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We spent another rare Saturday in London today. Why so rare? As both of us commute from Suffolk or Essex every weekday, we don’t really want to spend weekends riding the trains, too, especially as they’re normally full of day trippers and noisy travellers going to the football, heading to the shops, or taking in a show.

But today, day trippers we were, as we had a lunchtime appointment celebrating a friend’s birthday. As her mum is French, Emilie had chosen La Trouvaille in which to mark her 30th birthday, and with its light décor, and interesting lunch menu serving the ‘finest ingredients, and an extensive wine list from the south and southwest of France and Corsica in an upbeat but relaxed environment,’ I can see why.

Sitting in the dining room upstairs (which we had to ourselves as there were 23 of us) with its deco-esque panelled mirrors, black iron fireplaces, and stripped and polished floorboards, it was like sitting in someone’s grand front room. With the sash windows open to let the summer still air in, and the flowerboxes full of brightly-coloured pansies (and reflected in the window boxes opposite), the whole place exudes a laid back, relaxing, and very French atmosphere.

The staff are genuinely French, and from bringing the arrival drinks, serving the menus and food, topping up the copious amounts of wine, to clearing the tables after we’d eaten, they were polite, courteous, and more than accommodating. The food was exemplary, too. The chicken pate and toast was more than up to expectations (the only criticism being that there could have been more toast, but that’s true of most restaurants), and the guinea fowl stuffed with halloumi cheese, marjoram, and tomato in a beetroot sauce with curly kale was deliciously tender.

Three of us picked one each of the trio of desserts, and I can say that if you choose either of the chocolate mousse, crème brulée, or selection of cheeses, you’ll enjoy them. The price was good too; at £20 a head for the three courses (or £16.50 for two courses), it was all very reasonable. In true French or continental style, it was also one of the longest lunches I’ve had for a long time; we ate, chatted, and drank for over four hours.

Open Monday to Saturday from 12.00pm to 3.30pm for lunch, and 6.00pm to 11.00pm for dinner, and situated at 12A Newburgh Street (a stone’s throw away from Carnaby Street and Oxford Circus Tube) La Trouvaille comes highly recommended.

We were out for dinner on Saturday night. Mum and Bart were down for the weekend, and so we took a chance on new Ipswich eatery, The Dining Room, as we’d often walked past and peered through the windows on the way back from our waterfront weekend coffee at the docks.

Rather than reflecting an airy, light space, devoid of any signs of life – as was so often the case on those post-coffee afternoons – tonight the large windows welcomed us into a warm and friendly restaurant, buzzing with young and old clientele. We didn’t even have to book, although it was a close run thing at one point as to whether we’d get a table. In the end, two were pushed together.

Situated in Fore Street towards the southern end of the town, the building curves around the end of the road, and has a white, crisp, and clean décor, with naturally-hued wooden tables and chairs of a simple design contrasting nicely with the similarly-coloured banquettes. Even the menu design was nicely done, with fonts chosen giving a nod to old railway signs from a bygone age.

The menu at The Dining Room is equally restrained, if not as simple as we first thought. Local Suffolk fayre sits nicely with ‘exotic’ food such as blue fin tuna and grilled pineapple with chilli syrup and Malibu ice cream. The starter of roasted butternut squash with rocket salad and grilled mozzarella was enjoyable, if a little spoiled by an overuse of chilli in the dressing.

My main course of wild mushroom risotto was very enjoyable, and on looks alone, was one of the best risottos I’ve ever been served. Creamy in texture and cooked to perfection, the rice grains were puffy and tender, and the whole dish had the right amount of wetness and taste. The haddock and chips were great, too, the other mains less so, with a little more disappointing over use of ingredients – this time, salt.

But, it was excusable with the risotto, as these types of dishes are salty by nature, especially if vegetable stock is used in the cooking.

There were no complaints about the dessert, though, with our vanilla and raspberry crème brûlées tasting delicious, the rich red fruit tucked away at the bottom of the pots complementing the subtle vanilla. These interesting twists on a classic dessert rounded off the meal most pleasantly.

With prices on a par with other restaurants of a similar ‘upmarket’ nature, the bill wasn’t extortionate either. If you add in the courteous and attentive staff, that crisp interior, and the good food (salt overuse not withstanding) the new venue should be able to keep drawing in discerning diners from the town, and maybe even countywide.

To book your table at The Dining Room, call 01473 225888 or find the restaurant at 14-40 Fore Street, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP14 1JU.