Restaurants

It can get frenetic here on a busy lunchtime as well-heeled locals popping in for takeaway tabouleh and olives get entangled with the eat-in crowd. The system of staking claim to a table, ordering drinks from the staff, then rejoining the throngs to order food at the counter can be challenging. Once this is negotiated, however, the superior quality of the café shines through. Choose from half a dozen hot dishes such as grilled halibut, Armenian-style dolma (the owner's Armenian roots are shown also by the old photos of goatherds in mountainous landscapes) or chicken and pepper stew served with two veg. We particularly rate the wide choice of salads; intense blistered grilled red peppers, houmous, delectable grated carrots with cumin and cinnamon, and chewy brown rice with lentils are among our favourites.

Time Out Cheap Eats in London Guide 2007