Victoria's Secret

EAT out as often as I do and you do pick up a few pearls of culinary wisdom about North West London.

With only one page a week to share my findings quite a bit stays in my little pink notebook.

Much as I'd like to keep my favourites a secret, I've cast my mind back over the last year's menus to share some of my foodie tips - those places that go the extra mile The obvious place to start is the most important meal of the day.

With an eye on my health - and because I love it - I always eat breakfast.

Mostly, it's a bowl of porridge at my desk, but at the weekend I let someone else cook for me.

Two excellent cafes, both on the borders of Hampstead Garden Suburb are worth a visit.

The smart, buzzy, South African-run Din Café in Temple Fortune offers an excellent breakfast menu, from steaming bowls of porridge and healthy muesli and fruit salad to a Full English and even a South African breakfast - complete with boerewors (Afrikaans sausage).

At the other side of Hampstead Garden Suburb - at Café Toulous - you can breakfast at a similarly high standard in stylish surroundings.

Their indulgent toasted croissant with smoked salmon and scrambled eggs gets me out of bed on a Sunday morning.

If you've room after the big breakfast, we've a fantastic range of different ethnic cuisines to choose from.

A current favourite of mine is the Persian Galleria Restaurant on New Cavendish Street.

During the week it's a regular café offering an exotic range of Persian dishes as well as some English staples.

On Sunday, the tables are spruced up with white cloths and flowers and you can find groups of for Sunday lunch.

The food is fresh, colourful, delicious and unusual.

After my first visit, I went back the same week for more of their mirza ghasemi.

This dish of roasted aubergine cooked to mouth-melting softness and combined with tomatoes and eggs eaten wrapped in warm soft, lavash bread will make you want to sing.

I almost need to get back now, just writing about it.

Other places that served the sort of food that makes you want to (quite literally) kiss the chef were Dinings, off Seymour place - for the eel sushi - Hi Sushi Salsa - for the Nasu Dengaku (aubergine cooked with sweet soybean paste, that I've also had to go back for second helpings of) - and Atma on Finchley Road, a temple of Indian food.

I've made no secret of my passion for Odette's and for their head chef, Brynn Williams.

The food and service there is five-star and at the prices they offer their set price meals, it would be criminal not to eat there.

As we have Vince Power to thank for pairing the gorgeous setting with the wonderboy chef, I'll have to declare my undying love for him, too.

Odette's is the very best restaurant that I've written about to date.

Finally, there are a few quirky little places that are worth a look.

A couple of cafes have gone for "make you feel like you're at home" décor.

The Fern House, on Abbey Road, is full of huge armchairs, sofas and coffee tables.

It's like someone stole Auntie Jean's furniture when she wasn't looking.

You can eat breakfasts, home-cooked pasta dishes and casseroles while lounging about and surfing the internet with their free wi-fi.

It feels like the same interior designer helped out the folk at The Legal Café on Haverstock Hill, which also feels like a home from (someone's) home.

This isn't a venue for a big meal, but somewhere for a sandwich and coffee with a big helping of expert legal advice on the side.

Check out their web page (www.thelegal cafe81haverstockhill.com) for more information.

All of these places are well worth a visit - just don't go too often or I might have to fight you for a table.