Restaurants

Based in the ground floor of Bankside architecture company Allies and Morrison, the Table winner of the Best Cheap Eats award (and runner-up for Best Design) in our 2006 Eating & Drinking Awards is a cut above your regular office canteen. The first sight is of an enormous, richly varied and fresh-as-a-daisy salad bar reclaiming the genre from the pizza restaurants and buffet bars that have so devalued it which dominates one side of the room, while another long wooden counter groans under the weight of artisan breads, soups and other treats. Mix and match your salad or choose from a selection of hot meals that includes numerous flans, a daily risotto, sardines (recommended) and pasta dishes, then hope to find a seat at the solid wood tables with shared bench seating. Although the place is usually buzzing at lunchtime, its an equally good and slightly quieter walk-by spot for breakfast, when you can get granola, porridge, bacon sarnies and excellent pastries as well as tea and coffee. The Table is also open into the evening for cocktails: something much in demand since the mammoth Bankside 1-2-3 development opened in 2007. Multifunctional, cheap and rather stylish.

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2008