As India is currently my destination du jour, I was longing to see what the fuss was about. Dishoom is new to the scene having only open in July, though with its old school look, feels like an institution. With starchy photos of the owner’s own family sitting alongside Bollywood posters and ancient adverts for Lux Flakes, there is enough to keep even a lone breakfaster entertained.

The roof terrace has been domed for Christmas and the view is spectacular. For one thing you’re a lot nearer to Nelson than you will ever otherwise be and can actually make out the expression on his face. He looks like a Londoner who has finally made out the number of the approaching red bus and it isn’t the one he was waiting for.

Duncan Sambrook threw a little party to celebrate the arrival of the new Sambrook’s porter. Qin Xie went to investigate the latest offering from the London brewery.

Ireland has a new claim to fame – top tapas! As Neil Tanner, a catering student from the Emerald Isle, wins the international tapas contest in Valladolid, Spain with Irish Breakfast Tapas, we’re on the spot to join the celebrations.

Last week I was invited to try my hand at making a few ‘F1 quality” nibbles at Absolute Taste at Harvey Nichols. The F1 quality is not to blow my own horn of course but rather because Absolute Taste started out as a hospitality company catering to the VIP guests of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes around the world.

I was invited recently to Moti Mahal to attend a five course dinner, pairing their wonderfully tasty Indian cuisine with wines from Indian wine producers Grover Vineyards. I can tell you is that during the evening I tasted some excellent food, courtesy of Moti Mahal’s chef and some very good interesting wines from India, courtesy of the people at Grover, both of which I enjoyed very much.

With Halloween falling on a Sunday this year, there’s a whole weekend of ghoulish foodie events to attend. we’ve picked a couple just to get you started.

It has been suggested that I would go to the opening of a bottle and well, it’s sort of true, in this event anyway. Vagabond, a new wine merchant, opened to the public recently and I was asked along to their official launch. How could I turn down such an invitation?

At these prices you can enjoy the Canaletto Venetian exhibition and eat an unusual but satisfying meal without pushing the gondola out, so it’s well worth a punt we say. Ah now that’s witty wordplay.

Qin Xie was invited to The Montagu at Hyatt Regency, London, to sample a rather special meal. The meal was special in that the entire menu had been created to complement a small portfolio of six New Zealand wines rather than the usual method of matching wine to food. It’s also special because these new world wines are almost exclusive to The Montagu restaurant at the Hyatt Regency since so few cases have been imported into the UK.