19 Numara Bos Cirrik - pide paradise

Of the Turkish places I have sampled along the stretch of multi-cultural Dalston, this is my favourite -- even it it's not frequented by Gilbert and George . The decor frills-free and plastic-tabled, with the attention focused on the large oven by the back wall. In there they make the house speciality, pideler, or Turkish pizzas. Mine was piled high with onions, other veg, cheese and spicy sausage. It was a little greasy but utterly more-ish. The various kebabs, served with lashings of yoghurt, were also very good. We couldn't finish them though, having feasted on houmous with warm bread and tiny black, chilly-covered olives, as well as the freebie onion salads. A bit of googling suggests one of them might have been izgara soğan (grilled onion with pomegranate and turnip sauce). We were stuffed for around £10 ahead, having washed the grub down with some beers from the off-licence next door (I think it was run by Poles, they were very excited when I bought Okocim). The restaurant is licensed though, and offers Effes beer as well as a small selection of wines. The service is quick, making this an ideal place for a pre-gig meal if you're heading to the near-by Vortex. Which, incidentally, has had a re-fit -- it now features Pizza Express style marble-topped tables, and no longer allows you to order in takeaways, but it has retained the charm, the good music, and the interesting selection of bottled beers.

19 Numara Bos Cirrik; 34 Stoke Newington Road; Dalston; N16 7XJ; Tel: 02072490400; Train: Dalston Kingsland, or buses including the 243.

Levantine

The window, draped in metallic strands of a fringe-style curtain, stands out on an unlovely road within spitting distance of Paddington station. Inside, cushions and shisha pipes transport you into middle East. There are good value set menu options at lunchtime and an a la carte after 5pm. We plumped for a selection of mezze: hummus (£4.50), tabbuleh (£4.25), lamb and pine nut pastries (£4.25) and lamby, lemony Lebanese sausages called maqaneq (£4.75), all mopped up with a selection of breads from the £1.25 a head cover charge. It was nice enough grazing, but did not really stand out from other similar meals in other (and often cheaper) venues across London. The experience was not improved by a waitress who for some reason refused to answer the constantly ringing telephone. So definitely not a destination restaurant, but a decent enough pit stop if you happen to be in the area.

Levantine, 26 London St, W2 1HH; Tel 0207 262 1111; Tube: Paddington; www.levant.co.uk

Mem&Laz

A surprisingly good find on an Islington side street. Mem&Laz stands out thanks to a bright orange sign and promises a dauntingly long menu of mostly Mediterranean style dishes. But unlike a lot of other places, the food it delivers manages to be delicious as well as cheap. Inside it's cosy and charming, with candles and oldish furniture. It also stays open late, even on Sundays, which is handy. The menu includes tender fish dishes, olives to start, a wide selection of tempting vegetarian options, and meat too. Mains come in comfortably under the £10 mark and the house wine is perfectly drinkable. Well worth popping in to soak up the booze on a night out on Upper Street. Especially if you're propping up the lovely bar at the Bull across the road but want to avoid its abysmal food.

Mem & Laz Brasserie, 8 Theberton Street, London, N1 0XX

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

Gaby's

Signs outside this caff near Leicester Square proclaimed that it was home to the best falafel in London. Inside, they adhere to the slightly tarted up greasy spoon look, with plastic tables and minimal decor consisting of several framed copies of a photo of the owner posing with Matt Damon and an incongruous looking black board proclaiming that the wine of the week is a Sauvignon Blanc. The laminated menu comes, bizarrely, in two versions - one with prices and names of food and one with just pictures. Personally, I just found this confusing, but I guess it can appeal to some (especially given all those news stories about poor literacy levels in this country). I had falafel - a few bright yellow crumbly balls served in a valley of indifferent hummus with one piece of warm pitta. For five quid. My companion had a fatty, gristly lamb kebab served on top of some salad (which was consequently warm) and accompanied with a huge mountain of chips. For over eight quid. This place may look cheap, but it's lying. The portions were a good size, but even in central London you can find nicer and cheaper food (try heading across Leicester Square to Stockpot). The service was attentive enough, but our dinners were brought out one by one, with considerable time period elapsing in between plates. The place was quite full on a weekday night and seemed to be quite a popular place to bring young children. I guess being in the centre of theatre land it's a useful pit stop, but for me there was nothing special enough about it (atmosphere/food/price/decor) to warrant a return visit.

Gaby's; 30 Charing Cross Road, WC2H 0DB, Tel. 020 7836 4233; Tube: Leicester Square