Another cow-and-crustacean offering…

Chef Andrew Jones needs to be famous and you need to eat his unshowy, fabulous food. London lunch of the year for me, hands down. Get it while you can.

Having arrived back from Scotland, it’s an about turn for Nik Speller as he heads out to the wilds of North Norfolk to explore the cosy retreat of Titchwell Manor.

New Year’s Eve, often one of the biggest and best annual anti-climaxes, is almost upon us, and you may still be wondering what to do. Step forward Antonio Mellino, the head chef at Italian restaurant Quattro Passi in Mayfair, who’s devised a seven course tasting menu to tempt you out to Monopoly’s bluest square on the last day of 2014.

It’s not cheap, considering the target market and how fast the experience is over, but London is like Pavlov’s dog when someone mentions lobster right now – the drool is like a tsunami. Certainly Fraq has done its homework and designed decor and menu to hit the spot for a cool crowd.

The Friday we visited, the room was cosy and candlelit, decorated with white drapes from the ceiling and wall projections of ariel worldscapes: deserts, mountain ranges, industrial urbanesques. Fittingly, the music was world/ambient with some cute Mississippi jazz thrown in.

Emma gets swept away by the Gallic charm of Le Garrick in Covent Garden

The restaurant at the front of the hotel is full of smart people, New New Labour at lunch one could say. And as if that wasn’t enough trendy dining for one place, upstairs at the back of the building is The Corner Room.

The ramen was right on the button and it was a well priced lunchtime feed that had me energised and ready to face Oxford Street again. For shoppers who want to slurp and go, Tonkotsu has just what’s needed.

Some restaurants take the philosophy of becoming synonymous with a dish, a style, a cuisine, a theme or an ethos to an extreme – serving only a single dish. It’s a brave decision; anyone who nails their their colours to a particular mask had better know what they’re doing. Thankfully, La Tagliata – a small Italian restaurant that calls the rabbit warrens between Liverpool Street and Spitalfields Market home – does, at least where their main course is concerned.