Nippon Inn, 124 Charminster Road, Bournemouth, BH8 8UT. Tel: 01202 258 859

A new Japanese restaurant has opened up in Bournemouth. Located on Charminster Road it is easy to get to albeit it a pain in the ass to find some parking at night.

The are brand new and sort of finding their feet. They are only opened a few days per week and have a pretty limited menu in my opinion but that makes good sense as a business though.

A group of us went along on Friday night to check it out. We practically had everything on the evening menu. After we ate our first order we ordered again. Throw in the 6 pints of Asahi beer, bottle of white wine, green tea and a soft drink then everything came to just £15 per head. I thought that was really fantastic value for money.

The chicken wings were a big hit. The noodles a bit disappointing. Sushi was OK.

Time will tell if they will grow but we hope so. It was sad to see the other Japanese restaurants in Bournemouth come and go.

The North West of England is not the most glamorous part of the UK, especially near to Blackpool but we found a place to eat in St. Annes call Jack's Bistro that was very good.

It was a Monday night and no one else was there barring the staff and maybe a friend of theirs. My chicken livers came cooked to perfection. The duck breast was slightly overcooked. Certainly not medium but still OK. There is a good range of wines but I probably chose two that were a bit on the heavy side for what we were eating. I will know for next time.

Mrs T's

Set in between the bingo hall and the Taj Mahal Indian restaurant, it is a step back in time as you walk through the door. Done out in very kitch red wallpaper and red velvety curtain material it is very, very different.

We went there for a friend's 50th birthday. We were the youngest there, by half!

Once seated, the staff will take your drinks orders and explain about the menu. You go up with your plate and help yourself to the hors d'oeuvres. Soup comes afterwards and accompanied by some tasty croutons. A bit of sorbet then helps to cleanse the palette.

Next, they will bring out each of the 3 main courses on offer and actually show you them. This happens from table to table. They are then sent back to the kitchen. You order what you would like and then they bring it out on a plate. When we went they had a great looking rack of pork, duck breasts and fish fillets in a prawn and mussel sauce.

La Tour Des Vents - Le Moulin de Malfourat, 24240 Monbazillac. tel: 05 5358 3010.

Angela's brother-in-law Matt had booked a nice restaurant for us during our stay in France. It was a place called La Tour Des Vents. Just up the road to Chateau Monbazillac by the water tower that you can see from the main road. It had great views over Bergerac and surrounding areas. They gave us a small round room by the entrance which suited us fine and kept our noisy lot from the rest of the diners as well.

La Tour des Vents