The first restaurants in a new chain offering dim sum have opened in London. Ping Pong Dim Sum Little steamed parcels of deliciousness. Three eateries are in operation to sample these under-appreciated Chinese specialities.

• 45 Great Marlborough Street Soho
• 74-76 Westbourne Grove
• 10 Paddington Street

If you cant get to one of these fabulous sounding places maybe you could try making dim sum at home. This article in the Independent has several recipes.

The weekly recommended eateries list from the Times. The Telegraph recommended three burger bars recently; this list though covers just London and the South East of England.

1. Haché 24 Inverness Street, London NW1 "has that little bit extra to set it above the competition" [website]
2. Black and Blue Wigmore Street, 90-92 Wigmore Street, London W1 "there's no secret to great steak" [details]
3. Carnarvon Arms, Winchester Road, Whitway, Newbury, Berks "relaxed pubby atmosphere and a mix of classic bar food" [website]
4. Christopher's, 18 Wellington Street, WC2 "a touch of class about the upmarket American menu" [details]
5. Eagle Bar Diner, 3-5 Rathbone Place, W1 "the full American diner experience" [website]
6. Gourmet Burger Kitchen, 44 Northcote Road, London SW11 "there are more than 20 huge and tasty varieties" [website]
7. Hamburger Union, 25 Dean Street, London W1 "good-quality, good-value food" [website]
8. The Hartley Bar & Dining Rooms, 64 Tower Bridge Road, London, SE1 "not just classic beef but also emu with white pepper or ostrich with cranberry" [website]
9. Lucky Seven, 127 Westbourne Park Road, London, W2 "Malts, milkshakes, cream soda and root beer are the things to drink here" [details]
10. Sophie's Steakhouse & Bar, 311-313 Fulham Road, London, SW10 "no-bookings policy at Sophie;s so arrive early or prepare to wait for this place pulls a crowd every night" [website]

With guide book in hand, another 'must see' location ticked off the list, the hunger will soon descend. But where are the best places to eat near the sites? Step forward the  Times with the Top 10 bites near the top tourist destinations in London and the South East of England:

1. After London Zoo, Regent's Park, Madame Tussauds: Base Deli, 195 Baker Street "A good pit stop" [details]
2. After Buck House, Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey: The Phoenix, 14 Palace Street "The cooking is classic and uncomplicated (and all the better for it) while portions are generous" [details]
3. While in Brighton: The Gingerman, 21a Norfolk Square, Brighton: The Gingerman "one of the best restaurants in Brighton" [website]
4. While in Winchester: Hotel Du Vin, 14 Southgate Street, Winchester "set in a renowned Queen Anne townhouse in the heart of this cathedral town" [website]
5. After the London Museums (V&A, Science, Natural History): Hugo's, 51 Prince's Gate "this continental style cafe next to he Goethe Institute has an intellectual vibe with smooth jazz accompanying an international menu" [details]
6. After Kew Gardens: Inn at Kew, 292 Sandycombe Road "informal and friendly public rooms and a pleasant garden" [website]
7. After the London Eye, Dali Universe and London Aquarium: Loco Mensa, 3b Belvedere Road "no-fuss Italian... staff are helpful and children are made to feel more than welcome" [details]
8. While in Oxford: Malmaison Oxford, 3 Oxford Castle "housed in an imaginative conversion of Oxford prison... stylish, but quirky.. good value" [website]
9. After the National Maritime Museum, Royal Observatory, Cutty Sark: The Spread Eagle, 1-2 Stockwell Street "charming, intimate restaurant" [website]
10. While in Cambridge: Venue, 4th Floor, Cambridge Arts Theatre, 6 St Edward's Passage, Cambridge "a modern and refreshingly unstuffy note amid all the history and ancient architecture of Cambridge" [website]

THe 10 top restaurants with a riverside location. As this covers the South East of England the Thames features heavily.. exclusively actually.

