October in brief

For a tapas near Waterloo try Meson Don Felipe. It’s a long-time stalwart with classic Spanish design with lots of high stools, and in the evening can get very busy. But at lunchtime after a visit to the Imperial War Museum, five of us were able to get one of the few ordinary tables without a problem.  We had the usual sort of mix of meatballs, chorizo, garlic prawns, chicken skewer, tortilla and salad, plus some excellent tuna croquettes and grilled sardines. A reliable and reasonably priced set of dishes.

If you’re in Cambridge, the Galleria Restaurant by Magdalene Bridge is an attractive place to go. Three of us booked in for a Friday evening  - though it wasn’t really all that busy. For starters we had smoked duck breast, which came cantaloupe melon and wasabi/soy dressing; a small king prawn salad, fresh with Thai dressing; and some olives with cardamom and paprika. Mains were monkfish fillets with prawns in a coconut milk sauce, Moroccan chicken fillet with couscous and tuna steak off the specials menu, all above par. The Spanish SB was not that great so we changed to a Chilean Viognier for the second bottle. £120 for 3 was pretty fair value.

For Sunday brunch in Cambridge we went to Bistro du Vin, part of the expanding Hotel du Vin chain. The set lunch was £24.95 for the soup (cauliflower, very rich), seafood and charcuterie buffet (a commendable selection with great stuffed chillies and excellent bread, kept frequently replenished), choice of main and a dessert. For mains we had the smoked haddock with hash brown and poached egg, roast turkey and steak and ale pie.  Desserts were the Bistro coupe (vanilla and pistachio with chocolate sauce), crème brulee (just 6/10 but then I am fussy about it) and a cheese board, which was a little mean but tasty. Two bottles of £25 Tabali Viognier and service brought the total to £145. Maybe not as successful as we’d hoped, but pretty good.

Six of us tried Hix in Brewer St for their special set menu lunch – 2 courses for £19.50, Chilean SB at £23.50 and Montepulciano at £23, so pretty reasonably priced. Unfortunately, despite its huge reputation it wasn’t a great hit with most of us. The schnitzel was very dry, nothing as good at The Wolsely. My seafood soup was good and the pheasant curry was interesting, but the others were unimpressed with theirs.