Precision engineering?

The Engineer

Rating: Four stars

As the stomping ground of Kate Moss and Co., Primrose Hill may be the perfect place to watch celebrity scandal unfold before your eyes, but it's also a great place to head for dinner.

The delightful Odettes may well have been crowned top dog in this lovely slice north london, but The Engineer is a less pricey alternative that offers some very good food.

On my last visit I opted for the char-grilled rib of British beef on the bone, peppercorn sauce & chips, which came in at £25. So yes it isn't cheap, but wow this has to be the best piece of steak I've ever been lucky enough to get my knashers around. Cooked rare (of course!) the meat melted in my mouth and as a result of being left on the bone it was extra tasty. The chips and peppercorn sauce came up tops too.

My only criticism is that the choice of sides wasn't the most adventurous and, ideally, I'd have preferred to have seen a bit more thought go into what would best complement this well-deserving chunk of meat.

Still, I'd recommend you pay The Engineer a visit and if you want to preview their latest menu go to
www.the-engineer.com

Mamma mia!

Al Parco Pizzeria

Rating: Four and a half stars


I've never been a great lover of pizza and, for years, I only craved this ultimate carb-fest after a few too many glasses of pinot.

But my feelings soon changed when I was introduced to Al Parco pizzeria, which you'll find at the bottom of Highgate Hill.

The stonebaked pizzas are divine. No really. They melt in your mouth like no other pizza I've tried before. In particular the artichoke, oliver and mushroom combo is the stuff of dreams.

The bonus is that their pizzas won't break the bank either. They range from £7 to £10 each and are big enough to ensure you have a waddle to your step as you bid farewell.

Win fabulous foodie prizes

Observer Food Monthly Awards 2011

For those of you who haven't already devoured the latest edition of Observer Food Monthly, make sure you check out the online version at www.observer.co.uk/foodawards to be in with a chance of winning prizes that will make you drool.

To win, all you've got to do is offer up your foodie opinions by voting in The Observer Food Monthly Awards 2011.

Prizes up for grabs include a wine trip to Bordeaux, dinner for four at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal (a prize I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed to win!), a luxury break at the Wiltshire Manor House plus loads more.

Good luck!

All aboard..

New Harbour Restaurant
Rating: Five stars

Newquay may be a renowned destination for stag and hen dos, but delve a little deeper and you'll discover that this Cornish town has far more to offer.

In particular, look towards Newquay's lovely harbour for inspiration, as here lies New Harbour Restaurant.

As you approach the wooden hut-like eatery, watch out for the large, filtered rock pools, which hold a bevy of lobsters and crabs, including fearsome looking spider crabs. But while the children gasp in awe, inside the chefs are sharpening their knives as they prepare to bring in their catch.

My family and I visited New Harbour Restaurant on the first night of a seven-day trip to Newquay this month. And, after admiring the stunning sunset over the Atlantic Ocean, we set to work admiring their food menu.

Tempting us with all the ocean has to offer, New Harbour Restaurant's menu is well thought out, specialising in fresh and simple seafood. But for those with a penchant for meat, the menu also offers steaks and pork tenderloin. For us, however, there could be no other option but the seafood as we all succumbed to the lure of Fruits de Mer (£35).

This gastronomic banquet comprises of half a lobster, an abundance of juicy crab claws, mussels and a generous chunk of harbour fish, all of which is served in a delicious, creamy white wine sauce. You can rest assured that the seafood is fresh too, as soon after ordering, the chefs walked back through the restaurant with our dinners wiggling in their grasp. The faint hearted best look away!

Fruits de Mer impressed us so much that we couldn't resist a return visit, and, on our last evening in Cornwall, we did it all over again.

A delicious restaurant, with friendly staff and incredible seafood, New Harbour Restaurant proves that there's more to Newquay than just sticks of rock and cider.

Café culture

Kalendar
Rating: Three stars

Guaranteed to be bustling, whatever the month of year it is, Kalendar offers good food with the opportunity for a large dollop of people-watching.

Based on the very pretty Swain's Lane, opposite Hampstead Heath, Kalendar's extensive cafe-style menu has seen it become a popular haunt for locals, with dogs of every size and shape in tow.

