The worst meal I ever ate in my life was in Paris. Worse still, it was only last year, at a restaurant that looked like a safe bet and at which 60 or so locals could be seen tucking in to their food with relish. What arrived at my table was a disgrace , but what concerned me more than my own pitiful plateful was that the other diners seemed oblivious to the fact that what they were eating was, not to mince words, merde.

I should have known that it is now just as easy to have a disappointing meal in Paris as it is in London. But you can still eat very well in that city if you know where to go. In this issue of Food Monthly we've tracked down places where you are unlikely to be served something that was running in the 3.30 at Longchamps, where the waiters won't treat you like they're doing you a favour and where every other table isn't occupied by the very people you've gone to Paris to get away from. We have favourite tables from Andrée Putnam and Olivier Picasso and 10 pages of secret addresses for you to keep for your next trip.

I am jealous that Nicole Jackson got to interview Tamsin Greig about her favourite restaurant. Channel 4's Green Wing, in which she plays Dr Caroline Todd, is a work of pure genius, but it worries me that all the doctors seem to eat nothing but chips and tom ketch. What worries me more is that I reckon it's pretty much true to life.

Not content on letting you know where to eat we also have plenty on what to eat. I know only too well from your emails how the whole subject of buying and eating fish is riddled with confusion, so this month we have sent Alex Renton to a maverick cod farm in the Shetlands that may be the start of getting our favourite supper back on our plates. Is responsible, organic, low-density farming the future for this fish?

And we have Anthony Bourdain in Cork, Roger Moore on a diet and an update on the battle between the stallholders of Newham and the monster known as Wal-Mart. Bon appetit.