £11.50 and £12.50 respectively (and that includes chips so no additional sides necessary).

If however you want cooking that showcases Atherton's individual style, that too is present. We remember at the opening of Pollen Street Social the superb 'all day breakfast' as a starter, here there is 'Egg, Ham and Peas' offering a deep fried duck egg, crispy ham and mushy peas (and even that comes with a small tub of fries). The dishes are, as we have experienced each and every time in Atherton's restaurants, cooked to perfection and with the average price of starters around £8.50, the standard of cooking and opulence of the room makes it feel special to eat here, but not in a Park Lane Hotel kind of way. There's an informality about Berners Tavern, as its name perhaps seeks to imply, something that the eternally grounded Atherton has sought in all his restaurants and, in our view, has achieved. It's a place you want to be and despite having eaten at Berners Tavern twice now, we are already plotting to return.

On mains, we pushed the boat out with the Roasted Shoulder of Romney Marsh Lamb with char grilled cabbage, roasted parsnips, cabbage and mint pesto for two (£70). Realistically this would easily serve three and four at a squeeze. Brought to the table in its roasting dish, pulling the lamb off the bone with only your fork before pushing it through the pan juices yields a mouthful of heaven that so few restaurants could ever realistically aspire to. Yet again, as enjoyed at Social Eating House, Atherton makes brilliance seem effortless.   

As we reflect on this later in the day, we wonder if this is the dividend generated when great skill combines with great management and an all together good guy. We admire chefs that have a singular focus on making their one restaurant the best it can be and take it to the highest levels, but it is impossible not to admire Atherton's achievement also in delivering a stable of winning restaurants. Like long time collaborator Paul Hood who worked with Jason at Maze and now heads up Social Eating House, Berners Tavern is headed up by Phil Carmichael who as Jason explained in an interview with Hot Dinners was 'the first chef I ever employed at Maze'. Meanwhile in the front of house, for now at least, you'll spot familiar faces from Pollen Street Social such as Mike West (also formerly Maze) and Laure Patry, PSS and formerly head sommelier of, err... Maze.

In a poll published by Zagat just days ago, the most popular restaurant in London was named as The Wolseley. We (broadly) understand why and till now, what could challenge it for all day dining on a grand scale where you can feel a million dollars for main courses that start from just £11.50? Berners Tavern is all that and more because the venue, the design and the chef all contribute a little magic into the mix; the result is a lot of magic. For sure, we're huge Jason Atherton fans, but from the sublime pan juices of the lamb to the sheer indulgence of the oozing chocolate from the chocolate donut dessert, this is food to be heartily enjoyed, but at a standard few can achieve, and certainly in a room that is almost impossible to emulate. Berners Tavern has just raised the bar on London's dining scene.  

Jason is cooking at our forthcoming charity dinner EatPlayLove

When the sun is shining, Angler restaurant has one of the best places to enjoy lunch in the City with a 7th floor roof top terrace situated atop South Place Hotel. These tables can't be booked however - first come, first served - so it pays to be early, or late, when you can pick up a turned table. This is in fact my third visit to Angler (both previous visits took place in 2012), but while the first was excellent, the second took place during the busy run up to Christmas and was less good. We decided that this meal would act as the decider.

As its name suggests, Angler is a seafood restaurant and while there are non fish dishes (1x beef, 1x pork, 1x lamb, 1x veggie on mains), it's best that you're a fish fan if you eat here. Located in the Square Mile, a place still short of good restaurants and certainly fish restaurants (the awful Catch at the Andaz has now closed and been reinvented as a champagne bar thankfully), Angler has become something of a City lunchtime favourite it seems and on our visit, there were no shortage of suits on display. Given the clientele, and with South Place Hotel positioning itself in the market as a stylish boutique hotel, don't expect prices to be cheap, with starters averaging about £13 and mains £25. On our visit, there was however a good looking great value set lunch menu at £30 that included three courses and a glass of Laurent Perrier champagne; we were almost tempted.

