Best-Value Restaurants in Central London | Cheap, but Not ‘Cheap Eats’ | Eater London

"Ordering a great meal at the optimistically named The Great Thai needs a degree of single-mindedness. Ignore the set lunch menu, don’t mistake it with the takeaway shop round the corner, do not be distracted by the aunties trying to upsell. Stick to the boat noodles: ditchwater brown and dishwater clear, but full of flavour and the sharp nasal hit of white pepper. Also of note is the Hakka-influenced soup yen ta fo, lurid pink with fermented red beancurd paste, not complex in flavour but in textural assemblage — a bouncy prawn here and there, fried tofu, soft tofu, squidgy fish balls, fried fish roll, and crispy wonton wrappers. Also consider the saltfish fried rice with little pockets of dried fish interrupting the interplay between rice, egg and wok smoke. No, this isn’t going to compare to the boat noodles with pigs blood on a Bangkok side street, but it’s as good as it gets round the back of Oxford Circus." - Jonathan Nunn