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hand picked restaurants

As pitches come you cannot do much better than this. Exciting new venues demand a supporting cast of similar status, and bang opposite the front door of the new Wembley Stadium is as good a place as any.

So much for the location, what about the restaurant? Everything you would expect and more seems to be the best answer. All glass, steel and gleaming surfaces, Alisan, named after a mountain in Taiwan, offers a cuisine that is both ageless and yet so very contemporary, with wonderful dim sum and Cantonese influences that bring the appetite to life. Dim sum is served throughout the day until 5pm and a split level restaurant on the ground floor has space for 180 covers.

The beauty of dim sum of course is that you can go on in easy stages over as long as you want, just the same as tapas, and the choices are incredibly wide. On the fried dim sum alone there are over 14 choices and that's before you even consider the steamed, bakes, grilled and Cheung fun varieties.

And talking of fun, I've always felt that was what dim sum is all about - sociability, easy, healthy eating, and a mind-blowing range of dishes. Set menus are there to take the pain out of ordering, and they are unbelievably good, as well as generous. Pre-event menus cater for those who want to set themselves before going on to enjoy a game or concert in the massive new Stadium, finished at last and well worth waiting for.

For some time I made the mistake of thinking that no group of restaurants in the region of 200 locations could hope to maintain the quality for which I was looking.

Then one day I decided to put my prejudices to the test, walked into Oxford Ask! and discovered that I could not have been more mistaken. Their claim to serve freshly prepared quality food in stylish and comfortable surroundings with friendly and efficient service proved to be absolutely spot on.

Since then I have also discovered that a degree of consistency seems to operate throughout their restaurants, and that certainly does take some achieving, implying a degree of management that is enviable. They are perfect places for an impromptu snack, a bit of culinary grazing, or the full works, and families are catered for particularly well.

Their trendy décor usually comprises tiled floors and black furniture with well set tables that sparkle with glass, silver and spotless linen. Ten starters include crostini and bruschetta, followed by a range of salads, pasta and al forno, oven baked pasta, some with chicken.

The pizzas are stone baked in the oven, creating a crisp, authentic and delicious flavour, and they all come topped with mozzarella and tomato. Calzone introduce a touch of opulence with a folded pizza baked in the oven and topped with garlic butter and melted grana padano, whilst inside expect to find chicken or a vegetarian mix.

Amongst the specials may I warmly, in every sense, recommend the polpette al forno, a popular Milanese dish of beef meatballs sautéed in garlic with fire roasted peppers, caramelised onions, chilli and pomodoro sauce, with penne pasta, topped with cheese and oven baked.

An enticing selection of desserts list banoffee pie and tiramisu amongst them, and the coffee tastes like coffee, which may sound banal, but I guess you know what I mean.

Thanks to a well selected wine list speculative drinking can offer handsome dividends, even with prices rarely crossing the £20 barrier.