Mimosa's Bar and Grill

It's been a while since I reviewed a restaurant; however, when we saw the prices at Mimosa, I decided that I ought to do a review, whether good or bad. £6.95 is a good price for a starter and main course in London, and I'm glad to say that H was wrong when he assumed that might mean that "all the food will be from packets from Tesco"!

To service was very good. The young waitress was new and, I think, still learning English; she brought us the wrong starter. However, H did not realise until half way through, and when we pointed it out, the manageress brought us the right dish; this meant we got to try three of the starters for the price of two!

I had hummus and fried livers. Delicious, and spot on starter size. The small mound of livers were succulent and just a little pink, resting on a coral reef of hummus. I had watched the waitress carefully brown the pitta bread on a big metal dome on top of the smoky, firey grill earlier - it was crispy, not too much, just right.

H's first starter turned out to be a spinach and soft cheese filo pastry with salad. The pastry was very slightly too oily for my taste, but the spinach and cheese was just right. The salad - which also came later with the main course - was the only time that I thought H might have a point about food coming from a plastic bag in Tesco! Red and green cabbage with carrot and a spot of mustard dressing. Anyway, the filo parcels were not the calamari rings expected, but when they came, they still had the slightly too greasy batter but with tasty squid that was not too chewy or rubbery, the main reasons why I don't really like squid.

We were probably getting full on bread and extra starters before the main course arrived. I had a very tasty vegetable moussaka with more of the salad and some mint yoghurt raita sauce. Lots of tomatoes, peppers, tomatoes, courgettes, aubergines and bechamel sauce! Very tasty and, once again, a good size for lunch. H had lamb sheesh kebab and rice; it's always a good sign when he finishes something quickly!

We finished by ordering "a cup of tea" which, in translation, became "a coffee", but, once again this mistake was quickly rectified. I had earlier had a delicious, and thick, strawberry milkshake.

I would definitely take any friends or family here for lunch if we are ever in the Bond Street area ... although we passed many other good looking cafes, creperies and trattoria in that same area that we'll need to try some time!

I should point out that we ate out having spent a very interesting and enjoyable hour and a half or so at the nearby Wallace Collection. Hope to go back at some point in the future to peruse further the collection. Not too impressed by the Damien Hirst's this time; well, H wasn't anyway, I didn't really have much time to have an opinion before I heard his!

Martin Creed

What would an evening with the man who created the whole world plus the art equals the whole world, and lights switching on and off, in a dance studio in Islington, consist of? Some mathematical ballet, arty videos and repetitive drumming and strumming, along with Creed's distinctive vocals and slightly awkward but endearing gait. A very funny and relaxing evening, full of surprises and amusements, pauses, possible improvisations and planned happenings. In the midst of it, the choreographer called out seemingly spontaneous and random letters - "We'll have L followed by T front to back" - and the dancers rhythmically entered the space, producing ordered and controlled movements that reminded me of square numbers and logorithmic equations. Creed joked throughout the evening ... In one distinctive piece he commented that he had got the timing wrong, in another he stumbled over that he was glad to be there - he thought. Some may ask, as Creed did in his first song, what's the point? But that is, I think the point. A great evening.