A friend of mine recently made a miraculous recovery from cancer and I had only one thing in mind and that was to take her for a slap-up meal.
Ayllu, a Japanese-Peruvian restaurant by the canal in Paddington, was introducing a new spring fusion menu and was right near her flat.
The restaurant is under Smith’s Bar & Grill, in Sheldon Square, down several flights of wooden steps.
It has a softly lit, intimate interior and we had a corner table where we could talk about anything, including my friend's swift recovery.
Only a month before she had gone under the knife for a mastectomy, and was given the all-clear a week later.
Told not to lift anything heavy for six weeks, she was back volunteering for a homeless service in Mayfair within a fortnight - even she was surprised.
We ordered drinks first, with my friend opting for white wine and me trying the Peruvian pisco sour off the new cocktail menu.
This had hints of whisky, although it is not made using it, and was sour enough that it was nice to just sip it.
The new menu is vast, so we asked our waitress Morella for recommendations.
Chatting to her, she told us her name means "great" in Irish, and she was.
We opted for four small plates and two larger dishes - bluefin tuna rolls with caviar and jalea mixto with leche de tigre, a golden-fried medley of seafood that pays homage to coastal Peruvian traditions.
First we tucked into squid tempura, which lay on a spicy green sauce. The tempura had a light crispy batter and the seafood was nicely done.
The beef croquettes were like deep fried Bolognese balls, and were also delivered on a spicy rococo chilli pepper sauce. The meat velouté was silky smooth within its crispy coating.
The chicken karaage was the spiciest of small plates and made my tongue and then my cheeks tingle.
A typical Japanese dish, it was deep fried with a tamarind glaze, the dish was succulent and satisfying.
The prawn creole was beautifully grilled and a sweet note of mango came through the spicy sauce.
I loved the bluefin tuna rolls - these included avocado, which seemed to tone down the fish. The caviar on top gave it an extra edge.
But my companion, a Japanese national, told me that with sushi the fish is supposed to be dunked in the soy dish next to it, not the rice, which meant that with these the caviar fell off.
She said this was a waste of an expensive ingredient, which we got around by removing the caviar, dunking the fish, putting the caviar back on and then popping it into our mouths. Simple!
The jalea mixto - prawn, squid and whitebait - looked like a celebration of deep-fried seafood and the accompanying leche de tigre - "tiger milk" - was a mild spicy, citrus-based dipping marinade.
My friend then ordered sashimi, which I was too full to eat. This was particularly frustrating when I founded out it was prepared by a chef who formerly worked at Nobu, a famous high end South American-Japanese restaurant.
I had just enough room for the home-made tiramisu. I hoped it would be light and it was - it just melted in my mouth.
A fresh mint tea to improve digestion completed my meal, and a lovely evening with great company, great staff, in a great space, with great food.
Visit www.ayllu.co.uk for information. Call 0208 054 0385 or email reservations@ayllu.co.uk for bookings.
