Recommended Places
Abu Ali 136-138 George Street, W1 (off Edgware Road) Tel: 020 7724 6338 Underground: Marble Arch
Walking down Edgware Road, you'll find an extraordinary amount of Lebanese places, and we reckon this is one of the best. Get many of the small dishes and share amongst a group of you. Price: smaller dishes about £5, main courses about £10.

Kulu Kulu 76 Brewer Street W1 Tel: 020 7734 7316 Underground: Piccadilly Circus
Conveyer-belt style sushi dishes at reasonable prices, with an impressive selection. Sushi on the conveyor belt comes on plates that are colour-coded, so that your total bill can be added up at the end (I guess this also provides you with the possibility of limiting to how much you want to spend, if need be). The place is a little small, and popular, so you sometimes need to wait for some free space (although they do limit customers to the time they can stay in the restaurant during busy periods). Price: dishes are £1-£3.

Ramen Seto 19 Kingly Street, W1 Tel: 020 7434 0309 Underground: Oxford Circus
Situated just behind Regent Street, this place is perfect for a post-shopping bite, or a pre-going-out meal. Japanese noodle and rice food, and some sushi; recommended dishes include chicken ramen, chicken teriyaki or salmon udon. Price: about £7 for a main course.

Chains
Belgo Numerous locations: Covent Garden and Chalk Farm Website: www.belgo-restaurants.com
Belgian food - the chain is perhaps best know for its mussels and chips (as well as its enormous selection of beers!). The Covent Garden branch is probably the best one to go to, due to its central location and its interesting cavern-like dining area. Excellent value during lunchtime (12pm - 3pm) Monday to Friday when a set menu lunch is only £5.95, or during the "Beat the Clock" offer where you pay according to the time that you arrived - e.g. pay £6.10 if you arrived at 6.10pm. The times that this offer is valid vary from restaurant to restaurant - in the Convent Garden one it runs from 5pm to 6.30pm. An example set menu is a large plate of mussels, plate of chips and a beer - very filling!

Wagamama Numerous locations: 16 branches in Kensington, Knightsbridge, Bloomsbury, Soho, Convent Garden, Leicester Sq. and other Website: www.wagamama.com
This super-styled canteen-style chain of restaurants serve Asian food, mainly ramen, noodle and rice dishes. Good value (e.g. the very filling chicken ramen is only £6!) and very efficient service means that there is a high turnover of customers, so even if you find yourself queuing, you will not have to wait for long.

Yo Sushi! Numerous locations: 11 branches Website: www.yosushi.com
Another conveyor-belt sushi place with colour-coded plates, priced £1.50 to £3.50, the food is of pretty good standard. Hip and trendy, you sit on high stools at counters where taps allow you to pour your own water, whilst pushing a button draws the attention of the wait staff (and also makes amusing noises). There's also sometimes a drinks "robot" (i.e. a small thing carrying drinks circling the restaurant).

Sandwich Chains/Cafes
The popularity of coffee houses has really taken off in the UK in the last decade or so, and you'll see them everywhere in London. Whatever area you are in, you're not be far from a Starbucks, Cafe Nero or Coffee Republic, probably three of the most prolific chains. Of course, that doesn't mean they're good value! Prices can be notoriously high - after all, it's just a cup of coffee!

A well-known sandwich chain in London is Pret a Manger, which has numerous chains all over London. Again, sandwiches are a little on the expensive side (about £2 for the cheapest one) but they are quite generously filled and are freshly-made of the premises every day. They also sell sushi, snacks (crisps, popcorn) juice, wraps, pastries and coffee.

All restaurants charge VAT (17.5%) on top of the cost of your items if you eat in, so for a cheaper option get your food to take out and enjoy it in a nice park!