Food & Drink What the experts recommend

LArt du Fromage
la Langton Street, London SW10 (020-7352 2759) As the name suggests, this new restaurant is about cheese, says David Sexton in the London Evening Standard. And unlike at London's La Fromagcric (a cheese shop and restaurant), where they serve cheese in a "healthy" manner, the menu at this rather starkly designed Chelsea eaterie might have been designed for "outdoor workers in Siberia". Non- cheese starters are available, but avoid the pate en croute an Riesling - a "dense", overproccsscd terrine. Much better was the Minister pane - fingers of cheese crumbed and fried, and served with "curls of good Bayonne ham". If you've "just returned from a long winter hike", the fondue might suit, but we opted instead for a pizza-like Alsatian tarte flatnbee topped with softened onions, cream, "bacon lardons and wild mushrooms". As a meal in itself, it would have been "tasty and satisfying" - and "a bargain" to boot. Dinner around L35-L40ahead.



Chu Chus
1 Cabrieshaw Street, West Kilbride, Ayrshire (01294-829956) This "comfortable, welcoming and very, very good value" restaurant is sited in what was once West Kilbride railway station, says Richard Bath in Scotland on Sunday. Trains still stop a few feet from the door (it's a 40-minutc journey from Glasgow) but the building has been "sensitively transformed" into a "vibrant, modern" room that seats 30, with two roaring fires and a bar. There are three menus: one for children; a pared-down "Six-Five Special" mid-week menu (with four choices for each course); and an d la carte Pullman available on Friday and Saturday nights. The full menu looks mouth-watering, but at £13.95 for two courses, the mid-week menu is a bargain. Starters of lemon and asparagus risotto and a large scoop of chicken liver pate with red onion and ginger jam "could scarcely have gone any better". Mains of farmed salmon and butterflied chicken with moz/arella were "solid". For pudding, poached pears in mulled wine
were excellent. While not perfect, the meal was "surprisingly satisfying". Dinner around £25 a head without tvine; £13.95 mid-week menu (two courses).


Yoshi Sushi
210 King Street, London W6 (020-8748 5058) It may not be trendy or fancy, says Toby Young in The Independent, but my favourite sushi restaurant supplies all that a real sushi lover requires - "perfectly prepared fresh fish". But one of the other things I like about it is the "range of food on offer": as well as sushi (including
nigiri and maki rolls) and sashimi - "all full of rich, fishy flavours" - the menu has four pages of everything from ika natto (sliced cuttlefish with soy beans) to chaivanmushi (steamed egg pudding). Places like this are ten-a-penny in New York bur regrettably thin on the ground here. I always start with prawn tempura - "succulent and not too greasy" - and "irresistibly moreish" yaki buta niktt (fried belly pork with vegetables in a spicy sauce). But I'd also recommend the yakitori (marinated chicken pieces grilled on skewers) and yaki gyoza (grilled pork dumplings). This is "freshly prepared, well-balanced food made by an experienced chef". What else do you need? Dinner around £32 a bead without wine (home delivery available).