We have now had lunch at The Ledbury, in London's Notting Hill, twice. The food was well cooked with no major cooking faults, the execution was excellent, the seasoning was right on the money, but on both occasions the meal wasn't memorable enough, a bit boring and we left slightly disappointed.

Our last meal in The Ledbury was lunch four years ago and besides an excellent celeriac dish the experience was quickly forgotten. This time we had a similar experience with most dishes being a little bit dull except for a stunning dessert to finish. The four course lunch started with a lovely serving of egg yolk, morels and celeriac which had a delightful earthy umami flavour. A dish of cod, potato and wild garlic was also quite pleasant, as was one of suckling pig and parsnip. But these dishes were no better than good and gave the sense that they could try a bit harder with the lunch menu. There was a feeling that it has been done before and you could be eating these dishes anywhere, there was nothing identifiable about it, no style or identify of the restaurant evident.

The dessert dish was excellent however and by far the highlight of the meal. Regent Park honey, meringue, aerated white chocolate and thyme was sweet, but subtle and light with the floweriness of the thyme bringing it together. The best thing of all about this dish though was that it was original and interesting.

On the whole the service was decent, but waiting staff seemed a bit disinterested and gave a feeling of just going through the motions.

The talent of the kitchen, led by chef Brett Graham, is clearly evident as the food is well prepared and of high quality. Last year James 'Jocky' Petrie, previously of The Fat Duck, took on the role of head development chef in The Ledbury and we were hoping we would see his influence on this visit - perhaps it was there on the dessert. A lunch in The Ledbury will be perfectly fine, but besides the dessert, our's wasn't memorable and there are far better lunch menus available in London. When going for a lunch menu we look for a reason to come back for a dinner or tasting menu, or even a reason to come back at all and, sadly, The Ledbury did not give us that.

It is a great feeling when a restaurant you were looking forward to trying for the first time doesn't disappoint. It is an even better feeling when it turns out to be something a bit special, something memorable. This does not happen too often, but it happened with our recent meal in The Clove Club in London. 

The food in The Clove Club is daring, using flavour combinations that in the wrong hands could be disastrous. Drawing on ingredients from around the world, but managing to keep a regional core, chef Isaac McHale demonstrates a great palette, managing to balance strong, subtle and contrasting flavours on one plate.

A serving like blood pudding with braeburn apple and whiskey needs a skilled practitioner to pull it off and it was done with aplomb - the whiskey and apple being subtle enough to compliment the deep blood pudding. Another highlight was a dish of roast suckling pig. Served with a sort of lightly curried sauce using Indian spices and a roasting jus which, surprisingly, married together perfectly to make for a really great dish along with the perfectly cooked pig. The best dish of the meal was scallops served with clementine, brown butter and Perigord truffle. It was light and the sweetness from the clementine and the scallops was offset perfectly by the earthiness of the truffle. Other highlights were a wild duck broth served with 100 year old Madeira and a great and simple cheese course served with crackers and balsamic vinegar.

The desserts were also high quality. An Amalfi lemonade and pepper ice cream was very nice, but the lightness of the ice cream and the sharpness of the lemon meant it acted as more of a palette cleanser than a dessert in its own right. Ewe's milk yoghurt mousse with blood orange and wild fennel was excellent, having contrasting temperatures and textures with a light but indulgent taste.

The food being served is from an ambitious, confident and skilled kitchen. Isaac Mchale's skill is not just in combining flavours harmoniously to create an excellent dish, it is that each individual flavour also stands by itself and is still easily recognisable on the palette. This is what is most impressive about the food in The Clove Club.

The ten course tasting was preluded with some great bar-style snacks: amazing deep buttermilk and pine fried chicken and highly addictive crispy chicken feet which tasted like a combination of pork scratchings and crispy chicken skin. The rusticity of these snacks stays throughout the whole meal and that is one of the things that is very likeable about The Clove Club; the food has it's own style. It is high end cuisine with a sort of rustic and natural heart and that makes it interesting and exciting. You can see influences from other restaurants and regions, but they have gone their own way and are doing their own thing. They are using a core of local and seasonal produce, but utilising ingredients from around the world to compliment them. The presentation may not be the prettiest or appear as the most polished, but it suits the food and the restaurant.

The service has the air of trying hard to appear not to be trying hard, but the waiting staff were, on the whole, friendly and had a good knowledge and understanding of the food. They also appeared genuinely interested in the experience and enjoyment of the guests.

The Clove Club may seem to be on the expensive side, but for the standard of the food it is worth the money. This restaurant is up there with the very best in London, if not the whole of the UK, and that, in itself, is no small feat and makes it worth a repeat visit.

It is around a year since our first visit to Brioche in Ranelagh and it is very good to see that the food has improved considerably. A gripe we had last year was the way dishes were being served in a random order that restaurants are branding as 'sharing plates' or 'tapas style', but it is a concept that benefits the kitchen far more than it does the diner and can be quite annoying. Thankfully there is a conventional tasting menu offered now, so we did not have to endure the game of table Tetris of accommodating and moving several plates around the small table.

Last year the food was quite good - some dishes excellent, but some were forgettable. On this visit the food was more consistent, more polished and generally of a higher quality. The restaurant has a French bistro style. The dining room is busy and noisy with tables very close together. But the food, which is rooted in classic French, has moved on to be more than bistro food.

Chef Gavin Mcdonagh's dishes show balance and a good palate with some clever combinations of flavours. Celeriac soup was warming and was a good start to the meal on a cold end of winter evening. The apple and orange relish with a Pedro Jimenez reduction elevating it to a bit more than a just nice celeriac soup. A house cured salmon was enhanced with a bit of soya and wasabi. The best dish of the night was that of scallops - perfectly cooked and the slightly spiced cauliflower and orange worked excellently. The little touches that were added to all these dishes improved them and gave them a lift, but did not overtake the main ingredient and the classical heart of these dishes is still very much preserved. The meat main of beef with foie gras was about indulgent, big, decadent flavours. The airy chocolate mousse dessert was also of high quality and lighter than expected, served with very nice macaroons and a quality pistachio ice cream.

The service is still a bit of a let down though. Despite being mostly friendly and hospitable the servers don't seem to know the food very well. Also, if matching tasting wines are offered the waiting staff should be able to at least know the basics of the wines being served, like the grape variety. Value wise it is quite good for the five course €49 tasting menu, but the €35 for the matching wines probably wasn't worth it.

Brioche is a very nice neighbourhood restaurant and it is great to see a restaurant on the rise. Hopefully there is still some improvement to come.