1. The Gun 27 Coldharbour, London E14 "combine pub informality and simple comfort with what is surely one of the most elegant gastropub menues of the year." [website]
2. Canyon, The Towpath, Riverside, Richmond "The weekend brunch dishes and the cheap set lunch are both excellent" [details]
3. Deep, The Boulevard, Imperial Wharf, London SW6 "Before dinner, enjoy a cocktail on the large riverside deck of the adjoining bar" [details]
4. The Grand Union Public House, 45 Woodfield Road, W9 "its increasing popularity with hip thirthysomethings" [details]
5. Hampton's, Hampton Court Road, Hampton Court, Surrey "benefits from the presence of the executive chef Russell Pollard, who hails from Marco Pierre White's stable" [details]
6. The Leatherne Bottel, Goring on Thames, Berkshire "The delightful location on a wooded bank of the Thames is reason enough to visit, but Julie Storey's cooking is the real lure" [website]
7. Le Pont de la Tour, Butlers Wharf, SE1 "This suave riverside restaurant is the Soth Bank's best bet for impressing important clients or wooing the love of your life" [website]
8. Royal China Westferry Circus, 20 Westferry Circus, London E14 "One of the best dim sum selections in London and a lovely riverside terrace" [details]
9. The Riverside Brasserie, Monkey Island, Bray, Bershire "The whole experience is made more delightful by the lovely views of the Thames outside" [details]
10. The Waterside Inn, Ferry Road, Bray, Berkshire "This sumptuously furnished yet homely riverside restaurant offers one of the most cosseting dining experinece you could hop to find." [website]

Ten historic venues in and around London as recommended in the Times.

1. The French House, 49 Dean Street, London W1 "The patina of time and the stains from a trillion Gauloises enhance what was the unofficial drinking den of Gallic wartime exiles (de Gaulle prepared his rallying calls here... Ales are sold in half-pints and Pernod is de rigueur at this throwback to Soho's boho glory years" [details]
2. Amberley Castle, Arundel, West Sussx "The impressive barrel-vaulted dining room serves some excellent food" [website]
3. The George Inn, 77 Borough High Street, London SE1 "Great alfresco dining on a gorgeous cobbled courtyard off Borough High Street is one of the obvious draws of this small-scale pub" [details]
4. Gordon's Wine Bar, 47 Villiers Street, London WC2 "It is said to be London's oldest established wine bar 1980 and attracts drinkers with its history - Pepys and Kipling both lived in the building and with its wine" [One I have been to along with a bunch of other bloggers] [website]
5. Jerusalem Tavern, 55 Britton Street, London EC1 "Quite possibly London's most atmospheric pub, the tiny Jerusalem Tavern is made up of just a handful of pokey rooms, set on the ground floor of a 1720s building in a quiet steeet of Clerkenwell's main drag" [details]
6. Lightship X, 5a St Katharine's Way, St Katharine Docks, London E1 "Landlubbers with a taste for naval history will enjoy boarding the world's oldest lightship, docked five minutes from the Tower of London" [website]
7. The Magdela, 2A South Hill Park, London NW2 "Back in 1953, Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in Britain shot her lover outside this Hampstead pub, though today the atmosphere is so tranquil that it's hard to imagine such drama" [details]
8. The Manor Restaurant, Waddesdon Manor, Aylesbury, Bucks "For Waddesdon Manor visitors, lunch at the Manor Restaurant should be considered one of the main attractions" [website]
9. Rules, 35 Maiden Lane, London WC2 "A genuine piece of the capital's dining history. Rules began life in 1798 and more than two centuries later is London's oldest continually trading restaurant - a gentlemen's haut replete with ricu, upholstered decor" [website]
10. Thackeray's, 85 London Road, Tunbridge Wells "The house, with its all-white New England exterior, is the oldest in Tunbridge Wells and was once the home of the writer and satirist William Makepeace Thackeray." [website]

Today's Times lists the top tastes of the Med, the best Mediterranean restaurants in London and the South East of England.

