The kitchen has a lot of character too! There are wicker baskets displaying lemons, tomatoes, bread and garlic. A cake stand at the kitchen counter displayed the scones and fruit tarts.

For a light lunch, the starter of oyster and field mushrooms on toasted sourdough bread was just right. The mushrooms were cooked with cream, white wine and tarragon. The mushrooms and the sauce complimented each other. The sourdough bread slices were fresh.

To drink, I was craving a cup of tea, but then decided to end the meal with the tea. Just before I ordered my tea, my friend pointed out the cream tea option on the dessert menu. The combination of a pot of tea, scone, jam and clotted cream was difficult to resist! So both my friend and I decided to indulge and go for the cream tea.

The Earl Grey tea was lovely and just what I needed. The scone was fairly big and fresh and it was served warm. The little dishes contained the clotted cream and blackberry jam. There was plenty of jam and cream for the scone.

The staff were so lovely at The French Kitchen! While I was waiting for my friend, several members of staff came to me to ask if I was ok and if I’d like a drink while I waited. But they weren’t pushy in any sort of a way. The atmosphere was very relaxed and the place had a good vibe to it. The lighting was quite soft, even in the daytime.

In our time at this restaurant, several dishes passed by our table! All of the food looked really nice and well presented.

The French Kitchen, 95-97 High Holborn, London, WC1V 6LF

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

The warm atmosphere is set by its tones of deep reds and browns for the décor. There was a big bar area at one end of the restaurant, displaying all the shelves of spirit bottles! Downstairs, there was also a floor dedicated to private dining.

Mestizo has an extensive menu which ranges from small dishes, specials, tacos to the classic chilli chocolate mole dishes. We were given some tortillas with dips to start with. It was a decision between the tacos and one of the specials. I chose the vegetarian Chile Rellenis De Flor De Calabaza Y Queso.

The Chile Rellenis De Flor De Calabaza Y Queso was a pablano pepper filled with courgette flower, sweetcorn, courgette and mozzarella. The pablano pepper had a soft texture and it was melt in the mouth. The little silver pot of beans was topped with a sprinkling of cheese. Together with the rice, beans, pepper and vegetables, this made for a satisfying tasty meal!

The waitress told me that this pablano pepper dish was not cheese heavy, so I was pleased about that. When the main course was served, the pepper was covered in a yellow layer. I just assumed that this was cheese. But after tasting it, it was a sweetcorn sauce which I was definitely happy about!

A couple of friends opted for the Taco Tray! This was presented beautifully. Twelve individual bowls filled with the different meats, salsas, guacamole, beans, onions, sour cream, sauces and garnishes! A small basket contained the soft flour tortillas. Again, another filling meal.

The staff were really friendly and attentive at Mestizo. As we were a fairly big group dining, we all arrived at different times. But as soon as each person arrived, we were asked what we would like to drink. It was not like we had to look for the staff, they just came to us, which is the way it should be.

Even when we needed an extra seat at the table, the staff did not complain. They swiftly put an extra chair on our round window table.

The evening out at Mestizo was thoroughly enjoyable! Great food, good company and a fun catch up time with friends from near and far!

Mestizo, 103 Hampstead Road, London, NW1 3EL

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Yauatcha has a blue theme with a wonderful fish tank along one wall of the restaurant. Just inside the entrance is the counter fridge displaying the many eye catching desserts. The soft lighting sets the mood of the restaurant.  There is some cushioned seating and also some round white tables and dark leather chairs.

Two floors make up the dining area with the lower level having a livelier vibe. There are little alcoves decorated with tea lights and a panelled low level beige and dark wood ceiling.

The waitress was really friendly and so welcoming. She made our time at Yauatcha feel very personal and special. We were instantly put at ease and made to feel comfortable. All throughout the meal, she made sure that everything was okay. The menu was explained thoroughly and we learnt a lot about the many different teas that Yauatcha serves, from the normal black teas right through to the blue teas!

About the teas, the big dark tea caddies lined the shelves along the back wall of the restaurant. The tea was served by the pot.

