Eddies Fish Bar and kebab shop, Kings Cross

Fed up with Pizza express I dived in to a caff much nearer the hotel. As well as fish'n'chips they had a solid Turkish menu - mostly kebabs. I sat down and chose one that said hot spices in the description.

I also asked if they had alcohol as there were no signs or products and she did say they had carlsberg. So I asked for a carlsberg. A pint of lager arrived in a  plain glass. As did this enormous kebab, 2 sauces and a pitta bread. It was wonderful. Plain simple with a hot spicy sauce. All in it was £11-95 and that includes a ripoff £4 for the lager.

Highly recommended.

Malta 4

Lightning trip to look at some hotels and food was on our minds.

Quiz question. Tell me the reg no. of a bus in Valletta.

Saturday lunch. Marsasloxx looking at traditional boats in the harbour on a warm December day. Even though it was half past one we decided on a quick lunch. Fish soup followed by prawn & porcini risotto and langoustine ravioli. Good stuff but the restaurant shot itself in the foot by serving a complimentary platter of biscuits with beans and humus before any of our order arrived. After a lovely fish soup we were both full. The mains also took a long time to arrive and they were obviously freshly cooked but we were full before they arrived. Nice boats.

Saturday evening. Walked into Valletta looking for a bit of local colour and chose Lucianos. Feta salad at 4 euros was so huge that we couldn't finish it but before we'd eaten half of it the mains arrived. Rabbit in white wine and garlic and beef olives. Server apologised when she saw we were still ploughing through the salad. We asked them to hold the mains and they did. Probably too long. When they brought them back to the table partners beef dish was cold. They re heated it but the damage was done. We paid up and left not eating much of the mains.

Sunday Lunch. Wagamama and Sushi. I apologise but we were in a rush.

Sunday in St Pauls Bay in the north. A holidaymaker hotel with holiday maker food. Awful. Saved by the cheese course where real local cheeses were available. The smallest glass of wine I've ever had. Room was crap. One wifi code per device. We had 4 devices. Bathroom had a unlockable glass swing door.

Monday on the road on the way to the airport. Stopped at a cheapo sandwich shop and bought 2 warm egg and sausage pizza slices and an apple pie for just over 2 euros the lot. Delicious.

Answer BUS + any number up to 403. BUS is a reserved eg. no. for busses. Now ask me about cabs...

Dean Park Hotel, Kirkcaldy

Nice country house hotel with restaurant and bar. Menu promised Duck leg confit in oatmeal with trimmings and it was beautifully presented with two long toasted breadsticks,  apple sauce and rocket with tasty dressing. But it wasn’t a duck leg, it was shredded duck reformed into a trapezoid shape.  Tasty but not that earthy greasy chunk of duck so common in France. Glass of Chilean red to accompany.

Mains was a fillet steak rare. Home made chips, mushrooms and vine tomatoes. I asked for horse radish and it was supplied. Onion rings were a stupendous £2-50 extra so I declined. Generally very good. Chips way too hot but the steak was nicely cooked. Glass of Chilean red to accompany.

Bill arrived and they’d only charged for one glass of wine. I told them. A young waitress whispered “Thank you for being honest” as I left.

Slept poorly. Noise from outside, inadequate single quilt kept sliding off.

Next morning the shower wouldn’t produce hot water so I gave up. Paid the bill (which had reverted to one glass of wine) and left never to return.

In conversation with people next day they said the chef had appeared in masterchef. Hmmm.

Addis, Caledonian Road, London

Ethiopian and chosen by eldest son as a farewell dinner before youngest son went to work abroad. 4 people had an Ethiopian beer, 3 starters, 4 main courses and the total was £60. Phenomenal value.

Starters were routine but quite nice but the main course was the star attraction. An Ethiopian bread called ingera was laid on the table on a huge metal plate – 60cm wide – and our 4 main courses were put onto this bread. A tad rubbery but eatable nonetheless. The main courses we chose amused youngest son so much that he almost forgot to eat his. We had Beef tibs, awaze tibs lam, ye beg wot lam and the unforgettable Derek Tibs. All good but Derek was the best. When we’d polished off the food all that was left was a bread full of curry juices which we ripped into shreds and devoured.

A really good, cheap, different meal less than 100 yards from Kings Cross station. Easy to find and worth the effort.

Da Vinci, Divonne, next to Lake Geneva

Only one thing to say.

A fabulous beef carpaccio with parmesan and rocket and balsamic dressing.

Outtadisworld.

Yes that is a parmesan tent made out of freshly shaved parmesan. Vino Rosso to taste.

