We booked at the last minute at Mr Francatelli as I had been busy with the count at the local council elections. I was tired, and I was in no mood to cook myself. My wife however, knew a restaurant near her work that she had been eyeing up for a while, so we went along

My wife picked the Girasoli Mare, filled with crab and prawn, and served with a cherry tomato sauce. I selected the Pappardelle Porcini e Salsiccia, pasta with porcini mushrooms and Italian sausage. The pasta was well-made, and a little al-dente. I usually like it more al-dente than my wife, but we both enjoyed it.

With our meal, we shared a bottle of a Welsh rosé, which complemented it well.

We were in the mood for pudding, for which we enjoyed a Tiramisu to share which came served in a mini mocha pot.

Mr Francatelli served good Italian food, and not fussy. It was slightly on the pricier side, but that is not really a surprise in Westminster.

A couple of months ago, I asked my wife to see if she could book some different cuisines for our Friday nights out. This request resulted in the visit to Mriya Neo Bistro, and a reservation at Et House, a Turkish restaurant close to Swiss Cottage. When we arrived at the restaurant it was pretty quiet, but we were welcomed in, picking a table up towards the back of the restaurant.

For our starters, we shared some Babaganush, which was served with a flat bread, and Mantar, sautéed mushrooms with butter and garlic, covered in melted cheese.

For her main, my wife chose the Sarma Lamb Beyti — minced with spices and garlic, and served in a lava bread with some yoghurt on the side. A spicy tomato-y sauce completed the dish. I had the Mixed Shish — marinated chicken and lamb cubes, served with a salad, rice, and bulgur wheat.

With our meal I enjoyed a bottle of Efes Draft, and my wife a Turkish red wine.

The dishes were all nicely spiced, not too strong, but with a good flavour. The meal was nothing very special, but enjoyable and decently priced. We did order too much though, as the portions were generous.

If you're near Swiss Cottage and fancy a low-key meal, Et House will do just fine.

Out of the way, near the Brompton Cemetery, behind an unassuming shop window, a cosy little restaurant is hiding. It is named Mriya, which means dream in Ukrainian. The small restaurant has a short menu of Ukrainian dishes, in Ukrainian and English.

When we arrived, a fiery horseradish infused shot of vodka, to go with a canapé with Salo (a slice of salt-cured pork subcutaneous fat), which we'd pre-booked was waiting for us. An excellent start to the meal.

For once, we decided on a wine first, and chose a Ukrainian white wine from the Odesa region. It was nice and crisp, and worked fine with the rest of our dishes.

As our starters we shared the Matthias forshmak, chopped herring served with boiled potatoes, onions, and eggs; and a cheburek, a deed-fried turnover filled with (in our case) a four cheese blend. We enjoyed the forshmak with some bread and whipped butter.

After our starters, my wife picked as her main the salted cheese varenyky (dumplings) with wild garlic pesto. The filling was flavourful, with the wild-garlic pesto adding a bit of a kick. I decided on the Kyiv fried chicken, with mashed potato. The chicken was filled with a delightful garlic butter, and had a nice crisp coating. The mash was very smooth, and was served with two sauces.

After all of this, we also decided on a sour cherry varenyky to share as desert. And to round our meal off, we enjoyed that with a shot of a sour-cherry infused vodka. Budmo!