Last week saw the publication of the Michelin Guide to Great Britain and Ireland 2008 an event that, as usual,  set chefs aflutter across the capital. For months all has been speculation, who’s going up and who’s going down. Chefs know just how much a star would add to their c.v. and to their takings. However I have never seen a customer in a restaurant with the fabled red book, chefs buy a copy but I am yet to be convinced that the Michelin Guide is on every foodie's bedside table. None of which stops the stars being the best ever marketing tool. Here’s what they have to say about Arbutus.

“Spec. Braised pig’s head with potato purée and caramelised onions, Bavette of beef with gratin dauphinoise, red wine and shallot sauce. Vanilla panna cotta with poached rhubarb. +  Dining room and bar that’s bright and stylish without trying too hard. Bistro classics turned on their head: poised carefully crafted cooking – but dishes still pack a punch.”

All of which is true. And I’m a big fan of this restaurant which thoroughly deserves its Michelin star, but it is impossible to get a feel for this place from such a scanty entry. Where does it say that Anthony Demetre has a genuine love of offal dishes, one that goes way beyond pig’s head into the territory of tripe and sheeps’ feet or andouillettes de Troyes? Where does it mention the splendid cheeses? And what about the 250ml carafes that allow you to try forty different wines?  And the ungraspingly priced wine list? And what about the painstaking sourcing of top quality ingredients – Elwy Valley lamb, Rhug Estate beef, English snails? Or the friendly service? And what about pointing out the link between Arbutus and Wild Honey – another well deserved winner of a Michelin star – does it make sense to only have the link from Wild Honey to Arbutus but not the other way around?

The announcement of this year’s Michelin stars was a fairly low key event, nothing shocking or amazing happened. La Trompette got its first (something that was well overdue); at Hibiscus they only managed to preserve one of the two stars they held previously in Ludlow, Wild Honey got a star, Rhodes W1 got a star, Quilon got a star – very good cooking here, why are ethnic restaurants such a low priority with the Michelin inspectors?  Refurbs meant closure and the loss of single stars for The Savoy Grill and Angela Hartnett at the Connaught. While the Orrery just lost its star.  The two star line up stayed the same – Pied à Terre, The Capital, Petrus; Le Gavroche and the Square – in my view  both Gavroche and the Square should have three stars for several years now. But for three stars in London there’s only Gordon Ramsay at Royal Hospital Road.

So as Stanley Holloway observed in “Albert and the Lion” his classic monologue, ”There was no wrecks and nobody drownded, in fact nothing to laff at, at all”

Charles Campion

You have to wonder whether having an Icelandic head chef could ever be a sufficient draw to fill an aspirational restaurant. When faced with the challenge of launching Texture in September 2007, executives at the P.R. company must have breathed a collective sigh of relief as they read Agnar Sverrisson’s C.V. and spotted the magic words “Raymond Blanc” and “Manoir aux Quat’Saisons”. “Icelandic” may translate as a chance to sample delicacies like well-rotted shark, but Monsieur Blanc means class and integrity.

The black wooden tables at Texture are somewhat crowded together, the floors are uncarpeted floorboards and the high ceilings mean that there is an echoey feel to the place. Sverrisson’s cooking is careful and combinations of flavour and texture are considered. There is much to admire in terms of strong flavours and accomplished techniques. If there is a valid criticism it must be that the presentation of the food on the plate is extreme, there are squiggles of sauce, mini-towers, multiple flavours fighting for dominance. For me things are 10% too complicated and platefuls may be 10% too prissy but this is good food with good flavours.

