Take it outside - it's good value at a much cheaper price.

The Venue
It is always busy on Charing Cross Road, so busy that the regular lines that snake out of Gabys Deli rarely get a gander. That might not be all of it; the typical deli decor and the line of perpetually-filled sturdy troughs of colourful shredded salads and questionable mush that sit at the front window might also have an impact. Sometimes the painted signs of featured dishes on this very window manage to entice some glances, but mostly it seems this tight narrow space retreats into shadows of the throngs. It can afford to: with so many regulars, it more than just gets by.

The Atmosphere
Gabys Deli is a fortress in its own; although the front glass window is not thick, a metal food display cabinet and large shielding words span the facade. These act like barriers of a police riot car, except less hostile. Sitting in for a meal in this compact deli-diner will cost you almost twice the takeout prices, hardly worth it when you get the same calibre, and approximately the same value of service when you simply walk in to eat out.

The Food
The too-colourful/mushy-to-be-real food is a combination of Mediterranean and European. The regular daily special of meatballs and rice consists of two large chewy meatballs swimming in salty oil, and a sombre, big and flat metal plate of pilau rice. When packed into a box, the oil is not as prominent, and the cost not as biting - it costs about £8 to eat in, and £4 to take out. That extra money you save by taking out can be put towards a substantial box of its other prepared foods of varying prices or superb salad selection (£3), or both.

The Drink
The drinks list is humble: tea, coffee, soft drinks and mineral water. If you eat in and pay the price for space, they'll throw in free tap water.

The Last Word
Like most other delis, it is more expensive to eat in than out at Gabys. But the increase in value when you take out is clear here, and the quality of food remains the same.

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