1. Pintxo People Western Road, Brighton "This new Brighton venture beings big-city pizzazz to the South Coast" [website]
2. Cafe Corfu Pratt Street, London NW1 "The short wine list is a good introduction to the diversity and quality of contempoarary Greek winemaking" [website]
3. Iznik Highbury Park, London N5 "Diners love the exotic atmosphere of Iznik, with its Ottoman tiles, Turkish lantrns and romantic candlelight" [details]
4. Giardinetto Albemarle Street, London, W1 "The cooking, which showcases specialities form the Genoa region of Italy, is generally well done" [website]
5. Medea King's Road, London SW6 "There is little in the way of spcae on the cushion-strewn floor so expect ot he showhorned in among the low tables" [details]
6. Noura Central Lower Regent Street, London, SW1 "This Lebanese mini-chain has worked up quite a following at its four brances around London" [wesbite]
7. Numidie Westow Hill, London SE19 "get to enjoy some of the best and most authentic North African cuisine in London" [website]
8. Pescatori Dover Street, London, W1 "The house speciality of cacciucco, a five fish stew, is not to be missed" [website]
9. Sardo Canale Gloucester Avenue, NW1 "interesting Sardinian menu is all about bringing the best of the island to London" [website]
10. Vrisaki Myddleton Road, London, N22 "unpretentious Greek restaurant is well known among the expat community" [details]

Food related chat forums abound across the internet; so do we need another? Well the Culinary Hags seem to think so and they have a perfectly valid reason for launching their own.

Their blog covers London restaurants, of which there must be thousands across the capital. The Culinary Hags number just two. Covering London's ever changing restaurant scene is a mammoth task so the hags have put out a call to all to participate in their new forum. They write "We are always approached by family and friends who say, 'I know this great place, you should put it on your blog...' If every single Londoner knows of just one great place, one cherished local, one family-run down-to-earth joint serving honest good food...that's a helluva lot of hot-spots. Combine all of that knowledge in one spot...and voila! We have a community of food lovers sharing their passion for stupendous nosh and slosh. It also gives our readers a chance to have their say. We Hags might consider a certain place to have the best sushi train in London. If you think, "No way! Those Hags must have asses for tongues! I've eaten at that place and I know another place with a much better sushi train."

So give them a hand in uncovering the best places to eat across London.

From today's Times the top ten vegetarian restaurants in London; with two establishments this week residing outside the capital.

1. Terre à Terre 71 East Street Brighton "Who said vegetarian cookery is dull? This just-off-the-seafront restaurant is a large, light space that blends contemporary looks with a laid-back air, an imaginative wine list and astonishing Asian-edged food." [website]
2. 222 Veggie Vegan 222 North End Road, London W14 "a bold attempt to cater for the niche vegan market" [website]
3. Carnevale 135 Whitecross Street, London EC1 "This diminutive gem is not simply a vegetarian restaurant, but a Mediterranean vegetarian restaurant with a counter selling good things to take home too" [website]
4. Eat and Two Veg 50 Marylebone High Street London W1 "The menu atthis polished American-style diner is protein-led and full of comforting classics" [website]
5. The Gate 51 Queen Caroline Street London W6 "If you want to follow in the footsteps of the veggie celebs Gwyneth Paltrow, Madonna and Stella McCartney, book a table at this jewel" [details]
6. Green Note 106 Parkway, London NW1 "With musicians performing on Wednesday to Saturday, it's a great place to share a bottle of wine with friends and dig into tapas-style dishes" [details]
7. Manna 4 Erskine Road, London NW3 "Desserts are sublime - a peach millefeuille is paticularly delicious, while the fruit crumble is to die for" [website]
8. Mildreds 45 Lexington Street, London W1 "a pleasant place to dine even if you are not a vegetarian. The skylit surroundings are stylishly informal" [details]
9. Rainbow Vegetarian Café 9A King's Parade, Cambridge "definitely the Cambridge vegetarian restaurant" [website]
10. Rasa 55 Stoke Newington Church Street, London N16 "one of the first Indian restaurants in London to tout its regionality as a point of difference" [website]

From Saturday's Times the top ten best cheapo eateries plus one in Brighton. I see Leon is mentioned again; its about the only place I eat on my infrequent dashes around the capital.

