not even a hint of sprout.

Christmas day for me usually begins sometime on Christmas Even when mam starts to prepare the food, this includes the chicken which is put in the oven to start slowly roasting filling up the house with lovely chickeney smells. Unless, has become a slightly more frequent occurrence I spend the season in London, even then the kitchen would have some form of Christmas wafting through it as someone or other would be preparing dinner. Not this year.

This Year was very different I went out to eat, at the Connaught Hotel, to be fed by 2 start Michelin chef Helen Darooze. We had a table booked for 11:45, and being Christmas Day, when there is no public transport in the city, we decided to walk. It didn't take us long about an hour to do the three miles, walking through a semi deserted London , except for the occasional car, and jogger. Things got busier when we got to Buckingham Palace, which had a throng of people outside - tourists I expect as after all most Londoners would know that the Queen is in East Anglia during Christmas. I wonder if they were there waiting for new on the health of the Duke of Edinburgh.

For the second time in my 17 years of living in London I walked through Berkeley Square, and there are still no nightingales in evidence.

Arriving with some time to spare we sat in the lounge, and enjoyed a pre lunch G&T, before taking our places in the dinning. Initially sitting in a wing chair I soon moved on to a sofa (I'm sure there is a posher word for it) mainly because my short arse legs didn't meet the floor in my original choice.

As you would expect the service was excellent every single member of staff I encountered was totally professional, courteous and friendly. Although it took until my third visit to the loo to get used to having someone turn on the water taps, and hand me a clean towel.

The menu had been on the website for some time, so had been getting quite excited about it all.

Started off with an Amouse Bouche of Lobster Bisque and a Chorizo Roll.

Then the first course Scottish scallop carpaccio, “Maldon rock” oyster cream, chive, caviar from Sologne - delicious and made me excited for what else was to come, my first experience of oyster and caviar.

Second course Terrine of duck foie gras from Landes poached in mulled wine, Christmas chutney with dried fruits. Again lovely, a huge chunk of tasted bread to go with it/ The terrine was silky smooth, and teh dried fruits added a burst of sweetness.

Third course

Royal-style Jersualem artichoke flavoured with Iberico ham, egg yolk,

Parmigiano Reggiano émulsion and black

trufflE.

- the only miss on the menu for me, not that there was anything badly wrong with the execution, my fellow diners enjoyed it, and one was more than happy to scoff mine. But two mouthfuls of it made me realize that it wasn't for me. Perhaps the flavours were just too strong for my palate.

Fourth course - and the biggest hit of the savoury courses,

Pavé of seabass cooked à la nacre, girolles, chestnuts cappuccino, white truffle

The sea bass was wonderfully salty, the girolles had a crunchy bite, a larger portion would have been very much welcomed, on a normal dinner plate.

Finally the last of the savoury dishes

Dodine of yellow capon, duck foie gras and black Périgord truffle, gartin dauphinois girolles and lardons.

I only have vague memories of this, as i think by now I was quite fit to burst. mainly I think due having eaten far too many of the fig bread rolls which were proffered at regular intervals in the run up to the first three courses, accompanied by lovely slices of butter, freshly taken from slabs which sat in the middle of the dinning room. The gratin was melty and soft, the potatoes having been sliced as thin as a sheet of paper, the capon was meat and moist, but perhaps by now I had overdone the savoury.

Then finally desert lemon tart, speculos tarts and lemon paper. This was no ordinary lemon tart , sitting in a bowl surrounded by a caramel sauce, it was as I said in the moments I took to eat it - divine and amazeballs. The best compliment I can give to a pudding is the length of time I take to devour it, I took it much slowly than I would normally wanting to enjoy each mouthful, the sharpness of the lemons hitting the spot each time I took a spoonful. Yes it sounds a bit poncey but the lemon paper was delightful and just melted in the mouth.

Not long afterwards we were enjoying a post lunch coffee in the lounge, and after settling the bill we headed home, too full to walk, and hailed a cab back to SW8/SW9.