Limelight

In Manila we went to a market in Makati that’s nicknamed the millionaires’ market, and it was quite a lot like a smaller version of Borough Market. The stalls sold everything from Japanese pancakes - squashy, chocolatey, milky things fried in round muffin moulds - to roasted suckling pig to meat tacos. The Philippines is also apparently home to the ultimate mangoes. The best were the little yellow ones, shaped like kidneys, which I’ve only managed to get my mitts on once before and I have to say they were the most delicious, fragrant mangoes I’ve ever tasted. The other amazing fruits that seemed to be everywhere were calamansi limes. Instead of dipping food in a dish of soy sauce, you squeeze out the juice of a calamansi and maybe mix it with a little chilli. The juice is citrussy and sweet, sort of like a lime and an orange at the same time, and we found them everywhere: served with food, stuck on the edge of a cocktail glass, ground up into a slush puppy.

Kebabs and macaroons in Finchley Road

I went along to the opening of the new Finchley Road branch of Comptoir Libanais in February and tried some really lovely salads (tabbouleh, fattoush) and snacks (chicken and pickle wraps, kebabs, pumpkin kibbeh, falafel). I was amazed at how inexpensive their menu is and, as a big fan of 'picky' food (tapas, mezze, dim sum... you get the picture), I loved being able to try loads of dishes without getting full. The mint tea is lovely too - extremely refreshing and packed with mint leaves and a hint of rosewater. Dessert-wise, Comptoir sells every imaginable variety of baklava, as well as French-inspired pastries and cakes like macaroons with a Levantine twist of rosewater, saffron or cardamom.