We headed their today for brunch and opted for a large eggs benedict (£7.95) and a small meze platter (£6.95).

The eggs benedict was a triumph - with runny egg yolks, cripsy bacon and a perfectly toasted muffin. The meze platter was ok, but the presentation let it down, as the dips has been sloppily piled on the plate. The flavours of the dips, however, helped to rescue the dish and in particular, the fresh home-made tzatziki was delicious.

Planning a quiet weekend? Wiling the hours away in Kalender's Al Fresco eating area is definitely recommended.

Chinatown hang-ups

Hung's
Rating: Three stars

Finding good food in Chinatown is a little bit like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

But this was the mission I set myself last night. And, after half an hour spent googling 'best restaurants in Chinatown', one restaurant kept popping up - Hung's.

Its owners may not have been blessed with a talent for naming restaurants, but the reviews I found online promised that its chefs were a cut above above the rest in Chinatown.

After a rather brusque welcome (the waiter grunted and pointed upstairs and we rightly guessed that this was our intended destination) we decided upon the seafood set menu at £22 per head.

Having just returned from a week spent gorging on fresh lobsters in Cornwall, this may not have been the wisest decision, but as a seafood addict, I need my regular fix.

Seafood broth was the starter of the night. Unfortunately the first mouthful tasted rather like gloopy dishwater. However, the further down the bowl we got, the better it became, and by the final mouthful it was actually very tasty.

The intermediare course was a whole lobster in a ginger and spring onion sauce. Generous in size, the lobster was enjoyable, but the sauce wasn't great - and suffered from the same complaint as the soup - it was just too gloopy.

To follow (and by this point we were pretty stuffed - but this is always the case when visiting Chinatown - right?) we had fried sweet and sour fish, scallops with pak choi and king prawns with asparagus. All of this was accompanied by some lovely king prawn rice that had been steamed in banana leaves. The scallop and king prawn dishes were flavoursome and lived up to the reviews I'd read online. The fish, however, was definitely not the catch-of-the-day and after trying a mouthful, we both decided our stomachs would be grateful if we gave it a wide birth.

Overall Hung's was an improvement on the rest of Chinatown's offerings, but I'm pretty certain there is better Chinese food to be found in London.

To the stars

Pied à Terre
Rating: Five stars

Nestled among Charlotte Street's bustling eateries, the seemingly discreet Pied à Terre is home to some of the Capital's most spectacular cuisine.

In March, to celebrate my birthday, my boyfriend took me on a surprise visit to the two Michelin star restaurant. And we weren't disappointed.

From the haughtily proud host and waiting staff to the enthusiastic assistance of the talented sommelier, Pied à Terre smacks of a restaurant that exceeds the norm. The impecable service was also extended to our taste buds, as Aussie chef Shane Osborn proceeded to wow them with every mouthful.

After sipping delicious champagne cocktails and enjoying intricately designed canapes that made us drool on their arrival, we then tucked into our starters. At £60 a head for a starter and a main, Pied à Terre isn't cheap, but the quality of food ensures it's still good value.

My starter of poached skate with a truffle and parmesan crust, suckling pig belly, braised leek, creamed chanterelles, cider and shallot jus proved that simple isn't always best. My boyfriend's starter of roasted quail breasts and confit leg with a salad of beetroot, cornichons, lancashire bomb cheese and pinenuts also exceeded expectations.

We put our trust in the sommelier's expertise and for each course asked him to provide the perfect wine. A decision we didn't regret. As we smoothly transgressed between New World and Old World wines, each glass had one thing in common; they perfectly complemented our choice of dishes.

For our main dish I ordered roasted breast of black leg chicken, creamed shiitake mushrooms, butternut squash, ventreche and black truffle, while my boyfriend opted for poached monkfish with salt baked Jerusalem artichokes, trompette de la mort, sea purslane, truffle and lemongrass jus gras. The quality of food, both in terms of taste and presentation (all of our dishes looked like pieces of art) continued to impress and remained faultless.

We finished our dinner with coffee, which comes with a tower of petits four - each one a beautiful crafted, sugary mouthful.

A top night, with top food and drink - I seriously recommend a visit to this gem of a restaurant. Enjoy!