London Restaurants by category
How much: Starters and soups all less than £4, noodle, curry and Pad Thai dishes around the £7 mark
Come here if: you want good value, authentic food and can cope with waiting for it.
Batting on manfully in the face of flu (or a slight cold as Dr Vole would have it) let to a night of slight over consumption and a fight on two fronts against both drippy nose and incipient hangover. Banished from the house again, I needed a quick blast of chilli heat and went for an early lunch at The Pepper Tree.
It's a simple and popular little Thai joint opposite Clapham Common tube station. Very pared down (almost unfinished) white walls, the long bench seating and communal tables are packed solid most evenings.
At 12:30 on a Saturday I shared it with a couple of Clapham happy families and a pair of joggers fresh from the common. Ignoring their uncommonly good Pad Thai, I briefly flirted with the idea of a deep and cheap bowl of Tom Yum soup before settling on the chicken Pepper Tree curry, their spiciest dish, guaranteed to blast away my ills.
A side of sweetcorn cakes didn't set my world (or tastebuds) alight. They are fine, nothing more. Slightly overfried and a little too doughy. The treat comes with the Pepper Tree curry, exactly what the doctor ordered. Foolishly skipping the rice, I plough straight into my bowl, nearer a soup than a curry but packed with flavour. Lemongrass, Thai basil and tamarind provide the backup complexity to a punchy peppery heat. Chicken, krachai (a mild ginger-like root used in Thai and Indonesian cooking) and bell peppers cook in the heat with Thai aubergines and green beans retaining their bite and adding texture to the bowl. It's not complex, but boy is it satisfying.
Where: La Perla, Charlotte Street
How much: £30 a head for 2 courses and rather more than a brace of beers.
With who: The International Man of Mystery
Come here if: you need a cheap, fun and friendly, if not particularly authentic, spot for a party
Tucked under the wing of the renovated Charlotte Street Hotel. It's been around for a while, like the original Chez Gerard opposite, and is one third of a small Mexican chain in the capital.
The International Man of Mystery and I start in the Latino style basement bar, boards displaying the top tequila tipplers of years gone by. We suck Sol and ruminate. Upstairs the space is small, rickety and crowded. Small bare tables fit together jigsaw-like into the space. Old photos and advertising boards fill the walls. It's authentic Mexican in a mid 70's British way, where Alison Steadman and Felicity Kendal might have come for the exotic thrill of a taco post performance.
The menu is sparse and fairly obvious. Nacho chips and a spicy tomato dip arrive unbidden and are followed by a selection of chicken, duck and pulled beef quesadilla to share. The cheese oozing from the side puts them at the unhealthy side of hearty and it's very much there to eat with your hands. Haute it is not, but nor is it pretending to be.. They're perfect following a couple of beers, but you struggle to identify which is which.
My main, a selection plate of street tacos is fine. You'd get more innovative flavours at Wahaca, but you'd have had to wait 45 minutes for a table too, so judge it that way. The corn tortillas come topped with spiced prawns (an unexpected hit of chilli heat), chicken and duck (shredded and a little indeterminate), beef sirloin, shredded beef and shredded chicken topped with coriander and onions, served with black beans and a selection of dips. The International Man of Mystery went for a big bowl of *extra hot* chile con carne. It passed without comment, but this wasn't food to occupy attention, but a fairly solid bite of faux-Mex spice while catching up with a friend.