Station Hotel Dumfries

Handily situated 50m from the station and a hidden gem. Quiet with reasonable businessman rooms. Good HD tv and a surprise bistro in the basement. Starter of marinated anchovies, “boquerones en vinagre” in Spain or “alici” in Italy. Fancy word but I know they bought a catering tub and gave me 16 in a star shape. Nice bread to accompany.

Next course though was good a fillet steak cooked rare. A stack of chips and a side salad. Very nice.

To follow a selection of scottish cheese. Mull Cheddar, Howgate Brie and a local blue. Couple of glasses of house re and a very satisfying meal.

Les Parallels, La Palmyre, back end of the season

I was bowled over. Previous night the only food I'd found was a pizza which fell in the category of refuelling for €15 but this place was sooo good.

I went for a gastronomique menu at €31 and chose foie gras for starter. This arrived with a million different items on the plate. Fig bread, pollen balls, mixed salt, mango mousse, salade. An amazing range of tastes. Extra bread as required.

Mains was also good. Roast beef (origin posted on the wall next to the menu) and dauphnoise potatoes with more salad and gorgeous pineau gravy.

Dessert was pear sald underneath a grilled St Marcelline cheese with another salad. (one too many maybe) and all this was accompanied by a pichet of local Bordeaux red wine. I was so full that I couldn't take the 4th course.

I never knew that I could get food of this quality in La Palmyre. Now I'll be there once a week when I'm in the vicinity. Brilliant and friendly.

1885, Stainland October 2011

Thanks to the miracle of Groupon we had a £39 dinner for £9. In fact we had 8 of them. The restaurant was very good about it. They extended the groupon offer to include any starter or any main from the menu when Groupon's blurb was more restrictive. The restaurant gave us top quality service and the food was top drawer.

Most of us went like me for Scallops followed by Daube of Beef and they were very good. Scallops, 3 of them were served on a long plate with garnish, salad and accompaniments that made it just perfect. Bread was free, butter also, everything was explained beautifully by the staff. Daube of beef had us worried to start with but it turned out to be shin and slow cooked and utterly brilliant. Unlike previous visits to this place for tasting menus the portions were substantial and the gravy was exotic - a friend who had lamb was overwhelmed by the pancetta and pea with mint gravy.

Few had desserts as the first two courses were so good and filling. 8 people had plenty of wine and beer and although the main part of the meal was just £36 for 8 people the extras came to £120 - wine at £6 a glass.

Still good and a fantastic birthday treat for 8. They do a prix fixe menu for £19 the waiter shouted at me as I left...

Ruby's Lounge, Mirfield

On the spur of the moment we fancy a Ruby Murray. This place is new but very near home so we give it a go. Alternatives which we know and love are 10 miles away in Bradford but cheap and well tried.

Nice atmosphere, stark but modern decor (whereas the Kashmir in Bradford doesn't do decor) and an interesting menu which is freely available on the web (Kash doesn't do web).

Pickle tray with some ferocious lime pickle, sizzler, pint of beer and half of cider. All nicely served. Hashnaji Lamb and a dish called pride of Yorkshire (fairly hot) which was chicken, lamb and rhubarb in a special sauce. Both rather good. 6 chapatis and that's it.

It was much more upmarket than Bradford and the price reflected it. £7-20 for a pint and a half of beer rather than BYO; pickle tray and 2 popadums £3-10. Total was £32 and I had a strange feeling that I'd been overcharged. I asked if they did an early bird but they said no.

Good for taking friends out but not quite popping out for a cheap and cheerful Keema and mushroom with 3 chapatis for £4-50

Indian veg, Chapel Market, London

After a few pints in the Drapers Arms with the outlaws Ben and I need refuelling and are recommended to this place. All you can eat for £4-95 but all vegetarian. And surprisingly good too. The battered balls were cold but the curries were rather spicy and the chick peas were brilliant. 2 huge plates with salad and sauces.

Only strange thing was that they didn't take cards so I had to find cash. Fortunately I had a Nine quid note with me.

Travellers Rest, Hopton

Friday night and we fancied a steak. A local pub advertised £7-95 steak night so we drove there. The car park said penalty for parking was £140. We didn't stay. Instead we drove up the hill to the Travellers Rest.

Surprisingly at 7pm on Friday night they had a carvery. Partner chose that. I stayed with a steak. First though we had breaded mushrooms (her) and chicken & bacon salad with spicy salsa (me). Mine was better than hers.

The steak (cooked rare ) was good. The accompaniments were just ordinary. Partner wasn't impressed with her roast pork. Seemed as it it had been there a long time. A pint of black sheep and a G & T made it a reasonable meal but as we drove home she said " let's not go there again" and I agreed.