The first page of the menu has headings Crustacea, Oysters, Caviar, Starters. We picked half a dozen Rock oysters to start (split between Colchester and Mersea) with the Colchester oysters just huge though the slightly more expensive and smaller Mersea were the better of the two. After that, starters proper, with a langoustine and lobster cocktail that is priced at £18, and a shellfish ravioli at £13.50. Both of these dishes were excellent, and as we mused on the £18 price tag for the cocktail (Orkney Island langoustine at Angler are priced at £5 each so the cocktail price is perhaps no big surprise), because this classic had been re-imagined so well, there was no later remorse.

Mains fared less well. We chatted with the restaurant manager later about the merits of leaving the skin on a fish if it is not intended to be eaten. With the steamed wild sea bass, because of the cooking method, the skin remains soft and not suitable for eating but is left on for presentation purposes. We recalled Michel Roux Jnr telling a Masterchef contestant that things that aren't supposed to be eaten shouldn't be on a plate. The sea-bass itself however was nice though the ragout of razor clams, chorizo and marjoram was dominated by what seemed like tomato paste, sadly allowing the razor clam to offer only texture to the dish.

The halibut meanwhile was a cross section cut through the fish and then halved along the spine. Accordingly there was skin top and bottom of the steak, neither of which was asking to be eaten, and while the main spine bone was easy and obvious to remove, inappropriately, over a dozen other bones of around 10mm in length were also present through the fish. Management apologised for this error and offered a free glass of champagne to us. Angler is not trying to be Nathan Outlaw and do something super clever with fish, it's mostly classic stuff, and having been open for around 6 months now, they should be nailing dishes like this every time, surely? If this were a business meeting with a client (or being a client) which are so plentiful here, hunting for and pulling a bone out of your mouth with each bite would be a major distraction during the meal at the very least.

For desserts (around £7), it was a chocolate fondant with cherry yoghurt ice cream and hazelnut cake, salted caramel, lime and vanilla sorbet. They were the weakest part of the meal. The hazelnut cake, offering no thrills, was dominated by a biting lime sorbet, the salted caramel not registering at all. The chocolate fondant was good enough but the cherry yoghurt ice cream not so. With so many high quality ice creams available from the supermarket now, a restaurant should never fall at this particular hurdle.

This is not a cheap meal, with prices appropriately pitched for the City market (which is mostly expensed), but at those prices, the dishes should be nailing it more than they are. The setting was lovely, the service generally good, though stretched due to the good weather adding 40 more outside covers to the lunchtime tally, and the early part of the meal excellent. While there is a shellfish platter as a shared (?) starter, we would have been more happy to see a big fruit de mer available as a main course, especially with hindsight. Third time lucky still sees me pondering the merits of Angler. Overall, we enjoyed our meal, but should have enjoyed it more.

The pictures below were taken at a dinner in 2012.

After achieving 5 AA Rosettes in the 2012 guide, a second Michelin star followed in the 2013 Michelin Guide meaning that Michael Wignall at The Latymer is one of the most decorated restaurants in the country; we visit with big expectations. The restaurant is set within Pennyhill Park Hotel, a country house hotel in Surrey placing it 34 miles from Piccadilly Circus with a journey time (on a good day) of an hour, but with the hotel set in over 60 acres of ground, it feels a million miles away from the bustle of the capital.

The website shows a three course a la carte menu available for dinner at £78 per person and a ten course tasting menu at £92. This places it slightly below its London 2 star peer group where typically three courses might be £90 and the tasting £115. At lunch, there is a reduced tasting menu for which we were charged £60, though the kitchen kindly sent out additional courses so it more closely approximated the dinner experience. While there may be a price discount to London, The Latymer is very much a full on luxury experience with a plush dining surround befitting a country house hotel that means that you'll be perfectly comfortable at your table over the duration of your meal. Exquisite crockery meanwhile serves to further enhance the appeal of already beautifully presented food (the main course dinner plates, cropped in the photo below, are perhaps the largest we have even seen and are themselves objets d'art).

