Il polpo serves up good Venetian dishes in Soho

I have been meaning to go to Il polpo in Soho for a long time but somehow didn't manage until today. Well the menu has lots of traditional and familiar Venetian dishes - fritto misto, risi e bisi and fegato veneziana. And there were some dishes that took advantage of seasonal English produce - asparagus with anchovy butter and Parmesan cheese. All in relatively small portions which was great as one could sample many different dishes. The staff was relaxed and friendly. Definite a place to revisit.

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Generous afternoon tea at the Portrait Restaurant

Very few people know there is a restaurant at the National Portrait Gallery with roof top view. Even fewer know they serve a afternoon tea. I was treated to afternoon tea there on Friday. The place was buzzing with late tea-drinkers and early cocktail-quaffers. We settled on their classic afternoon tea set which arrived as below: The sandwiches were freshly made with lovely soft bread - there was a selection of egg mayo, cheese and chutney, ham and mustard and tuna paste. All very tasty. It even came with a honey-mustard dressed salad. Then there were the scones - they were twice the normal size and warm to the touch and one would feed two easily. Sitting behind the huge scones were two slices of victoria sponge cake with inch-think icing - they were soft to the touch and moist when you bite into them. All very yummy.

Eugene Onegin

I did not think much of the last Eugene Onegin in the 90s - a bit too baren - too literal. The latest production which I saw tonight at the Royal Opera has improved quite a lot. For a start, we had Dmitri Hvorostovksy and Amanda Roocroft singing Onegin and Tatyana respectively - two strong well matched voices that sparked off a reasonable amount of passion between the two! The production was exciting too - with a believably real "river" running on stage. It's not often you get Tatyana jumping into the river and splashing about on stage. Then there was the frozen river with Moscow in the background - there was almost real ice skating on stage just before the Imperial Ball scene. Much fun. Very enjoyable.

Bar Shu, London

After La Belle Hélène at the ENO, we found ourselves in a new Sichuanese restaurant in Soho (north of Shaftesbury Avenue so technically not China Town). The deco is authentically Chinese but a bit cramped. Lots of small wooden tables. We were shown downstairs in a small basement room. I ordered Dan Dan noodles, beef in a spicy soupy sauce and smoked chicken slices. The "heatiness" or "spicyness" was very authentic, comparable to what I have tasted in Shanghai. What was enjoyable? Authentic Sichuanese food authenticated by mainland Chinese customers. What was not enjoyable? Wrong kind of noise - the staff did through the crockery and cutlery about, noisy customers (may be because of the small room) and not an enthusiastic service. A review of this restaurant can be found on FT.com

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