• Haché 24 Inverness Street, NW1 - "In the past few years the London gourmet buger scene has boomed, but Haché has that little extra that sets it above the competition" [website]
• Afghan Kitchen 35 Islington Green, N1 - "This tiny value-for-money eaterie packs 'em in" [details]
• Bill's The Depot, 100 North Road, Brighton - "This fantastic café-sum-grocer sources quality local prodcue for wonderful earthy dishes"
• Café Espana 63 Old Compton Street, W1 - "Punters are prepared to queue in the rain for the tapas" [details]
• Canteen 2 Crispin Place, Spitalfields, E1 - "The menu at this confident new venue is as fill-free as its minimalist decor and curiously nostalgic" [website]
• Cellar Gascon 59 West Smithfield, EC1 - "This classy wine bar serves an appetising menu of indulgent small bites alongside approximately 120 interesting wines from South West France" [details]
• The Fish Cub 189 St John's Hill, SW11 - "Don't you wonder why all fish restaurants aren't like this?"
• Imli 167-169 Wardour Street, W1 - "You won't find any frills and frippery at this Indian eaterie but the food is very good" [details]
• Leon 35-36 Great Marlborough Street, W1 - "Everything that the breezily stylish Leon serves is not only good for you, but is delicious and reasonably priced" [details]
• Mr Jerk 19 Westbourne Grove W2 - "With a painting of Bob Marley taking up one wall, there's no mistaking what kind of restaurant this is" [details]

The Times today lists the top ten 'celebrity chef' restaurants in London and the South East.

1. Royal Hospital Road, 68-69 Royal Hospital Road, London SW3, London, SW3 Chef: Gordon Ramsey [details]
2. The Connaught, London, W1 Chef: Angela Hartnett "one of only a handful of women in the country to hold a Michelin star" [website]
3. Millennium Hotel, Grosvenor Square, London, W1 Chef: Brian Turner "Turner himself is often to be spotted nipping in and out of the kitchen" [website]
4. The Fat Duck, Bray, Berkshire Chef: Heston Blumenthal [website]
5. Fifteen, 15 Westland Place, London, N1 Chef: Jamie Oliver [website]
6. Locanda Locatelli, 8 Seymour Street, London W1 Chef: Giorgio Locatelli [website]
7. Notting Grill, 123a Clarendon Road, London W11 Chef: Antony Worrall Thompson [website]
8. Rhodes Twenty Four, Tower 42, 25 Old Broad Street, London EC2 Chef: Gary Rhodes [details]
9. Lindsay House, 21 Romilly Street, London W1 Chef:Richard Corrigan [details]
10. Smiths of Smithfields, 67-77 Charterhouse Street, London EC1 Chef: John Torode [details]

[Photo Andrew Barrow]

From the Times the top ten places to grab a bite around London's theatre district.

• The Ivy, 1 West Street, EC2 "Conveniently located for all West End theatres, but particularly close to the Cambridge Theatre, Donmar Warehouse, Palace Theatre and the Phoenix" [details]
• Almeida, 30 Almeida Street, N1 "While you do pay top dollar for the food, the quality of the cooking at Sir Terence Conran's restaurant, opposite the theatre from which it takes its name, shines through" [website]
• Balcony Bistro, Barbican Centre "With its crisp, new look, the Barbican's Balcony Bistro at last has presence" [website]
• Christopher's, 18 Wellington Street, WC2 "A quick walk away from the Royal Opera House, Fortune Theatre and Drury Lane" [details]
• Festival Riverside, Royal Festival Hall "The South Bank's Festival Riverside, which opened last summer, offers three restaurnats that are convenient for meals before and after performances at the National Theatre"
• Mon Plaisir, 21 Monmouth Street "The pre-theatre menu is great value. Handy for the Phoenix, the Palace and Prince Edward theatres" [details]
• Mangal, 10 Arcola Street, E8 "This Turkish BYO has no menu bar a display of kebabs, which are prepared on an open charcoal grill. Close to the Arcola Theatre" [details]
• The Menier Chocolate Factory, 51-53 Southwark Street "These days this former chocolate factory is home to a small arthouse theatre, complete with creaky floorboards and a cosy, candlelit restaurant. Also just a short walk from Shakespeare's Globe Theatre" [website]
• Volt, 17 Hobart Place "The restaurant is close to both the Apollo Victoria and the Victoria Palace Theatre" [website]
• Yoshino, 3 Piccadilly Place "A handy pre or post-show pit-stop for the Criterion and Piccadilly Theatres" [website] 

To me the idea of eating in pitch darkness - were they give you unbreakable glasses 'cause you are bound to knock them over - is ridiculous. I want to enjoy my companions, one or two might be better if they stayed in the dark mind but perhaps I should pick better looking friends, not talk to a disembodied voice. And I certainly want to see what I am eating. Pretentious? You bet!

