London's 5 best value restaurants

Chowki is praised for its friendly service
10 April 2012

Anyone who's booked a table at their favourite restaurant for dinner on Mon 8 Mar may be advised to re-consider, as many of London's top chefs and restaurateurs will be whooping it up at the Tio Pepe ITV London Restaurant Awards - held that evening at Grosvenor House. A judging panel, including both Fay Maschler and myself, have deliberated long and hard over such categories as Best Indian Restaurant, Best French Restaurant and Best Gastropub.

The Evening Standard London Tonight Award (informally known as 'The People's Choice') goes from strength to strength, with more votes flooding in than ever before. The panel produced a list of 60 contenders (restaurants where you can get a decent meal for two people, with wine, for under £60) and then you, the voters, whittled them down to a short list of five. It's a case of your votes count - and now they've been counted!

The winner will be announced at the Awards' ceremony, which is scheduled to be televised on ITV London, Wed 10 Mar, at 11pm. The short-listed restaurants, then, for the Evening Standard London Tonight Award are:

The Brackenbury

The Brackenbury is a neighbourhood stalwart with a good reputation that has been built up over decades. Despite a change of ownership halfway through 2003, it continues to delight locals with rather good, very honest dishes, such as crab and herb salad; pan-fried pigeon breast with bacon and Puy lentils; or roast rib of beef with Dauphinoise potatoes and red wine sauce. The decor is unfussy and, thankfully, the latest refurb has involved new, more comfortable seating. Service is attentive, and in the summer the extra outdoor tables provide a good option. Look out for bargain lunch offers - they can mean exceptional value. Brackenbury, 129-131 Brackenbury Road, W6 (020-8748 0107). Dinner for two with wine, £55.

Ma Cuisine

When you go into Ma Cuisine you will either love it, or hate it for its unrepentant Frenchness - gingham table covers, poster art, tables packed in tightly. The food is at once very sound and very French. And prices are low. Where starters tend to stay under £5 and mains seldom break the £10 barrier, it is strange to see a dish like foie gras served in a Yorkshire pudding, a full blown coq au vin or cassoulet at this price. The wine list is also priced unaggressively. Ma Cuisine, 6 Whitton Road, Twickenham, Middx (020-8607 9849). Dinner for two with wine, £45.

Chowki

Chowki is a very individual restaurant. For a start, you'll find it tucked away just off Piccadilly Circus, which is not the sort of locale where you'd expect to find a restaurant dedicated to the regional cuisines of India. Neither is it the sort of location where you'd expect a restaurant to be as cheap as Chowki is. Each month, the kitchen concentrates on dishes that come from three distinct regions - in March, the emphasis is on cuisine from Rajasthan, Hyderabad and Mangalore. The food is authentic and well cooked. The best way to eat here is to opt for the 'Regional Feast'. £10.95 brings you a starter, main course and sweet from the region of your choice with appropriate bread, rice and vegetable dish. The dining room is modern and the service friendly. Chowki, 2 Denman Street, W1 (020-7439 1330). Dinner for two, around £40 with beer.

Harry Morgan

Harry Morgan started life as a butcher on nearby Park Road. Mr Morgan developed his own cure for making salt beef and quickly acquired a loyal following --he opened his restaurant on the High Street more than 40 years ago. Now it looks a good deal more chic, with a blond wood floor and modern furniture, but the salt beef sandwiches are still popular. The chicken soup is also famous, and this sustaining 'Jewish medicine' is still regarded by regulars as a cure for all ailments. There is a busy takeaway trade in salt beef sandwiches to go. Harry Morgan, 31 St John's Wood High Street, NW8 (020 7722 1869). Dinner for two with wine, £55.

Phoenix Palace

You'll find the Phoenix Palace on Glentworth Street to the north of the Marylebone Road, and this place is living proof that you no longer have to go to Chinatown for good Chinese food. It is a large dining room and the decor is modern with only a few elements confirming that the site was formerly an Indian restaurant. Notable dishes in the past have included salt-baked chicken and fried pork cakes, and there is sometimes a house soup of the day. The dim sum is also very good here --the cheung fun has been singled out for particular praise. Phoenix Palace, 3 Glentworth Street, NW1 (020-7486 3515). Dinner for two with wine, £50.

It's a big thank you to everyone who voted, and congratulations to the five restaurants short-listed for the Evening Standard London Tonight Award. And the winner is... for that you'll have to wait until Monday night.

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