67 Upper St, London, N1 0NY. Tel: 020 7226 2212 

I was at a conference at the Business Design Centre and during lunchtime I popped out for something to eat.

Somehow I always get very drawn to "noodle bars' when I pass them and can't help having a quick look at the menu. The only thing I get annoyed at these days (not true as there are probably many) are places that try to pass them off as Japanese or use Japanese names, but once inside I hear the staff talking Cantonese. I always cringe.

I went for the soba noodles with duck. Wasn't really soba noodles as I know them, but your usual 'chow mein' type noodles. Didn't mind too much. There was plenty of noodles with beansprouts and chinese leaves. So much that I had to leave some, which for me is very unsually. There was lots of duck as well. Pure breast with no bones. Actually I normally like it more the Chinese style on the bone.

Overall it was pleasant enough.

Miso Noodle Bar web site.

Sushi

The place is on the rooftop floor of 20 Exeter Road, Bournemouth BH2 5AQ, just above Klute. Tel: 01202 252 533.

For those people who think that 15 minutes after you have had a Oriental meal then you feel hungry again, well you just haven't ordered enough, fools. 

Zander Bar is a bar located in Buckingham Gate, St James/Westminster.  It adjoins the impressive 100-year-old St James hotel (now a Crown Plaza).  The contrast between the two places could not be greater – large grand wood panelled open spaces in the hotel and small tightly packed drinking compartmentalised areas with low ceilings and lighting to match in the bar.

We have been using those disposable BBQs from the main supermarkets for a number of years now. Some are better than others. A friend had one from Morrisons which was da bomb. It lasted for ages, very hot and seemed to be made up of wood rather than charcoal type things. We have found that the Sainsbury seems to be the worst performers.

Anyway, tonight we had a quick BBQ in the garden as the weather, for September, was nice enough to throw a few bits onto the fire.

A bit of advice. Even if you do not plan to eat sausages, or were looking forward to having shellfish or something, I think it is worth making one or two sausage offerings to the gods, before putting your food on. I say this as I was trying to BBQ two large squids but because of the moisture inside the squid, it dripped onto the coals and made them virtually unusable. I had to start another one.

However, when I popped a few Walls sausages on, the disposable BBQ came back to life. I reckon it all needs a bit of fat to be splashed around to kick off more of the coals.