At lunch time there is list of dishes that are all served in starter size portions (all priced at £8.50 which can make exploring the menu quite expensive, maybe it would be wise to try the tasting menu at £59). French Jerusalem artichoke soup comes with a poached hen’s egg and black truffle – very refined soup, like perfumed cream, a decent fresh egg and the whiff of truffle works well. “Winter vegetable textures” turns out a little to complicated and looks a bit like a splatter painting. The “Icelandic” cod comes with brandade, chorizo and squid and is a wholly successful combination. The Shetland hot smoked organic salmon is perfectly cooked but the promised Asian flavours seem rather tame. The Lancashire suckling pig (puzzlingly billed as Lancashire Old Spot elsewhere on the menu – I suppose Gloucester Old Spot pork from Lancashire would put our provenance compasses into a spin),is slow cooked and served with squid and bonito sauce, once again good flavours. The Charolais beef cheek is slow braised with root vegetables and red wine – Monsieur Blanc would be proud of this one. The Cornish monkfish comes with a barley risotto and is flavoured with anis and almond. The desserts include a plateful of different coconut delights, and there is a poached pear that comes with a fine five spice ice cream.

These are interesting dishes and by an large they all deliver on the taste front. It is possible that eating here has made me acknowledge some of my prejudices about presentation and concede that other diners may be delighted by the elegant and complicated plating. I am much more concerned about how food tastes than how it looks, but I like the flavours at Texture, bring on the decaying shark!

Charles Campion

Texture, 34 Portman Square, London, W1 (020 7224 0028)

www.texture-restaurant.co.uk

The Prince Arthur is the latest addition to the Martin Brothers’ portfolio and like their other gastropubs it has a postcode that is out there amongst the “E numbers”, (although they are rumoured to be opening near Sloane Square later on this year). Tom and Ed Martin cut their teeth with the Well in Clerkenwell before moving on to the White Swan – serious cooking in the restaurant upstairs; the Gun – upscale pricing in Docklands with an al fresco Portuguese grill tacked onto the terrace in case the sun ever shines again; the Empress of India – a tremendous Victoria Park local. And now the Prince Arthur, which they like to think is in London Fields (the fields are actually a bracing walk away; the Arthur is in Dalston, chic Dalston, but Dalston nevertheless).

One of the strengths of the Martin Brothers’ hostelries is that they retain a decent measure of pubby-ness and the Arthur is no exception, the interior has the warm, dark brown, feel that you get in comfortable pubs and the bar offers a couple of real ales. The menu is short – seven starters and five mains – it is also sensibly priced – starters are around the £5 or £6 mark and the priciest main is under £12. This good value theme is somewhat dented by a £1 charge for bread and butter and side dishes coming in at £3. (It seems out of kilter to pay a modest £5 for “rabbit loin and braised oxtail terrine with poached pear” but then to be asked over half that amount for mashed potato or cauliflower cheese). The terrine was a good one, a little chilly from the fridge but well made and well-seasoned. Other starters include a home-made pork pie; a pint o’prawns with mayonnaise; and a pickled beetroot salad with goats’ cheese curd, walnuts and sticky dates – an interesting combination of flavours. Main courses are blissfully straightforward – pork belly comes with sound crackling, roast parsnips, Brussel tops and a tart apple sauce. The combo of scampi, fat chips and sauce tartare is tried and tested and none the worse for that. The chicken pie with roast ceps and Blue Wensleydale has been highly recommended. Service is smiley and dishes fly out of the kitchen – another benefit of the short menu approach. Puds range from lemon tart to “deep fried jam sandwich with plum chutney and Carnation milk ice cream” and spotted dick.

It is very difficult to judge just how casual the cooking in a local pub should be. The denizens of E8 are a sophisticated bunch who will be well aware of the latest trends in West End restos so it’s important that the grub has some oomph to it, but neither the dishes nor the prices should ever be frightening. The Martin Brothers have judged things pretty well at their other establishments and it looks as if the Arthur will be equally successful.

