A busy week

 Quite a lot going on recently. Here are some quick summaries.

Foodie friends T&K are visiting so we are off to The French Table where we choose the tasting menu. As it's the evening the prices are little higher, or maybe they have just gone up. Three of us start with kir, and T has G&T. Then we move on to our usual Viognier, now £30. 

We are then served our amuse bouche, a cucumber gazpacho with truffle oil and peppers. Excellent. First course is smoked mackerel mousse with pepper salad - not as fishy as I had feared. Next up was a strange little course of terrine of confit potato with cheese - that didn't really work, though with more cheese it might have done. 

The fish course is roasted cod with curried cauliflower and smoked almonds - a good size portion of solid cod. The highlight is the roast rose veal with truffle risotto, girolles, oyster mushrooms and parmesan crisp. Beautifully cooked, very tender. Before dessert we are served a freshening sorbet and compote, and finally we have the chocolate moelluex with blackberries and walnut ice cream. They were somehow under the impression it was our anniversary, so B and I had plates with "Happy Anniversary" written around the rim. 

With two bottles of wine and sundries this came to £400, rather more than usual, but still good. 

T&K stayed overnight and as they like a brunch we took them to Hideaway at the bottom of the road. It's a bit damp so we have to sit inside. It's surprisingly busy for a weekday, and naturally we increase the average age considerably.  The menu is a bit odd - "Bennie's" are eggs Benedict. The three others have the chorizo Bennie - two buns, smashed avocado, slice of chorizo, poached eggs topped with Aleppo chilli.  I have the Shakshuka - peppers and onions with baked eggs and feta and a mountain of sourdough on the side. It is served in an iron skillet and is far too hot to eat for ages. I decant some onto the bread to cool down. When it does it is very good but perhaps needed more seasoning or spice. With coffees for T&K and two mimosas each for B and me the total comes to £89, but of course you could get away with a lot less.

Saturday was Surbiton Festival day -a (very short) parade, brass band and lots of stalls. This means we up the top end of town near the station, so decide to try out the Japanese restaurant just there for the first time - Boat.   It calls itself a Ramen and Sushi restaurant, but it's the "kitchen dishes" (starters) that appeal most. We have our favourite edamame beans, salted and the seaweed. This is remarkable, soft and gooey, nothing like the Chinese crispy seaweed you get. We also have the chicken karaage - deep fried chicken with mayo dip, very good; pork belly - rather ordinary; prawn gyoza - unusually not fried, and could have done with more prawn and less veg; and a tuna sashimi (fresh, with wasabi and pickle).  Secretary Bird SB from South Africa is £22 a bottle; we also have two glasses. Total without service is £70. Overall a positive, though we'd try some different things next time.

G comes to stay, her first visit. So we are back at TFT again. We are welcomed back very warmly.  G is not keen on fish, so we don't do the tasting menu - it is the same as Thursday anyway, so we're happy with that. Instead we choose from the £58 3 course menu. 

For starter, G has the pork pate en croute. This is a big slab of pate in a thin crust - very acceptable if perhaps not ground-breaking. B has the quail "coq au vin", which though it has some bones is also very tasty. My ravioli of trout, prawn and smoked salmon comes in a foamy shellfish sauce. Excellent.

For main, G has the rose veal that we had in the tasting menu the previous week. Again it is really good, melt in the mouth with rich mushroom flavours. B has the stonebass - a solid piece of white fish with coco beans (?) - good. In the dish I chose the fillet of beef had been replaced by beef brisket. The sauce was good, but brisket was a little ordinary, a bit stringy.

G has the chocolate dessert we had last week; B has a mango delice and mango sorbet - very fresh and cleansing; I have a pistachio and raspberry eclair - the topping sitting on a crunchy biscuit rather than choux pastry. 

With two bottles of Viognier, some prosecco and a sherry this all comes to £100 a head again.