We asked some chef friends ahead of our visit about Michael Wignall's cooking and we were told that it involved a lot of hard work and was highly complex, which intrigued us more than a little. On Pennyhill Park's own website they note that while Michael first won a Michelin star 14 years ago, he was also given the accolade of Best Chef you have never heard of by Olive magazine. Michael Wignall himself describes his food 'complex and carefully crafted'. What does this mean in practice? Well, one dish is on the menu as 'poached cod and langoustine, scallop and charcoal emulsion, textures of cauliflower, Iberico lardo veil'. And breathe.

So Michael is very much his own man and while the young guns are serving burnt onions in the Nordic style, and rarely use more than three ingredients on any one plate, Michael clearly lets his vivid imagination flow and every plate is packed with multiple ingredients and multiple techniques. Critically though, it all works and across the ten courses we ate, we adored every dish.

Will it wont it? Tasting menus at any restaurant you don't know carry some risk and the first dish is invariably a good signpost to how the rest of the meal will go. Heaven or hell? Here, our first dish is Smoked eel cigar and salad, chicken poached in Asian stock, coriander and yoghurt, ponzu pearls, curry emulsion. As soon as it is set down in front of us, the intricacy of the plate leaves you in no doubt how much hard work has gone into this dish, something that would be true of everything we were served that day, and the journey begins.

Every single ingredient is cooked to perfection, the flavours shine individually but work brilliantly well as a whole; the food is incredibly sophisticated, yet it is neither unapproachable nor excessively out the box (like say 21212). We love the fact that it is neither classical nor avant garde, and it certainly doesn't play to any of the prevailing trends, rather, the food is Michael Wignall and that most definitely should be applauded. The result too is diversity but without it ever feeling disjointed: the main of 'Poached and roasted breast of croise duck' plays a more traditional card while the 'exotic egg' for dessert simulates an egg with a coconut 'white' and a mango 'yolk' that places a broad smile on your face when you split it open to see the 'yolk' run through the dish. It brings more joy when you spoon it up with the cinnamon "pain perdu" rounding out for a pleasing and reinvented egg and soldiers. Genius.

Earlier however in the menu you'll enjoy a 'cassoulet of razor, palourde calms and cockles, cuttlefish gnocchi and wafer, poached quail egg' which is something else again, a beautifully presented dish where the wafer looks like a barnacle covered rock, the egg hinting at a closed sea anemone and a foam that evokes the breaking surf. We loved, loved, loved this dish, delivering an original taste of the sea. Talking of foams, Michael seems happy to use the technique as necessary, and spherification too, but it works and is only ever a part of a greater scheme, it's never a point in itself.

There are so many reasons to love this meal. We have argued in the past that a number of 'top restaurant' tasting menus are too predictable, bordering on lazy, with their ballotine of foie gras, scallop and other luxury staples, all presented little more than cooked well; admittedly, not everyone has agreed with our view. But where we will always sing our highest praise is where a chef has a unique style that presents a personal vision of what dining means to them, chefs like Simon Rogan, David Everitt-Matthias and Brett Graham; we find Michael Wignall to be another such chef. We had high hopes prior to visiting Michael Wignall at The Latymer, all of which were exceeded. When you get tired of yet another London brasserie, or the new new Nordic scene, The Latymer offers something unique. Accordingly, until you have actually enjoyed Michael's cooking, you haven't enjoyed Michael's cooking.

Scroll down for a few words on the Pennyhill Park.

Pennyhill Park is country house hotel and is part of the Exclusive Hotels group, who include in their group South Lodge Hotel (Matt Gillan, The Pass restaurant) and Manor House Hotel & Golf Club (Richard Davies, The Bybrook), both of which are Michelin starred. It's a group that takes hospitality seriously and their CRM system is second to none (they had even recorded our still/sparkling water preference!).

We were kindly given a tour of the hotel, a room or two, and their spa which is simply fantastic. Below are a few pictures we took at the time which show the beautifully kept grounds in which it is set, the outdoor pool, the indoor pool and a room within the hotel together with one of the more interesting bathrooms. Admittedly, we're not spa people so are not totally qualified to comment on what is or is not cutting edge in the field, but the spa here looked the business and inspired us sufficiently to want to return not only for the restaurant but to enjoy the broader amenities of the hotel. 

