Five things Fay Maschler ate this week

1. Pumpkin soup with mandarin and mackerel, one of the four tapas that kick off the intriguing £24.50 set lunch at Ametsa at The Halkin. Following a (Michelin) star is rarely better value.

2. Celebrating four incarnations of The Sugar Club, founder chef Peter Gordon — the godfather of fusion — served a terrific assembly of sweet potato, black beans, bean sprouts, puff pastry and nam phrik num dressing at Providores.

3. Definitely a rival to the Iberico Burger at Opera Tavern, Smoked Basque Beef Burger with Idiazabal and Chorizo Ketchup (pictured) at new sibling Ember Yard.

4. After a transporting performance of The Well-Tempered Clavier Book 1 by Daniel-Ben Pienaar — part of Bach Unwrapped at Kings Place — a bowl of prawns and spicy chickpeas at the after-party.

5. “I never ‘got’ arancini but I do now,” said my friend Anne as we shared cicheti at Café Murano.