The Cambridge Chop House celebrated its 10th birthday by a special purchase of Syrah sold at £16 per bottle instead of £26. I’ve been going there since it opened on King’s Parade in Cambridge, and have had many excellent meals over the years. This time I began with salted...

Christmas is a time when you indulge in nice stuff you might go easy on at other times. Among my best this year I was given a box of “all butter, caramel & sea-salt biscuits” (aka cookies) from Harrod’s. They were crumbly, sweet and firm without being too hard....

Steve Groves is head chef at Michel Roux’s Roux at Parliament Square in the heart of Westminster. I went for lunch on Monday and had the most exquisite mackerel starter I have ever eaten. It came with heritage carrots, citrus and sesame. Then I went on to the dry...

In the UK and Europe pancakes usually means crepes. In the US, they are light, fluffy and with a spongy texture that soaks up toppings such as maple syrup. My favourites are blueberry pancakes with maple syrup, and these were served at La Concha hotel on Duval Street. In...

There is a difference. Chicken nuggets are usually made from minced-up chicken (which may be from different birds) pressed into patties, breadcrumbed and deep fried. Tenders are from strips of chicken meat from below the breast, breadcrumbed or battered and deep fried. The term “fingers,” although sometimes loosely used...

Pinchers on Duval Street in Key West in quite an institution. They don’t take bookings, and the place is very popular, so we went early. After the starter of conch fritters, shared, we hesitated between Alaskan king crab and snow crab before choosing the latter (which cost less). It...

One answer is not to eat too many breakfasts on Delta Airlines. It began with champagne and nuts, which is harmless enough. Then the first course came: croissant and herb butter, tuna carpaccio with rye bread, fresh fruit plate and yoghurt with strawberry and muesli. Then came the main...

The conch is a large edible sea snail noted for its colourful shell, and the queen conch shell is a symbol of the Florida Keys, sometimes jocularly known as “the Conch Republic.”  Three ubiquitous dishes are taken as representative of Keys cuisine. One is Key Lime Pie, a dessert...

The great thing about having goose for Christmas is that it tastes brilliant. Turkey can be bland and dry, but not goose. The second thing is that you get jars of lovely goose-fat. This year I had five. I use it throughout the year for roasting potatoes and sweet...

Madsen and I recently dined twice at The Salt Pig in Cambridge’s Green Street. Before our first visit i was extremely excited as there had been some hype about this restaurant opening. We arrived and were given a table in the window. We started off with a bottle of...