Theo Randall's recent TV appearance on The Chef's Protege prompted us to visit his restaurant at The InterContinental, for Theo came across well in the programme and his food, rustic Italian, always looked and sounded good on the show. The BBC series comes perhaps as a timely boost to Theo's profile as we both realised that in the three years of our blog's life, it had occurred to neither of us to eat here until now (and according to Urbanspoon, this is the first blog post on this restaurant in 2013).

Having heard Theo talk about the ethos of his food over the past few weeks on the show, we can confidently state that his food philosophy centres on using Italy's best ingredients for maximum flavour, but with only a few ingredients on any one plate at any one time - nothing should be over complicated. Balance, seasoning and precise cooking are key. This comes across fully in the menu that brings together all those wonderful Italian ingredients in classic combinations, so our antipasti dishes are Bresaola with wild rocket, pinenuts, Amalfi lemons and Parmigiano Reggiano, and Salumi misti - prosciutto di Parma, schiena, Toscano and fennel salami, capocollo, lardo bruschetta with marinated vegetables "agro dolce". Both are wonderful plates of food, and the quality of what's on the plate is unmistakable.

The same is true of the Primi where a linguine with Dorset blue lobster, tomatoes, parsley and fresh chilli provides an absolutely beautiful lobster with the pasta, though if there's a criticism here, it is that too much sauce on the dish sees it overly dominate the plate making it hard to appreciate just how good the pasta really is. A taglierini with new season's peas, prosciutto, mint and Parmigiano Reggiano is again classic and here, the pasta is so well done and the flavours balanced so nicely, even when you finished, the dish lingers in the mouth reminding you of just how good it is long after it's gone.

As nice as the food is however, the restaurant suffers in our opinion from being in the hotel. From our seat, which is a good seat, we can see the bell boys wheeling luggage through the hotel lobby, there's no windows in the dining room and while the room is smart, it is without character. It's also very big and with only a handful of tables taken, the atmosphere is flat. Taking a cue from the room perhaps, the staff too seemed flat, going through the motions with little enthusiasm. There's few features of interest to distract you either, a narrow window through to the extensive kitchen is something of a token as virtually nothing can be seen and none of the drama of the kitchen (if there is any) spills over to the dining room.

The space allocated to the restaurant seems too large even and with the restaurant already seating well in excess of 100 covers on our estimate, they've given over surplus space to what appears to be a reception area. Presumably there was some event to be held here at dinner because throughout our meal they're rearranging furniture and discussing what tables to put where and what cloths should be laid in what fashion, something usually done between, rather than during, service. It distracts us, and it distracts them and service feels patchy. Also, as if for comic purposes, they made a hash of it.

Service issues feature again when our waiter clears our main courses (veal chop and pigeon) and at the table, scrapes the leftovers between plates as if this were a greasy spoon cafe. We discuss the issues with the restaurant manager resulting in our waiter being visibly irritated with us, simmering hostility. When he delivers a 'selection of desserts to share', he sets it down and walks away. We call him back and ask him what desserts we have on the selection; he struggles to name the four desserts on the plate and then sources a menu so he can read off the description.

Of course, all this is forgivable in the majority of restaurants, but here, you're paying some of the biggest prices in the country to eat. On the main courses, the pigeon is £31, the veal chop £38. The lobster linguine was £23 while antipasti dishes are around the £14 mark. Food with service then will set you back just under £100 a head, and at this price point, for a Park Lane restaurant, the service standard should be impeccable, as it is at Galvin at Windows, or Le Gavroche. 

In many ways, there's simply a brand incongruence here it would seem, for on Theo Randall's website he says

I hate formality and pretence. My favourite places to eat in the world are all in Italy... they are brilliant, not simply because they serve delicious food, but because they are fun and relaxed.

But as you enter the InterContinental hotel, passing the Rolls Royces parked outside, fun and relaxed can simply never describe this restaurant in our view. Instead, it's a smart but not fashionable, ultra-expensive restaurant that exactly fits in to its Park Lane surrounds, where the food really is first class, but where the ambiance struggles to rise above hotel lobby and the service gives the impression of simply not knowing better. 

