Following a fire which closed the restaurant for three months, Douglas Blyde books into Benares, Mayfair.

Chino Latino is an excellent restaurant, we enjoyed our meal there and the ambience enormously. Situated on the south bank of the Thames, diagonally opposite the Houses of Parliament, it is a little away from central London’s restaurant land, but it is well worth making the effort to seek out.

Anita Pati gets into fine Italian dining but has to endure some psychotic career counseling for starters. Will the Ossobucco reveal its innermost secrets? Was the Scallop a mussel in its past life? Could Anita have picked a worse dining companion?

Dion’s lunch menu is more extensive than that for the evening which has its focus on bar food, though several of these are starter dishes from the lunch menu and we can assure you that these are not small. This is a great place for a lunch or an evening gathering during the week, the food is great.

Tucked away on Southwick Street in W2, you’d be forgiven for not knowing about Delima, a new Malaysian restaurant. A few minutes walk away from the bustling hub of the Edgware Road and Paddington Station, the locale of this eatery may prove to be its secret weapon, along with its impressive cuisine served at affordable prices.

Antonin Bonnet has held a Michelin star at The Greenhouse for the four years he has been working there, and it is thought by many that he should have been given a second this year. It certainly fits the French two star mold – silently swooping waiting staff who pull out your chair before you have a chance to reach for it yourself; a seriously priced tasting menu (£80 per person) and a bulging wine list that includes such treasures as a double magnum of Château Lafite‐Rothschild 1er Grand Cru Classé from 1959, which will set you back a tidy £15,500. Certainly one for a special occasion.

Aubrey has a nice atmosphere for a hotel restaurant, cosy, intimate, leathery and old time. American tourists must love it. It seems a shame that it may only attract hotel guests because the food while not aiming to be an artistic statement is certainly what I like to eat on a regular basis.

What does the name mean? The Pirate of Tapas? Does the chef look like Johnny Depp and have a cutlass clamped between his teeth? Are the prices High Seas’ robbery? Do staff say ‘Ahh harr matey!’ in Spanish when chef calls a ticket? Who knows, what is certain is that this second branch of the Mayfair original is a modern tapas restaurant all the way from its cool interior to its Bulli boy food. Tapas reconstructed in a way that marks it out from the patatas bravas brigade so prevalent in London.

Enoteca Turi is situated in Putney High Street, close to Putney Bridge, just a short walk from the main line station. As you enter the restaurant you are struck by its crisp but stylish homelike decor, it has a warm comfortable feel to it that is very inviting.This an excellent local restaurant, serving good regional Italian food and certainly an enjoyable place to visit.

Such is my sheltered life I didn’t know about Profile’s status as an iconic Gay club/bar/diner. I just thought the waiters were a trifle camp, but that’s like noticing air stewards are a bit fey. Picking up on the ‘vibe’ we tried to look like two butch blokes confident in their sexuality who just happened to fancy a burger and had popped into the nearest place.