My first taste of the exclusive Soho private members club Blacks was when a snooty man with a stuck up nose said snottily that I was ringing the wrong doorbell to get in. So exclusive are these PMCs that it’s impossible to find them. In fact, the entrance was in the cellar. But once in, what a charming bar that welcomed us its with blazing hearth.

Among the array of eateries in Balham, just off the High Street is Harrison’s, which can best be described as a bar/brasserie/restaurant. It’s a great local restaurant, that was very popular the evening we were there; they give excellent value for money and absolutely deserve to do well, serving very good food in a great atmosphere that compliments the trendiness of the area.

Black and Blue is a no-nonsense chain of steakhouses, loitering somewhere between an upmarket TGI Friday and a downscale Gaucho. Still relatively young, with seven branches already open across London, so far, so good.

Named after a legendary politician and rake, the Bolingbroke feels very much part of its environs; large fronted and smartly decorated, it spreads a warm glow on a frankly nippy evening. Regular readers will know that we are fans of the Renaissance chain and The Bolingbroke certainly has enough good stuff to make it worth a visit if it’s in your neck of the woods.

There’s a kind of mutual osmosis between The Lobster and its diverse clientele, and this stops the place being hijacked by cliques; not everything is fair-trade or organic, not all the staff have dredge locks, and it’s unlikely that someone will start strumming the guitar or free-styling poetry while you attend to your bagel. You can plug into the low-key buzz, or spread yourself out with the paper, a piece of coconut cake, and a view straight out of a great seafaring yarn.

Maybe I’m being biased toward my own manor, but the Manor Arms is just what Streatham needs. We have wide-open spaces, we have large houses, our streets are prettily decorated with Tyskie tins and now we have somewhere to eat that isn’t Subway. If the kitchen could speed up, and the waitresses not forget things, it could be a real winner innit?

Losing its Michelin star this year will not deter Roussillon, say the staff of the genteel French Chelsea restaurant. They’re hoping fresh blood and head chef Dan Gill will win it back. The twelve-year-old menu is apparently a stalwart with vegephiles and it’s certainly rare to find such a thing in restaurants.

There’s a fine line, a boundary if you like, between cool and kitsch and in Shoreditch that line is a tightrope. Terence Conran’s Boundary escapes the issue by almost ignoring the Shoreditch vibe altogether. Rather than try and dance with the young ‘uns, TC has created a place that is all him and nothing else.

This busy eat in/takeaway café on Fleet Street belongs to a small chain of four regional restaurants serving up a tasty range of the best Mexican street food. There aren’t many places in the UK where real Mexican food joints like this can be found. Everything is freshly prepared in front of the customers and the chefs are consistently grilling and chopping away in the open view kitchen.

Pearl has a lot going for it, wonderful surroundings and great service carried out with a quiet and efficient elegance, setting the scene for the amazingly good creations from the kitchen led by Jun Tanaka. These three elements come together to deliver the special experience you anticipate when you initially walk through the doors .