Our conclusion is quite simple: Theo Randall's food is undoubtedly excellent but the InterContinental is entirely the wrong situation in which to serve it, in our opinion.

The Dorchester is one of the very best hotels in London. Despite being owned by the Brunei Investment Agency, there's still a sense of Britishness to the place and while I've never set foot inside The Grill restaurant before, I am hoping and thinking that it will carry the same standards as the rest of the hotel and that for London residents and foreign visitors alike, it will showcase just how good a British Grill can be. Given my recent struggle to find a really good Sunday lunch served up in a London restaurant, this seems the ideal challenge and a very nice idea: Sunday lunch at the Dorchester Grill.

The room itself is decorated in tartan (like err, Boisdale) which I can only assume is to connect you in to the same idea of Angus beef etc. Your big, padded tartan chair is comfortable, tables with table cloths are immaculately laid and staff provide a warm welcome. The Sunday menu gives you a choice of 5/5/5 on starters, mains and desserts with essentially classics on the main course options which is precisely why you are here and what you expect. But aside of smoked salmon on the starters, your opening dish has several interesting and even surprising options including cuttle fish, heritage tomato and squid ink dressing, and my choice, glazed calves sweetbread, white asparagus, crispy chicken wings and black trompettes.

Before the starter arrived however, the bread basket. Despite dining by myself, a basket containing five varieties of bread (all made in-house) was brought to the table together with three butters. I actually tried each of the breads and they were all fantastic. I knew I had much food on the way and while we are never normally big on munching through bread pre-lunch, for once I had to hold myself back for I could have quite easily grazed through everything provided. When my sweatbreads and crispy chicken wings arrived, appropriately tender sweeetbreads contrasted nicely with chicken wings that had been taken to as far as crispy can be before it's overdone. 

But on a Sunday roast, it is always the main course that should be the star and here, the beef as you would expect in a traditional Grill is wheeled round on a silver trolley and carved and plated in front of you. The trolley contained several joints cooked to varying degrees so however you like your beef cooked, it's available. This seems a preferable approach to merely providing the end cuts of the joint for those who want it more cooked and the middle if you want it less cooked, an approach which favours customers at the start of service before customers can only have whatever is left.

The beef today was a rib joint, carved beautifully and thin, but with a good few slices so you end up with a satisfyingly large pile of medium rare beef on your plate. You're asked if you want the red wine gravy spooned over (yes) and a good amount is provided (so many places provide too little gravy!). Also on your plate, there are two large roast potatoes, a Yorkshire pudding and plenty of veg. Varieties of mustard and horseradish are left on the table and the overall result is an enormous plate of food with everything you could want. But the best bit is that the quality is there too, the beef is first class, the red wine gravy rich, and the bit that so many places struggle with, ie, everything else, that's done pretty good too. The roast potatoes and Yorkshire pud are essentially how they should be and the plate is cleared with pleasure.This is pretty much the best Sunday lunch I've had in a London restaurant and apart from nitpicks, I struggle to find fault.

Dessert, I choose a Hazelnut chocolate moelleux, provided a further surprise and was utterly fantastic, being a sphere of chocolate with a totally liquid centre that breaks like an Easter egg and sees some of the chocolate run everywhere and some sitting in a puddle in the larger parts of the now broken sphere, all of which came with a contrasting freshness from a frozen blackberry crumble. For chocolate lovers, it was a beautiful thing and I loved this original take on a moelleux.

Service was also excellent throughout, the staff at The Grill really understanding that highly professional service can still be friendly service and I thought that every member of staff I interacted with undertook their task so very well; I have only praise for them. I had hoped my Sunday lunch at The Grill would be good, but instead I found it to be exceptional. I was also pleasantly surprised that the price for the three course Sunday lunch was £38 which prices it in line with many other Sunday menus around the capital, but given the quality here, that elevates it substantially above the competition on value. As far as I am concerned then, on my Sunday outings thus far, The Grill at The Dorchester has set the benchmark for what Sunday lunch should be and how it should be delivered. I left my lunch table full up and delighted, a very good Sunday indeed.