All the rage

Having one of those days when this city does my head in. On my way home from work, I nearly got knocked down by a suicidal cyclist hurtling round a corner without looking when I was trying to cross the road at the lethal High Holborn and Kingsway junction. I then trailed down the never-ending Holborn escalators into the pits of the Piccadilly Line and bundled myself into a heaving train to Finsbury Park, where a crowd of lemmings on an even more heaving platform started boarding the train in a zombie-like trance before I'd had the chance to get to the door to escape. When I did manage to force myself out of the carriage, some old git branded me a troublemaker and passed a shirty comment because I hadn't got off the train quickly enough. I simply wasn't in the mood.

So to counter my negativity and see London once again in a happy light...

Our best London eating experiences…so far…

1. Chez Bruce, Wandsworth Common. The first time I could afford to splash out on an expensive meal out in London, and it didn’t disappoint.
2. Fish In A Tie, Clapham Junction. Haven’t been back there in a while, since moving to Crouch End, but in my day the atmosphere was cosy, the food was consistently excellent and everything was unbelievably cheap – sea bass and roast duck for under £7. Crazy.
3. Amaranth. Great Thai restaurant in Earlsfield, with orchids decorating the food. Also the place where I totally failed to notice I was sitting next to John Peel. And that, sadly, is an experience that will never be repeated.
4. Cats, Stroud Green Road. Even better Thai food, this time north of the river.
5. Tas. (The Cut, London Bridge and others) The best Turkish food in London, with bread to die for. Not forgetting Tas Pide, next to the Globe, which gives you so much free food that you hardly need to bother ordering a main course.
6. The Triangle, Ferme Park Road, Crouch End, for its amazing décor and candlelit ambiance.
7. Archipelago, Whitfield Street. With crocodile, ostrich and peacock and chocolate-coated scorpion on the menu, it’s also the only place where you are actually seeking out the insects in its (lovebug) salad. You need a password to enter, sit on a throne and the menu is written on a papyrus scroll.
8. L’Autre, Shepherd Market. The only Polish-Mexican bistro in town.
9. Kastoori, Tooting. Vegetarian Indian via East Africa. The dahi puri are mouth-meltingly explosive heaven.
10. La Bodega, Tottenham Lane. Might not be the best tapas bar in town and the manager can be stroppy, but it’s as good a meal as I’ve ever had in Spain, the place is always packed and buzzing, the menu very reasonably priced, and there’s always a bottle of Licor 43 behind the bar.
11. Michael Moore’s, Marylebone. Food so good you can taste the individual, fresh flavours of each dish, whilst they simultaneously combine to make an exciting whole. And you get to meet the chef. And no, he's not the loud, large American who made Bowling For Columbine but a multi-lingual Ainsley Harriott lookalike who'll give you a free glass of champagne and plate of truffles if you're nice enough to him.
12. Sarkhels, Southfields. Another outstanding curry house, with an amazing chef and a different region of India being reflected in the menu each week.
13. Les Associés, Park Road, Crouch End. Foul pink and red décor (which Arabella Weir described as straight out of a ‘70s Scottish B&B) but the rustic French cuisine is hard to beat.