The best things we ate and drank in September

Hide (Mayfair) - Roast duck breast with perilla, caramelised cream & plum wine; steamed bun of the leg

A return visit to Hide now that they've extended the same menu to both ground and first floors showed that this Piccadilly restaurant is still doing crazily good business. We roamed around the a la carte menu enjoying signature dishes like the Nest Egg and Warm Acorn Cake but this duck breast was our favourite and you can just see that steamed duck bun over to the top right. 

Forza Wine (South Bank) - TBC

Forza Wine's new bar and restaurant on the South Bank has been an immediate hit, and it's easy to see why. The food is good (and affordable for the area) the place is buzzing and they have an enviable terrace space overlooking the Thames. Of the excellent small plates, this vegetarian offering was the clear winner for us and as the nights get cooler, a warm plate of these coco beans should go down very well. 

Lasdun (South Bank) - Brown butter and honey tart

Even though we'd definitely had our fill at Forza Wine, we couldn't resist popping into Lasdun for a quick nightcap at the bar. And the best thing about this was that they still had some of their excellent brown butter and honey tart on offer. It's well worth popping in here to grab one of London's very best desserts. 

The Connaught Bar (Mayfair) - Martini

The Connaught Bar celebrated a milestone this month. One of the best bars in London is now 15 years old. They still serve up one of the finest martinis in town and there's the added thrill of having the martini trolley wheeled over to your table. If you like a martini and somehow haven't been to this award-winning bar, this is the time to fix that. 

45 Jermyn Street (St James) - Aynhoe Park Venison Carpaccio with Bramble Dressing

A quick stop at the bar at 45 Jermyn Street shows that the Fortnums-adjacent restaurant remains one of the handiest places to get a drink in St James. A separate bar snacks menu is available at the bar which includes this carpaccio, oysters, mackerel tacos and more besides. Also highly recommended, the chips which come with bearnaise sauce for dipping. 

Sexy Fish (Mayfair) - Wagyu & foie gras sushi with mountain peach

If you're doing to do Mayfair properly you may as well go big and a sushi lunch at Sexy Fish is just the thing for a bouji treat. We're still thinking of this sushi which was so meltingly delicious we immediately ordered two more. 

Goodman (City of London) - Bone-in ribeye, Belted Galloway from the Lake District and Nebraskan USDA

A lunch in Goodman reminded us why we love their steakhouses. The steak is cooked to absolute perfection and with a wide selection of cuts from Britain, Europe and the USA there's plenty to choose from. Just don't forget to keep a little room for dessert...

The Good Front Room (Marylebone) - Braised goat shoulder, breadfruit and roti bread on the side

The Good Front Room is one of London's most successful pop-ups in a while. Coming from Michel Roux Jr's Five Star Kitchen program, chef Dom Taylor delivers a Caribbean-inspired menu of the like that isn't usually served in London's five-starred hotels. As such, it's been a massive hit. The goat curry was the winner for us (although the jerk chicken's pretty great too). 

Magenta (King's Cross) - Ricotta and parmesan agnolotti, broad beans, mint and preserved lemon

An invite to this King's Cross restaurant (it's just across the road from the station) led us to a restaurant that had very much flown under our radar before. The contemporary Italian food on offer at this restaurant is really very good and exemplified by this beautiful looking pasta dish, our favourite from the meal there.  

Hiden (Finsbury Park) - Hiden chicken katsu croissando 

This Japanese patisserie sando is actually a much prettier offering than our photo suggests - slicked with homemade tartare and  Japanese brown sauce it's the perfect hit if you're looking for a delicious lunch near Finsbury Park. 

Cadet (Newington Green) - Pate en croute

Cadet on Newington Green remains a massive hit, so when we spied a couple of tables free early on a Saturday, we had to dive in for them. That gave us another opportunity to try George Jephson's pate en croute. If anything, it's even better than when we tried it on our first visit, maybe one of the very best London has to offer right now. 

Home of Food (Lord's) - Katsu chicken by Gareth Ward

The inaugural Home of Food festival in Lord's Cricket Ground was a great success (which happened to be on one of September's hottest days). There was some great food on offer, including pies by Holborn Dining Room's Nokx Majozi, and an excellent hen of the woods burger by Fallow. But this katsu chicken from Ynyshir's Gareth Ward was maybe one of the best katsu chickens we've ever had. The first outing of this festival showed great promise and we think next year's should be even better. 

Moran's Oyster Cottage (Galway, Ireland) - Oysters thermidor

A trip to Galway led us on a search for baked oysters, as demanded on a whim by Hot Dinners Senior. They're surprisingly hard to find around Galway (if there are any other restaurants offering them, please let us know) but you'll always find them on the menu at Moran's Oyster Cottage, one of the most famous restaurants in the area. Garlic crumbed grilled oysters were also excellent, but the thermidor option is really the one to go for, baked with brandy, cream and mustard, and topped with parmesan breadcrumbs. 

The French Market (Finsbury Park) - Kouign Amman

Newly open on Blackstock Road, this bakery comes from the folk behind Tufnell Park's Authentique (they also have another French Market in Whetstone). Inside you'll find a tardis-like cafe with a hidden garden at the back and a large communal table for enjoying patisserie like this top-tier kouign amman. 

Brunswick House (Vauxhall) - Roast chicken with Dorset clams in a Moqueca broth

Pretty much everything we had for dinner at Jackson Boxer's Vauxhall restaurant was memorable, but in a strong field, this sharing dish stood out. The moqueca broth was a funky, intensely flavoured accompaniment to chicken and clams with the whole thing topped off with a punchy jalapeno pistou. Heaven.