Texture feels like a delight for all the senses

Clos du Mesnil at a mere £1,000 a pop was clearly catering to the shoals of suits nibbling around our ankles. To sommelier Xavier Rousset's credit an English bubbly at £12.95, available by the glass, was an affordable alternative, even if the texture-themed bar snacks of cod skin crackling or thin wafers of cheese with bland pond-like wasabi emulsion were an experiment too far.

With one eye on our wallets we rejected the £55 fish tasting menu (£115 if served with complementing champagne and wine) along with the £59 six-course tasting menu, and went a la carte: £45 for three courses. It was worth it. "Smell this!" said my friend, wafting her smoked tuna starter by my nostrils - the closest I was to get to tasting it. I was too busy to be jealous: toothsome slivers of Anjou pigeon, topped off with a flourish of furled claw and playfully encircled by bacon popcorn.

Chef Agnar Sverrisson is clearly hunting a foodie award, and deserves to bag one soon. My pan-fried gilthead bream was a festival of texture: plump jammy clams and crispy-crunchy olive toast brilliantly complemented fish that crackled saltily on the outside, yet was gorgeously tender within.

My friend's Lancashire suckling pig with squid, which is apparently a signature dish of Tom Aikens, was cooked for 12 hours, and so good she'd have happily waited that long for it.

Charging £1.50 for petits fours seemed a tad stingy but a freebie inter-course dessert more than compensated: white chocolate mousse with olive oil sounded like a kitchen disaster, but tasted divine. If you can afford to swim with the City big boys, Texture's terrific - even better, hook one to take you there.

Texture
Portman Street, London, W1H 7BY