Charles Campion

The Prince Arthur, 95 Forest Road, E8 (020 7249 9996) www.theprincearthurlondonfields.com

The Well, 180 St John Street, EC1 (020 7251 9363) www.downthewell.com

The White Swan,108 Fetter Lane, EC4 (020 7242 9696) www.thewhiteswanlondon.com

The Gun, 27 Coldharbour, E14 (020 7515 5222) www.thegundocklands.com

The Empress of India, 130 Lauriston Road, E9 (020 8533 5123) www.theempressofindia.com

The best laid plans of mice and restaurant writers.... as any glance at the television or newspapers will confirm, this week is chicken week. At long last the spotlight, (and hopefully the collective conscience of the nation) might be turning to the plight of the 860 million broiler chickens grown for the table in the U.K. every year. Why should farmers be forced into ultra-intensive production methods by a market that offers them 3 or 4 pence profit for each bird? Just when did cheaper than cheap chickens become an entitlement for the British housewife?

So it’s off to sample some really good chicken – like the whole roast blackleg chicken with foie gras at La Petite Maison. At this “homage” to Nicole Rubi’s Nice establishment the chicken is very good indeed – it’s not gussied up and it’s not fancy – just a top chook roast with care and attention. When the restaurant opened in June 2007 Jay Rayner wrote an eulogy to this bird that went so far as to compare it with the iconic roast chicken at L’Ami Louis in Paris. As I wandered into La Petite Maison my mind was set on a topical revisiting of that roast chicken. But it is unwise to make such definitive plans, while I was toying with the menu and a cold beer the chef Raphael Duntoye bounced out of the open kitchen for a chat. I explained that I was on a chicken pilgrimage and he nodded sagely. Then he started to talk about other dishes – a crisp salad made with red cabbage and apple; a delicate, sweet cured salmon in the Japanese style but with turnips standing in for daikon radish; and finally the whole roast leg of milk fed Pyrenees lamb – and at that point all good, chickeny intentions went out of the window. There is no better salesman than a chef talking lovingly about one of the new dishes on his menu. Who cares about chicken? Bring on the lamb. The lamb was served with roast tomatoes and an intensely savoury cous cous that somehow retained its granular texture. At some point in the process the lamb is lightly smoked – sweet marinade; juicy meat; slight smokiness – it all adds up to bliss. And then there is the legendary, almost boat sized, dish of perfect crème brulée.

To revert to the chicken question, I was due to visit the Duke of Wellington in Crawford Street, a new-ish gastropub, so I planned to pick a chicken dish from their menu and thus take care of my conscience. The Wellington is owned by the people who set up the Brown Dog in Barnes and on the menu it styles itself as a “Bar and Dining Room”. The whole “what is a gastropub” debate grows increasingly tedious and it seems foolish to worry over such definitions, however the Duke of Wellington was formerly a public house and now has gastronomic pretensions. The 24 seater dining room is upstairs. It’s a pretty, if crowded, room. The food is restaurant food, starters are priced between £5.50 and £9.50; mains £13 to £19.75; and puds £4.50 to £5.50. The wine list is fairly forgiving but dinner for two with a bottle of wine would probably land you a bill around the £85 mark. Granted this gastro-emporium is situated in the sleek heart of Marylebone but this is very restauranty pricing. And after scanning the 7 starters and 7 mains it quickly became apparent that the Duke was a chicken free zone. Once again it was time for lamb. The level of cooking is good at the Duke, “spiced pig’s head “cake” with trotters on toast, fried quails’ eggs and tomato sauce” was elegant on the plate and offered plenty of strong flavours. Another starter was the seared foie gras which came with an amazing silky puree of butternut squash. The main courses also impressed,  a “feuillette of 28 day aged “Longhorn” beef sirloin with buttered spinach and shitake mushrooms” did not need the pastry elements but was well made. The “grilled loin of lamb with fondant potato and confit garlic” worked on every level – a very good fondant potato, a head of garlic cooked to melting sweetness, tender meat. The only whisper of reservation is that some of the sauces verged on gluey over-reduction. But good food from a gastro-restaurant-pub-bar. Chicken rants held over for another occasion

Charles Campion

La Petite Maison, 54 brooks Mews, W1 (020 7495 4774)

The Duke of Wellington, 94a Crawford Street, W1 (020 7723 2790) www.thedukeW1.co.uk