Anyone know whether they've opened their new larger premises yet. I know they didn't get exactly rave reviews, but I enjoyed the things I bought there.....

Both Kedleston Hall and Calke Abbey have excellent restaurants / cafes. We had a lovely Sunday lunch at Calke earlier this year - lovely roast pork (estate reared pigs and vegetables grown in the Victorian kitchen garden).

I usually go to Zest whenever I'm visiting family in Derby and I recommend it strongly. Never had a bad meal there. Sometimes been just all right, but usually it's delicious. They do a great value set lunch. It's usually quite quiet on Saturday lunchtimes when we go, but I hear evenings and week lunchtimes are very busy. I can't vouch for the service during the busy periods but on Saturdays there's a really nice laid back atmosphere (such a refreshing change to my usual London haunts!). Anyway - good, very fresh food.

Darley's is okay. It has its pretensions and slight delusions of grandeur (awful faff about coats and 'would madam like to take a seat in the bar and peruse the menu' sort of thing', but the food was surprisingly very very well executed. Everything cooked perfectly and tasted great. My tuna steak was delicious, but my mum's lamb was divine!

Damn, I read this a day too late! Did anyone get to try some this year? I guess its the Maple Leaf for me then!

Does anyone know if you can get this anywhere in London. Or indeed the Uk! I keep reading about it on US websites and it sounds amaaaazing!!

Just off Friar Gate is Zest. Always quite quiet in the daytime at weekends, but apparently busy in the evenings. They do a brilliant set lunch and I've never had a bad meal there in all the years I've been going (its where we always go when I'm home to visit the parents).

http://www.restaurantzest.co.uk/

We branched out a bit and went here http://www.darleys.com/map.htm last year. I had low expectations, having read an old review by A A Gill which complained about the awful provincialism of its cooking, but I was really impressed. Fairly classic / simple 'posh' food, but brilliantly cooked. Tuna, lamb, beef all cooked faultlessly. The service is a bit try too hard and 'fine dining'-ish but don't let that put you off!!

And for really really good (surprisingly, since its so far from the coast!) fish and chips, try George's in Belper. I think it may have won awards, but I'm not sure.

If you go to Duke's Hotel in St James's and have the afternoon tea, you'll get crumpets as part of the set menu.

One of my favourite places for afternoon tea is Duke's Hotel in St James's. The thing that makes it stand out is that they include a hot, buttered crumpet! So you get lovely finger sandwiches, warm scones and clotted cream, a large pot of tea, cakes and crumpets. Its served in the (smallish) drawing room which has the most divinely soft and comfortable sofas and as its not that well-known it's relatively quiet.

http://www.dukeshotel.com/menu.asp?lo...

Down by NatWest - not the covered market but the outdoor one.

Greenwich Market has a Bahn Mi stand!

I was standing in line for my Goddard's pie and saw a picture of a Bahn Mi stuck to the front of the serving hatch of the trailer next door. They aren't actually calling it Bahn Mi but the ingredients are unmistakable. The stand is called 'Baguettes' or something and it has a pork baguette with everything you'd expect in a Bahn Mi!! If I hadn't been revved up about Goddard's pies I would have grabbed one right there and then! But perhaps next time.....

The Primrose Bakery have just (?) opened a new shop in Covent Garden - Tavistock Street to be precise!

Am spending a weekend here so need suggestions as to where to go to eat. I know both AA Gill and Jay Rayner have been critical of Darley's, so am not too keen on going there...but does anyone know of any other good dining places in Derby? Has to actually be IN Derby as we won't have a car.

After extensive testing - and I mean extensive - I can safely say that Lola's make what I think are the best cupcakes in London. Their sponge is just that bit lighter than others and the buttercream is perfect for me. I also find the woman who serves me in Selfridges is lovely and friendly, though I can't vouch for the other servers.

I think the Eat one is pretty good too! I think you should only be ridiculed for trying the Ainsley Harriot Cup a Soup version!! Now that WAS disgusting. I don't know why I was surprised....

I had a pretty much perfect one at Villandry a few months ago. It was almost as good as l’Gueuleton's in Dublin (which is the best I have ever eaten!).

Has anyone tried anything from the new hatch near Bradley's? I think it's called Mama's and it advertises Brazilian lunch boxes and snacks.

I was at Bradley's when they were giving out free samples of cheesy bread which wasn't brilliant, I have to admit. However - maybe the boxes are better?

Well, I went, and you were right - it was open, it just looked closed because the door was uninvitingly shut and it was empty!
I suppose they're just not used to customers as I was ignored for a good few minutes too!
It was very nice - I had the spicy paneer which was tangy and contrasted nicely with the pickled tasting pepper - but quite disappointingly small.
I'm interested to know what extras and sauces you got as mine didn't come with anything and I couldn't see anything on the board - or did you just mean the sauces in which the paneer was marinated?

what sort of time did you go? Perhaps I'm turning up too early - I walked past at around 12.30 / 12.45.

Having read Midtown Lunch avidly for some time I was extraordinarily excited when I heard we were getting a branch in London (Poland Street).
Has anyone tried it yet?
I walked past one evening and it seemed to be open but when I went back during the daytime it was all shut up - terribly disappointing.
Does anyone know when it'll be properly opening?

If Konditor and Cook made a Curly Wurly cup cake I would be a very happy bunny indeed!!

That's brilliant news - just the sort of thing I was looking for! Selfridges is just about walkable in my lunch hour, so thank you very much! Cupcakes here I come.....

p.s. Great blog by the way. A girl after my own heart!!

Actually I have tried the Red Velvet at Bea's but (and I am loathe to say it as the woman behind the counter charmingly let me off paying 20p as I was short of change...and I LOVED the peanut butter brownie) I have to admit the frosting disappointed me slightly. It just seemed a bit bland compared to the Hummingbird Bakery one I tried. Is it really authentically American? I know they use marscapone rather than butter...The cake was lovely and moist though. Perhaps I just chose the wrong flavour.

This might help:

http://www.dimsum.co.uk/viewpoints/or...

There seem to be a proliferation of cupcake bakeries in West London - Notting Hill, Kensington etc. but hardly any in the centre (I'm thinking Soho, Bloomsbury, Fitzrovia, Covent Garden). Does anyone know where I might be able to satisfy my cravings (yes, I know its very 2006!) without having to go out on the central line during my rush hour?
I've tried Peyton and Byrne, by the way, but find the sponge is usually really dry and hockey puck-like.

Has anyone tried the Jamaican food cart behind the British Museum (Montague Place)? It sells the usual tourist trap snacks and drinks, but there's also a blackboard that advertises fried plantain and rice and beans and some meat dishes too.

I always insist on going to l’Gueuleton (Fade Street) - they do the best French Onion Soup I have ever had! You can't book but you don't have to wait long for a table. Short-ish menu with French bistro classics. Belly pork is wonderful. Puddings smashing too. One gripe would be the menu stays more or less the same but if you're only visiting Dublin that hardly matters! Its wow in the sense that it feels really special and has a buzz about it and the food makes you go 'wow' ...

I did! It's been a few years since I worked on that road - I should have checked my facts first!!

Lower Marsh Street - south of Waterloo station - has a brilliant curry cart: two women dish out fantastic fresh curry in generous portions. Lovely stuff. Only there half the week, but I'm not sure when, I'm afraid.