108 BRASSERIE, MARYLEBONE

108 Brasserie is the kind of place I could (and did) spend a whole evening eating, drinking and chatting away with a girlfriend. It's a beautiful brasserie style (obviously!) restaurant with leather banquets, dark wood flooring and big mirrors on the walls, situated just off Marylebone High Street. Bron and I went to check it out on a cold Monday evening as I was invited there to try the food. We settled in with a glass of English Sparkling wine and chose a variety of dishes from the extensive British led menu. All the ingredients used are top quality, with as many sourced from the UK as possible.

Bron started with the Dorset crab on toast with watercress & apple - a very generous portion of crab meat in a delicate dressing that tasted like the best version of a prawn cocktail dressing I've tried, on top of a hunk of soft, sweet made-in-house bread.

I thought I'd made the wrong decision with my starter, having tried some of hers first, but was equally impressed with the crispy pigs cheeks with mustard crème fraîche, apple & raisin chutney that I'd ordered. Slow cooked cheek meat had been rolled, breaded and deep fried, without a trace of greasiness, and was served with a lovely pickly chutney that cut through the rich meat.

For mains Bron had the Monday special - pink Gressingham duck breast with chicory braised in orange. Perfectly cooked and utterly delicious, at £16 on Mondays only this is definitely a good option if you go to 108 Brasserie (they do other £16 daily specials including the Balmoral venison haunch Shepherd's Pie on Wednesdays).

My main was divine. Perfect whole lemon sole meunière, on the bone. It was a huge portion, though I finished it all as it was too good to not.

For some reason, and it doesn't normally happen, I felt like I couldn't pass on pudding, so had the brown bread ice cream with caramelised walnuts and honeycomb. Reminiscent of the brown bread ice cream my mum used to make it was an absolute treat. Brown bread ice cream isn't as wrong as it sounds - breadcrumbs are crystalised in butter and sugar then used almost like chocolate chips in the ice cream mixture, creating a rich, caramel flavoured ice cream with chewy chunks running through it.

Bron's warm chocolate fondant with peanut butter ice cream wasn't quite as good, and though the centre was gooey I've had better versions elsewhere.

Starters at 108 range from £8-12 and mains start at £12, so great value for the quality of food, excellent service and glamorous interiors. There are also lighter menu options if you're on a bit of a new year blitz - the grilled chicken salad with guacamole, sweet piquillo pepper, baby gem and coriander, and the salad of 12 baby lettuces and micro greens with grilled organic salmon and basil dressing both sound delicious. And although we didn't try it, I've heard very good things about the Josper grilled pineapple with coconut sorbet, chilli and lime. There's really something for everyone at 108 Brasserie.