London

A 'healthy' martini in the Sanderson Hotel

We settle on salad, char-grilled salmon (‘high in Omega-3s’) on a warm tortilla with guacamole and chipotle chilli sauce.

‘Don’t eat the guacamole, high in fat. And never have dessert unless it’s fruit.’

The meal is a little dry, but not the beer.

‘Duvel,’ I tell Nicole, ‘is a super premium Belgian beer; rich, smooth, elegant, and powerful.’
‘It’s 8.5 per cent alcohol,’ Nicole tells me. ‘So doubles the calorie count of a normal beer and you should limit your intake of alcohol to three or four units a night; I really wanted you to have a soft drink.’ At least I resisted an alcopop, which can hit up to 300 calories a bottle. Feature continues

Michael’s choice
One 12oz bottle strong beer (240Kcals), salad ( 0),salmon (500).
Total: 740.

Nicole’s choice
Fruit juice (45Kcals), salad (0), salmon (500).
Total: 545.

Sanderson Hotel, Berners St, 7.30pm
I order a dry martini (gin with a twist). Nicole likes this: ‘Good: gin is only 45-50 calories a measure. Other not-too-evil cocktails include the sloe gin fizz (120Kcals) or the whisky sour (125Kcals).’

‘Shall we drink at the bar or sit at a table?’
‘Standing raises your metabolic rate and alcohol raises your levels of “good” HDL (high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol.’
‘Great news!’
‘But it only works for men over 40 and women after the menopause.’

The dry martini arrives. Nicole doesn’t like it.

‘That’s very big. What’s the measure of gin?’
‘75ml,’ says the barman.
‘Oh dear, that’s more like 180 calories then. And three units of alcohol!’
'And don’t forget the vermouth,’ I venture.
‘Yes,’ the barman agrees, ‘there’s a drop of Noilly Prat.’
‘It’s not the worst choice, but without the added benefits you would get with a bloody Mary or, better still, a virgin Mary, which has vitamin C from the lemon juice, vitamin A, carotenoids and antioxidants from lycopenes and potassium to counter the high salt content. You should have had a bloody Mary.’
‘It’s okay Nicole, we all make mistakes.’

Michael’s choice
Dry martini (155Kcals).

Nicole’s choice
Virgin Mary (110Kcals).