If there is one thing I hate, it is noise. And nowadays, I am plagued with noise. At home with building works at the back, not to mention the drunks at weekends. At airports with horrid music piping everywhere. On the tube with music pulsating out of people’s headphones. And of course in restaurants where very few restaurateurs seem to appreciate that diners may want to talk to each other while eating their meal!

But recently, I was introduced by my lovely friend Arabella to Yumenoki, a charming Japanese restaurant near her where the atmosphere is very feutrée (or hushed in English). The music (Japanese) is kept very low. Both the chef who sometimes brings you the food and the lady owner (who may or may not be his wife) hardly say a word, and when they do it is in whispers. Even the clientéle is quiet except for the loud 12 year old monster sitting not too far from me last time I was there; and neither her grandmother nor her mother once told her to pipe down. The food is also good and reasonable — sorry you can’t see what was in my bento box but I finished eating before I remembered to photograph it. Too bad it is not near me!