Skylon at the Royal Festival Hall, London

It must be nerve wrecking for any maitre d' top open a restaurant's doors for the first time to the public. It must be doubly so on a freezing cold, wet and windy day at the end of May. The reservation desk of Skylon called me in the afternoon to say their heating has broken down!!!

Unfazed by the potential chill, it was a delight to arrive at this new Conran restaurant in pristine condition - sympathetic lighting and a soft colour palette made the austere interior of the 50s space welcoming. Soon after we sat down, the waiters brought a round of mulled wine to warm us up!

The menu contained many egg dishes - so I tried the Egg Skylon (kind of Egg Florentine with Cornish crab meat). My main course was pan fried lemon sole topped with grey prawns. It was also entertaining to watch the staff trying various ways to warm the large space - all with a good sense of humour. Let's hope such high spirit will carry on through to the re-opening night of the Royal Festival Hall on 11 June and beyond.

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Dialogues des Carmélites at the Royal Opera

Michael Levine's set design for Dialogues des Carmélites was minimalist. Actually, was there any set design? I suppose the director Robert Carsen was clever at introducing formation of human figures in many different ways to suggest the context of the opera. It kind of worked. Blanche, sung by Sally Matthews, was pretty good. Though I did find the whole work quite tedious - I think the intimate nature of the dialogues needed a small and intimate performing space i.e. not the Royal Opera House. The ending was worth waiting for. Dramatic. Poignant.

Xuan Spa, Park Hyatt Saigon

After a long day on my feet travelling from frantic Bangkok to Saigon, I very much looked forward to a relaxing massage before going to bed. The Xuan Spa was a very pleasant surprise. The staff was very friendly and the atmosphere of the spa was tranquil - a world away from the screaming mopeds on the streets outside. The therapy room was big, with an en suite shower and lovely foot bath. The massage was good - classical Swedish - and at a leisurely pace. Subsequently I had a very good night's sleep.

Aqua Nueva serving up some hot Spanish snacks in London

It's just about a month old when Aqua opened in London. And yes, it's the same Aqua as the one on No 1 Peking Road. Well, the entrance on Argyll Street makes a bit of a statement - crimson velvet decor with a sleekly dressed receptionist guiding you to the lift. When you get to the top floor, it opens out into a series of bar and dining areas. My destination was Aqua Nueva - the Spanish part of this drinking-dining complex. That meant I was guided along an atmospherically lit corridor before I got to the the restaurant. It's well lit with a terrace looking out to a roof top terrace. Unlike Aqua in Hong Kong where it has the spectacular harbour view, the London one only looks out to a roof-top view. Rather than wading through the tapas and a la carte menus, I just asked the maitre d' to bring a selection of their tapas. I was pleasant surprised by the delicate croquette of mushrooms, lightly cooked octopus, braised pork, San Pietro fillets, Manchengo topped tortilla a...

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