This seems to be the conclusion of the Independent reviewer of Dans Le Noir the London outlet of a French restaurant concept. It is so dark you can even get up to go to the loo without someone holding your hand. The reviewer raises a point too - they say they give you such and such a dish but how do you actually know if you can't see it? What if you knock the veg on the floor and didn't realise? And how do you fill up your wine glass without over-filling it?

Isn't one of the important concepts of eating out the delight in the food's presentation? If you cant see it what are you paying for? If I wanted to eat in darkness I'd have a packet of chocolate biscuits under the duvet thank you.

If you're interested in how the concept came about, check out our previous article.

Having enjoyed an offal salad at the Anchor and Hope with a bunch of the UK's bloggers, I can attest to being a lover of offal. Gimme kidneys, liver or heart any day. Pig's trotters I am not that much of a fan of; and there is something about brains that I really don't want to go into that takes them off the menu too.

Pluck is the lungs, heart and liver of an animal that is most famously used in the creation of the Scottish delicacy haggis - stuffed with oat bran inside a sheep's stomach. Lights are the animals lungs; again there is something about them that puts me off. They can be used though as an addition to several dishes, finely chopped in a bolognese sauce for example. To prepare them they have to be beaten by a mallet to remove the air and the cartilage and a broccoli looking bit sticking out of the windpipe have to be removed too.

From yesterdays Times a guide to the top ten 'bargain' lunches. They managed to stagger out of London all the way to Reading this week; the taxi fare must have been mammoth.

• Le Gavroche London, W1 "an awesome gastronomic experience, where fantastic food is served by waiting staff who are some of the best in London... Set Price lunch £46 three courses plus drinks" [website]
• Abeno London WC1 "excellent peasant-style Japanese... prices are reasonable anyway but there is a lunch deal for £7.50" [details]
• Club Mangia @ Punch Taven, London, EC4 "fill your plate with salads, roasts and casseroles for just £7.50" [details]
• L'Etranger London, SW7 "Lunchtime set menu is £14.50 for two courses with discounts on wine" [details]
• The Park Manadarin Oriental Hyde Park, London SW1 "the best time to visit is lunchtime when a reasonable set menu comes with unlimited wine for £32" [website]
• Konaki, London WC1 "generously portioned food is well prepared and the two-course set lunch for £8.40 is excellent value" [details]
• Malabar Junction, London WC1 "The lunch for £3.99 for chicken or lamb curry with rice is hard to beat" [website]
• L'Ortolan, Reading, Berkshire "The set lunch menu is priced at a bargain £18 for two courses or £21 for three" [website]
• Tapas Brindisa, London SE1 "one of the best tapas bars in London" [details]
• Umu, London W1 "there are seven set-price lunch menus starting at £22 and going up to £44 for those on a budget... outstanding food" [details]

As detailed in todays Times. Again they have managed to squeeze in two restaurants from just outside the capital. As usual I have added website links.

• E&O London, W11 "one of the most polished operations in Notting Hill" [Details]
• The Café at Brovey Lair, Ovington, Thetford "a rarity in South-West Norfolk, The focus is on fish and seafood with most dishes cooked on a Japanese teppan grill in full view of the five dining tables" [website]
• Cocoon, London, W1 "beautiful dining room (table tops filled with rose petals, groovy swivel chairs and lots of gauzy curtains)" [details]
• Enak Enak, London, SW11 "Nancy Lam, whose acerbic wit and good humour made her the face of Malaysian/pan-Asian TV cookery in the 1990's is cooking up a storm here in her family-run restaurant" [website]
• The Grocer on Warwick, London, W1 "a stylishly informal eat-in restaurant" [website]
• Jaan, London, WC2 "a conservative feel, providing a rather sedate setting for the vibrant and ambitious food" [website]
• Surin, Ramsgate "the cooking has a certain freshness and verve" [website]
• Mangosteen, London, SE27 "...clean flavours are succeeding in winning this little Gypsy Hill newcomer many admirers" [details]
• Uli, London, W11 "good food, reasonable prices, relaxed atmosphere" [details]
• Zen Satori, London, N1 "gives catering students the chance to practice their newly learned skill" [website]