Cassio - Tooting Bec

32 Tooting Bec Road, London, SW17 8BD

This week has been one of perpetual sweating. London has baked like dough in an oven. Roads melt, rail tracks buckle, and residents carry a look in their eye not dissimilar from Michael Douglas in Falling Down. In this heat, a puddle of sweat has applied for permanent residence at the base of my spine and under each arm I wear the badges of honour arm blessed on those who travel more than four stops on the Northern Line.

Unfortunately, four stops is exactly the distance required to reach Cassio in Tooting Bec. Even a pit-stop at The Wheatsheaf could do nothing to alleviate my elevated temperature and only the company seated to my left and right prevented me from using the white linen tablecloth as a towel.

It was a worthwhile trip. Good looking seafood I avoided due to the abundance of mussels, but my beef carpaccio was perfectly sweet and accompanied with a healthy amount of parmesan shavings. The table was big enough to hide the unnecessary mustard served alongside. In this heat, pizza can't be considered - increasing your temperature to burn those bread-based carbs. The lamb ragu over rigatoni, while a danger to my white shirt, was a good compromise as it delivered the hit of tomato I was hankering for with the minimum of digestive effort.

Pudding was a short walk to Afters. Here, opposite the world's most futuristic Chicken Cottage, they serve a milkshake which is possibly 95% ice-cream, 5% milk and possibly the healthiest thing on the menu.