Bistro 1, Covent Garden, London

Advantages: Good food, reasonable prices
Disadvantages: service was slow

...two course meal in the Bistro 1 restaurant cost us £7.90 while a three course would set you back another pound. Personally I think this represents excellent value - especially in London! ●● What was on the menu? ●● For starters you could have such things as Cream of leek and potato soup Prawn cocktail Char grilled sardines with salad and garlic mayonnaise Or mixed Meze (homous, falafel, tzatsiki, pilaki, dolma and cheese ...
...of Lamb Shish Kebab served with rice and salad Char grilled salmon served with creamed spinach Pancake filled with goat’s cheese and creamed spinach. Of course there are many other choices available ●● What did we have? ●● We both chose the same starter which was Crispy bacon & Sautéed potatoes tossed on salad with vinaigrette dressing. For main we varied, My wife chose the home made fish cake with saffron cream, served ... Read review

Advantages: Tasty food, bargain prices
Disadvantages: Patchy service, can get overcrowded

...fantasies in one go, but Bistro 1 lets me do just that, making me a very happy bunny. Bistro 1 really is a hidden jewel amongst London restaurants - there are 3 different restaurants, 2 in Soho (one on Beak Street and the other on Frith Street) and one on Southampton Street in Covent Garden. All 3 of the restaurants are fairly small with tables squeezed quite tightly together, which means on the one hand there is always a real buzz to the place, ...
...But it's the menu where Bistro 1 really scores highly for me. The evening menu is fantastic - no a la carte menus here, it's 2 courses for £8.90 or 3 courses for £9.90 - I really don't think you can get a better deal than this in central London! The menu is full of great mediterranean food and you'd be hard pushed not to find something on it that makes your mouth water. There is a really good mix of fish, meat and vegetable dishes and even though ... Read review

Advantages: bargain prices, good location, nice food
Disadvantages: portions might be small for some people, mix up with our order

...under £15. This place is Bistro 1 and it serves simple Mediterranean influenced food. Bistro 1 is a mini chain with three branches. There are two in Soho and one in Covent Garden. The Covent Garden one is on Southampton Street just round the corner from Covent Garden Market and only a couple minutes stroll from Covent Garden tube station. It is quite a small restaurant with space for 80 diners so booking is advised. You can do this either by phone ...
...The good thing about Bistro 1 is that there are no ala carte menus. The set dinner menu is £8.90 for two courses and £9.90 for three. If you are in the area for lunch the prices are even lower. You can get two courses for £6.50 and three for £7.50. This is a bargain when you consider you can spend £3 or £4 on a sandwich. (There is a £2 supplement for four of the dishes which contain costlier ingredients and side orders cost £1.50). What I like about ... Read review

Advantages: cheap and cheerful
Disadvantages: crowded and waiter's English not great

I actually ate at the Soho (Beak St) version of this restaurant, but the menu is the same at all. I found the food good value for money - large portions, a good choice with something for everyone and great prices - £8.90 for 2 courses or £9.90 for 3 and £6.50/£7.50 at lunchtime. (Although not all the mains have veg - you might need to add some extra on for that.) I only had soft drinks but prices seemed standard - not as cheap as the food. Service ...
...5.30pm though and it was fairly empty. But - waiter's English was limited and the order needed to be repeated very slowly several times to get it right - to be fair he came back and checked it all and we did get the right order. But people at the next table were not so lucky. Also, when we were there, in nearly empty restaurant it felt full as tables so crammed in - it would be a bit hellish when full, I think. And food, though competent, attractively ... Read review