Instead of the tea this time though, I was taken by the Hakkasan Virgin cocktail. This is a speciality of Hakkasan restaurants, which Yauatcha is a part of. This sweet cocktail was truly amazing! It was a combination of lychee, passion fruit and coconut. If you like Pina Colada, then the Hakkasan Virgin cocktail could be your new favourite drink! It has the right amount of coconut so that it is not a heavy drink.

Yauatcha does food of a high quality and all of the dishes were presented beautifully. The portion sizes were big, which took us by surprise, as we were expecting them to be quite small. After we had finished our starters, we were given clean fresh plates for us to have our main meal. All through the meal, the staff cleared up the crumbs from the table and made sure that our table remained clean and clutter free.

So, now onto the food. We had a pretty fantastic selection of starters and mains and made sure that we had some room left for the desserts.

Two lotus leaf parcels were filled with sticky rice, tasty chicken and dried shrimp. The prawn toast were three round balls packed full of juicy prawn and coated with sesame seeds.

The char sui cheung fun had a delicious barbecued pork filling. The outer white coating was not too thin or too sticky. The chilli squid was coated with oatmeal and curry leaf. This sounded like an odd combination, especially with the crumbly oatmeal, but the flavours definitely worked. The squid was really soft and moist.

As for the meat dishes, none of them disappointed. The classic crispy aromatic duck was a plate of tender shredded duck. The meat was not at all fatty and it had a great crispy skin. Small thin warm pancakes, together with cucumber matchsticks, strips of spring onion and finally the plum sauce were perfect for the duck wraps.

Another great meat choice was the sweet and sour Berkshire pork. These ribs were coated in a sweetish sauce and again the meat was cooked so well, that it just fell off the bone.

That all made up our first round of food! An interesting main dish was the Mongolian style venison. This was in a butter and black pepper sauce. This was the first time that I had ever had venison. I was expecting it to be a really heavy dense chewy meat, but this definitely wasn’t the case. The chunks of venison were melt in the mouth and it was beautifully cooked. It reminded me a bit of lamb.

The venison dish also had big slices of peppers and onions. There was a vegetable in this dish that we really could not tell what it was. It was slightly spongy like aubergine but also was a bit like courgette. As we couldn’t identify it, we asked our waitress what it was. She solved our mystery by telling us that it was the trumpet mushroom and also gave us some information on it!

The traditional style fried sea bass were two fillets of fish. These were with an osmanthus sauce. The fish had a light delicate flavour.

Our vegetable dish of spicy aubergine, sato bean, okra and french bean was wonderful. The skinless aubergine chunks still had some firmness to them. The vegetables were not at all over cooked.

Lastly, we had a stir fried udon noodle dish. The noodles were coated in a black pepper sauce and had strips of vegetables running through it.

We were surprised that we didn’t need any rice to go with our main meal! This was a good choice as it meant that we truly got to appreciate all the flavours and textures of the cuisine.

The desserts all looked so tempting and we were spoilt for choice. Luckily, there were a few of us dining, so we got to have a selection and sample the different delights.

As it was another special occasion, a slightly late birthday celebration, one of the desserts was presented differently for the birthday girl! The rose flower shaped raspberry delice was presented on a slate, with a scoop of ice cream, fresh raspberries and wafer thin chocolate. The raspberry delice had a soft chocolate centre, raspberry sauce, biscuit and had a red powder like coating.

Three big sesame seed balls were served warm. They had a crispy outer and the inner had an oozing black sesame seed centre. It was actually quite a nice dessert!

A dark plate contained the colourful macaroons. The selection that we had were cherry, coconut and strawberry. They had the crunchy outer and a chewy softer inside, just like they should be!

Saving the best till last, was my favourite of coconut charlotte! This was a combination of white chocolate, coconut, mint and basil. There was a thin layer of mango puree running through this dessert.

Yauatcha definitely gets my vote! It is an amazing place and the food was absolutely wonderful! Dining at Yauatcha, we got to sample new tastes and items. All of which impressed me thoroughly!

Yauatcha, 15-17 Broadwick Street, Soho, London, W1F 0DL

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars