I've been driving round the huge roundabout on the south side of Westminster Bridge for years, and assumed there might be a pumping station inside, or a maximumsecurity prison. Imagine my surprise when it recently shed its dismal chrysalis and emerged as a lumpen butterfly, 15 stories high with 1,021 rooms and dramatic views of Big Ben.

For three sweaty hours, we'd been crawling north in bank holiday traffic. Another two hours, at least, lay ahead of us. We would have to break our journey to eat. Once, our only option would have been the nearest service-station cafe. But thankfully we live in the modern world. A quick search on the Blackberry, a phone call and a sat nav-guided escape route later, and we were happily installed in a dreamy little bistro, feasting on braised pork belly and pan-fried brill. Also, this being the modern world, charred antelope steak in goat's cheese sauce, but we'll come on to that later.

Paris Notebook

Earl Cadogan refuses to renew lease on celebrated London brasserie because 'the prices were too high'

Its predecessor was named after a restaurant reviewer. But is the Brompton Bar & Grill still beyond reproach?

Côte, 124-126 Wardour Street, London W1, tel: 020 7287 9280

We all know what a seaside restaurant should look like. Scrubbed wooden tables, perhaps draped with a tasteful bit of Cath Kidston lighthouse-sprigged oilcloth; old photos of grizzled fishermen; some fishing nets, driftwood or other maritime detritus; a blackboard advertising the Catch of the Day (inevitably just sold out). So what the hell was the owner of the Thorpeness Brasserie on when he dreamed up his decorative scheme?

DINERS THRILLED at booking a table at Aurora, Sir Terence Conran's newest eaterie, have found themselves seatless and disappointed. They are the losers in a restaurant war that has seen confused, tuxedoed diners turning up miles from their seats and table bookings cancelled.

Roger Trapp reports on an advertising agency where all the cooks are creative

The Meridien, Piccadilly, which is already doing quite nicely food-wise with Marco Pierre White's Oak Room, has declared its intended dominance of the hotel-food market by opening another splendid restaurant on the same premises.

Bath Rugby Club prop and former England international Victor Ubogu takes a no-nonsense, no-frills approach to eating out. "I like Langan's Brasserie for its consistency and ambience. It has such a relaxed atmosphere. The food is very good, and Richard Shepherd [chef and owner] is a top man.

THE NOVELIST Patrick McGrath, editing Moby Dick in a TriBeCa bistro, looked up and read aloud about "that strange perplexity of inert irresolution, which, when the fishermen perceive it in the whale, they say he is gallied".

"ALCAZAR? It looks more like Alcatraz," said the balding Frenchman at the next table. "No I don't mean it. I'm just trying to adopt an English sense of humour to go with the food. How am I doing?"

Each week in The Information, your essential entertainment guide to the next seven days, we invite an expert panel to share with us the fruits of their knowledge. This week, our foodie panellists reveal their favourite places to eat and drink outdoors, from hidden courtyards to country pubs. Nikki Spencer listens in