Rivea

At my second meal at Rivea I was able to sample quite a wide range of dishes, as we were in a group of four. The dining room had pleasingly low noise levels, at around 68 decibels (normal conversation level).

Warm octopus and potato salad had very tender cephalopod and good potato (15/20). Red mullet came with confit tomatoes and olives; the fish was carefully cooked, the tomatoes having quite good flavour. (16/20). Papardelle with girolles had tender pasta, good mushrooms and tomatoes, flavoured with a little basil (16/20).

Corn-fed chicken was served with macaroni cheese, the chicken having reasonably good flavour, the macaroni cheese a comforting complement to the bird, with some unnannounced and tender spinach adding another element (15/20). Lemon dessert was of the same high quality as last time (17/20).

Service was of the same high standard as at my previous visit, with topping up of wine, water and bread faultless. Waiters were friendly and attentive but not intrusive. This is one of the slickest service operations in London. This bill, with lots of food and plenty of excellent Marcel Deiss Riesling, came to £105 a head. Of course this is hardly cheap, but you are in Knightsbridge, and at least here the service operation actually delivers, unlike so many places in the area. If you ordered your wine much more carefully than I did then you could reasonably expect a bill of aboout £85 a head.