Sofra

This is a chain of cheap Turkish restaurants, which are currently even cheaper thanks to the Times' Eat out for £5 offer. We visited the Exmouth market branch. It's nicer in the summer when you can sit outside and pretend you are in continental Europe. Inside it has a Turkish/Moroccan style decor, but is not over the top. They always serve free olives and nice creamy hummus, which wins bonus points from the off. We chose from the limited cheap menu (about 4 choices of starters and main), but there is also a wide selection of set menus for all budgets as well as a la carte. Stuffed aubergine slices were quite nice. The side order of taramasalata was also good. The mains - another aubergine dish with 'tasty pasta' was OK and the pasta was indeed nicely flavoursome. The kofta kebabs were less successful – a bit greasy without any clear meat flavour. So yes it was unspectacular but it was also very cheap. And it's a useful place to know about.
There's a couple of largers on draft and a wine list. From past experience you are better off sticking to the starters/mezze and skipping the mains.
Sofra, 21 Exmouth Market, London, EC1, Tel. 020 7833 1111; Tube: Angel; www.sofra.co.uk