One great thing with having a blog is all the people you get in contact with. Sometimes you get freebies or invitations (yes, please!), sometimes a really nice comment, a recommendation for a restaurant or a very nice follower.

That’s the reason why I had dinner with one of my readers the other day. She is Swedish too, has lived in London for longer than I have and loves food. We have discussed restaurants in the comments’ section and on email for quite some time so it was about time to actually meet up!

The chosen venue was Great Queen Street, a restaurant both of us have been meaning to try for ages.

To be honest, I wasn’t bawled over when entering the restaurant, as the first thing I saw were the pine chairs and tables. Hello 80’s. But then you look around and notice the homely pictures and light fixtures on the walls, and as the restaurant fills up you decide you like it. Despite the pine.

The food here is simple and rustic, and although it is food I could easily cook at home, it still has that little extra you want in a restaurant experience. The seasoning is spot on, and although simply prepared the ingredients are of great quality and the pairings are great.

Sandra’s first dish of smoked mackerel with soft rhubarb and strong horseradish is a great example of their cooking. It looks simple, almost plain, but the flavours are there and they stay with you.

My first dish of snails, bacon and nettles was just right. Enough smokiness from the crispy bacon, soft melt-in-the-mouth snails and earthiness from the nettles. All the flavours came through and the crusty bread made a nice contrast.

Both of us decided baked eggs with tomatoes and peppers were a good idea in the grey quite cool evening, and it really hit the spot. Although I have made a similar thing myself, you could just tell that the best ingredients were used in this, and a lot of time allowed to further sweeten the vegetables.

It is a busy place though, so we only had our table for an hour and a half, but we could move to the bar and finish our wine and conversation there, so we were very happy. And a plus to the very attentive yet super-friendly staff.

32 Great Queen Street, London WC2B 5AA Tel: 020 7242 0622