Maze and Le Cercle & chicken

Recently ate:
Chicken thighs (oakham from M&S - free range but not organic - tasty breed)
grilled/fried with ginger and thyme and a touch of soy. With salad leaves.
Drank Chianti. One green and black chocolate for afters.

Earlier in the month went to Maze, which has won all sorts of plaudits.
[10-13 Grosvenor Square, W1K 6JP, Tel: 020 7107 0000 ]

It's funded by Gordon Ramsay but the chef is Jason Atherton.

The meal was good - highlights included pumpkin soup, roast quail. However, the atmosphere was a little stiff and the staff not completely at ease. They are also super busy; we were in at 6pm and had to be out of our table by 8pm.

In its style and for its price - I would choose Le Cercle
[1 Wilbraham Place, London, SW1X 9AE - Telephone: 020 7901 9999]

Here's there's the same idea of smaller dishes - "tapas" style in sense of being small - of often very rich food with a twist.

mini cep ravioli is utterly delicious - light, savoury, full of mushroom flavour and only costs about £3 - there's lots of foie gras dishes, a fish section, a meat section, an extravagant "plaisir " section and a brilliant desert section. It’s my new favourite restaurant of 2005 to challenge St John in a different way.