Opera Tavern *** £27

Quite nice tapas place near Covent Garden, with small but very tasty plates of Italian and Spanish delicacies.

Honest Burgers *** £15

Very nice burger place in Soho, which seems to be becoming a hot area for awesome burger joints (others include Burger and Lobster, MeatLiquor, Lucky Chip at the Player). It is among the best.

The Player *** £27

This tiny little bar serves the famous Lucky Chip burgers in a new format - almost bite sized half-burgers (you get two with each dish, called Slider). Needless to say the burgers are near perfect. Arrive early to find a place to sit, or book ahead. The ice cream burger is also quite an interesting take on desserts :-)

Petchsayam Thai ** £18

Quite cheap Thai place at Leytonstone. The Tom-Ka-Kai was stupendously good, but more than an hour passed between the appetizers and the mains. I would visit again if I had a car, but wouldn't suggest for someone to travel from the other side of London for it.

Piada *** £14

Very cheap lunch italian place with homemade pastas. They only offer 2-3 items each day, but they are of top notch quality. Their piadas are awesome as well!