Aizle, Edinburgh, restaurant review - Telegraph Next to it was a raft of chicken skin, puffed up and crispy: imagine you'd known pork scratchings all your life, then found out they had an incredibly sophisticated, winsome cousin. That's what this was like. A little hunk of fried bread had a perfect brandade on it. I loved this course. It had everything: variety, depth, light-heartedness. The starter was a little drab by comparison. Anna potatoes were a bit anaemic, and the Loch Awe smoked trout didn't have anything to play off, texturally: a slippery fish against a slidey potato. The taste was fine but not intense. Translucent slices of granny smith, nasturtium leaves and fennel tops looked refined but were unengaging. I wondered if it had been served slightly too cold. But then the skate made me want to launch into a Mexican wave. The beautiful buttery contours of the fish were thick with flavour; an intense green sauce of parsley and fresh garlic was glorious. There was a roasted parsley root, which I mistook for just an incredibly interesting parsnip: it was more delicate, more rounded, less obvious, but also had an intensity that made it almost peppery. Apparently, only Europeans eat it. But then the partridge... There was nothing wrong with way it had been cooked - it was pink in an alluring way - but it just didn't seem to do anything, flavour-wise: it didn't go anywhere, just sat there like generic dark meat. I can't account for it. There were some chanterelles on the side, which were absolutely fine, exactly as woody and reassuring as you'd want them to be. But they couldn't mask an absence in the centre, where the drama should have been. The pudding was a return to form: blueberry sorbet, ricotta splodges, foraged wood sorrel and jasmine flowers dotted about, elegant sablé breton biscuits perched on the side. It was diverting, delicate and varied. I like to imagine some ridiculous clash in the kitchen, between one genius and one person a little, ahem, less good, like in Ratatouille (the film, not the dish). It's probably the less dramatic story of an inconsistent genius. I would certainly take the chance. What's eating all about? The Anvil Inn Main Street, Sawdon, North Yorkshire (01723 859896) A forge from the 1700s right up to 1985, this gorgeous stone building couldn't be cosier, especially when the candle chandelier twinkles at night. Try the honey-roast venison with a "risotto" of puy lentils, sweet potato and merguez sausage (£17.50) The Assembly House Theatre Street, Norwich (01603 626402) Breakfast, lunch and pre-theatre suppers are served beneath gloriously high ceilings in this Georgian house, while in the Great Hall clinking teacups signal the start of afternoon tea. Dine on black bream with red pepper fondue before a play (£20 for three courses) The Alba Old Lifeboat house, Wharf Road, St Ives, Cornwall (01736 797222) Seafood at this harbourside spot is top-notch, and cold-weather combinations see pan-fried scallops matched with dahl and curry oil (£8.95), and plaice with soy and ginger butter sauce (£15.95). Head upstairs for bay views, or stay downstairs to see the chefs at work