"You Choose" — Chez Mal

Venue: Chez Mal at Malmaison, The Mailbox, B1 2JR; website

Choice: Vegetable risotto (£19.95, as part of fixed menu) Chooser: Waitress

We've been left pretty cold by the food at Chez Mal in the past, so will immediately disclose it's been years rather than months since we made it past their bar. But we're pleased a return visit we did make. What felt very much like a hotel restaurant — full of lone diners and their expenses accounts — has made strides into a different market, of engaged youngish professional types, demanding more than a sirloin, well done. The kitchen's fixed menu is all about doing the simple things right, with great ingredients at the centre of the taste equation — think creamy burrata, fish that tastes like it was caught that morning, and herbs used right. The risotto was a clear your plate example of this. Retaining plenty of bite, it was velvety, full of fresh (the pea shoots working particularly well) and retained a structure that made our meat-ordering plus one take part in some pretty serious food-swiping. The seasoning was the only element that wasn't precisely to sir's liking but it's been said before that we may have a palate on the saltier side of the sea. Menu