11. Orecchiette with 'nduja, red onion, tomato and rocket, Bocca Di Lupo, Soho

I cook and eat so much pasta at home that I almost never order it out, on the basis that it is one thing I can actually execute ok.  However I make an exception for this particular dish - my favourite thing on the menu at Bocca Di Lupo.

Super spicy from the 'nduja sausage, but also has the sweetness of red onions and tomato, salty cheese and a touch of green to make you feel virtuous (sort of.)

Other things I love at this restaurant are the beautiful light

and the charming staff.  However I let my idiot friends talk me into ordering Sanguinaccio for dessert, when what I should have had was this custard donut.

But no, idiot me has to rise to the bait.  And just to be clear, even though Sanguinaccio might sound tasty and Italian, and might even look tasty and Italian

it is merely Italian.  Italian for pig's blood and chocolate pate.  Yes.  Tastes as good as it sounds in English...  Next time I'll stick to the custard donut.

Bocca di Lupo, 12 Archer Street, Soho W1 - 0207 734 2223.  Book for a table well in advance, or don't book but expect to wait for a seat at the bar.

10. Home-made Nutella, Ottolenghi

I mean seriously.  Who else would have thought 'I can make Nutella even more ridiculous, indulgent and delicious than the folks that brought you Nutella.'

Again, not photogenic but trust me: whole hazelnuts trapped in a thick, rich, smooth dark chocolate paste.  Even if like me you prefer bacon in the mornings to sugar, you may still find yourself eating this out of its serving pot with a spoon. 

Ottolenghi in the morning, Ottolenghi generally, Ottolenghi always.

9. Noodles-coconut and chicken, Mandalay, Edgware Road

Mandalay is an institution, on the Edgware Road down the Maida Vale end, slightly away from the full-on throng of middle-eastern joints near Marble Arch. 

Mandalay won Time Out's Best Cheap Eats of All Time a couple of years ago and serves Burmese food - which they describe as somewhere between Chinese and Indian with a bit of Thai for good measure.  I've been thinking about this chicken noodle dish since the last time I ate it 7 years ago.  

Tender chicken in a rich, warm, thick coconut sauce, deep fried shallots, noodles, exemplary use of spring onions - ticks so many boxes: crunch, soft, tender, spice, coconut, fried....god, I don't know why I left it 7 years to come back here.  Best consumed with a cold Tiger beer. 

Other star dish of the meal was this very simple aubergine with potatoes.

Mandalay, 444, Edgware Road - 0207 258 3696.   You need to book for dinner, generally.

8. Burrito, Chipotle

Look at this behemoth!

The inside of a burrito is never going to be the prettiest, but still...

Coriander-lime rice, extra guacamole, sour cream, hot salsa, pinto beans, chicken - seriously, what is not to love?

It's rare that I think a chain is as good as an independent, but Chipotle is up there with Benito's Hat.  Except that the colour scheme in Chipotle is horrifically burgundy and un-Mexican and soul-less.  But then they go and redeem themselves by having lovingly thought through wrapping:

and cutesy receipts:

Life is burritoful indeed.

Chipotle, 101 Baker Street & 116 Charing Cross Road

7. Various, at Fitou, Thai

This is the line up from Fitou, the Thai restaurant at the back of Pear-Shaped - p.441.  It's cheap as chips, BYO, and in a residential street by the ever-glamorous Wormwood Scrubs - I guess not a selling point, unless you're visiting...

Fish cakes

Super hot papaya salad

Gaeng penang - hot red coconutty curry with lime leaves and chilli, served with coconut rice

and Pad See Ew - delicious stir fried broad rice noodles with eggs and firm broccoli in a thick soy sauce.

I was telling the guy who runs this place that I love this noodle dish so much, and he just laughed at me and said it was such a straightforward dish (I think implying I was boring, but anyway.)  It is straightforward, but I love the texture combo and the omelette bits immensely.  He said that the staff eat it a lot, but jazz it up with sugar, chilli and this other chilli powder concoction, so I asked him to bring me the sprinkles, and indeed they do jazz it up beautifully (though I'm equally happy with it in its unassuming everyday garb.)

Fitou 1 - 3 Dalgarno Gardens, London W10 5LL

6. Yasai salad, Asa-Kusa, Camden, NW1

Asa-Kusa is one of those restaurants that looks like a total shit-hole from the outside, but is constantly fully booked because the food is amazing and cheap.  I've introduced various people to it over the years because I like to share - except nowadays I usually can't get a table, which makes me realise that perhaps I don't like to share that much at all. 

If I were rich I'd be thin, I'm sure of it, because every day but Sundays I'd go to Asa-Kusa and eat 10 Yasai salads, and be perfectly content. 

The salad's nice enough - firm broccoli, lettuce, cucumber, (avoid the tomatoes, they're a bit flavourless and wet.)  But it's all about the dressing.  I have begged, pleaded and tried to finagle the recipe out of the woman who runs Asa-Kusa, to no avail.  All I seem to have gleaned is that it has apple in it - which is peculiar, as it tastes not a jot of apple.  It does taste of ginger and sesame and something slightly salty sweet, and is, I believe, the finest salad dressing in London.

Totally delicious.  Everything on the menu here is great - particularly the Saba No Misoni - mackerel in miso, and all the sushi.  Plus, it is cheap as chips for the quality - average spend about £14 without booze.  Inevitably it requires advanced booking, and try your hardest not to sit in the basement, as it smells of damp.

Asa-kusa, 265 Eversholt Street, 0207 388 8533

5. Peanut Butter Ice Cream (Bagigio), Gelatio Mio, St Johns Wood, Holland Park, Belsize Park, Fulham

Who knew?  Who knew that an ice cream that's as good, if not better, than Ben and Jerry's, exists, and is only 3 times more expensive than Ben and Jerry's?

Peanut butter ice cream.  The absolute perfect mid-point balance between salty and sweet, smooth with a few rogue crunches of nut.  Entirely show-stoppingly delicious.

Gelato Mio - make sure you ask for the loyalty card!