27 Old Compton Street is a restaurant close to Shaftesbury Avenue. It sits among the busy streets of SOHO, it is hip, and it focusses on pasta.

I had the Pumpkin Ravioli, and my husband the Cacio e Pepe Bucatini. We thought the dishes to be lovely, but in our opinion the pasta was a little too al dente for us — another 30 seconds in the pan, and it would have been perfect.

We followed with a portion to share of their only dessert, a pistachio sweet gnocchi — these were little gnocchi sized doughnuts with a liquid pistachio filling with a scoop of ice-cream and some crushed and chopped pistachios (mind the inevitable squirt when you cut in).

Next time I'd have the courgette fries too which the table next to us had and looked great.

We were in and out in about 45 minutes.

In SOHO, in the hubbub of central London, Duck & Rice is a busy establishment with a lively atmosphere. There is a big tank of Pilsner Urquell tank beer downstairs when you get in.

We arrived a little before seven, and the place was nearly full, with hip people a fair bit younger than we are, as well as a some people about the same age or older. The menu is fairly extensive, but focuses on Cantonese food.

We started with some sesame prawn toast as starter. The two pieces of toast were cut length wise, resulting in four tasty morsels. They were moist, flavourful, and the right amount of crispy.

Our mains came shortly after the starters, way before we could finish the toast. I chose their signature dish, the "Duck & Rice" as my main dish. My wife had the king prawn Katsu curry rice, but I believe she was slightly wishing she'd had the Duck & Rice as well. That isn't to say that the prawns weren't well cooked, or the sauce wasn't perfectly nice, but sometimes you just have to have the signature dish; like the table of three next to us, but the missus was willing to "take one for the team" and ordered something else (thanks!)

The Duck & Rice consisted of a roasted duck, with a sweet and crispy skin, over a well cooked rice. I was initially concerned as the duck also came with a leg with bones. I'm not too keen if I have to effectively gnaw meat off bones (spare ribs excluded). However, it was only the one leg, and I was pleased the rest of the meat was off the bone, as well as being perfectly cooked, spiced, and paired perfectly with the rice. Because the skin was slightly sweet, so were the juices that seeped into the rice. The cucumber added a pleasant bite of freshness.

Instead of having wine, it made much more sense to us to have a beer, especially because they have some exclusive ones (we like beer). Which meant that with our dinner we enjoyed a Duck Pale Ale and an Orion Lager.

When we booked, the table was reserved for two hours. However as the service was quick, and we only really had two courses, and one drink each, we were in and out in a smidgen under an hour. The quick service, and the location of Duck and Rice, close to many theatres, might make this an ideal spot for a pre-theatre meal.

We might be back at some point, to try some other intriguing dishes.

The Oystermen is a restaurant not far from Covent Garden. We've been before, but many years ago, probably pre-pandemic. As the name suggests they specialise in oysters and henceforth we had plenty of them.

For our starter we picked a raw Jersey rock oyster each, which were fresh and delicious. However, this spot also does cooked oysters, which is more unusual, so we also enjoyed a couple of seaweed oysters which were served with a seaweed butter, and two tempura oysters.

As our arrival drink we fancied a cocktail, and we're quite keen on Martinis. We decided to have a Martini with an oyster in it, because, you know… when at an oyster restaurant! It worked even better after we added a drop of the leftover oyster juice to our cocktail. The Oyster garnish took the place of the more usual olive and added a similar salty, briny tang. Definitely one to try if you get the opportunity.

For our mains my wife ordered a mackerel, which came with a horseradish sauce. I ordered the Gurnard, curried, with a few chilli flakes. We also chose to have some fries on the side. These were crispy, with a lightly spiced coating which worked well with both main courses. We also ordered a glass of Chardonnay each.

We still fancied a digestif. My wife had a glass of the Sazerac Straight Rye, which in my opinion could have done with a bit of ice. I selected a Somerset cider brandy, which I had never had before.

We really enjoyed our time at the Oystermen. The food is excellent, the ambience is great, and on top of that they play recordings of the shipping forecast in the toilets, which are located downstairs. I think we'll be back at some point.