33 The Cut,
London,
SE1 8LF
0871 971 6472
The ViewLondon Review
Finding somewhere to get a decent meal that’s more than a snack but that still weighs in under about £15 (with £10 being something of a Holy Grail as far as cheap food is concerned) is not as easy as it sounds.
There are plenty of places knocking out cheap food, but hardly any of it is the kind of stuff that you’d actually scream and shout about. Well, you might scream a bit, but only because of the bit of gristle you end up with stuck between your teeth after eating a veggie burger.
So, aside from McDonalds, Pret a Manger and the venerable British greasy spoon, what options are there? I had become swayed by some of the Japanese offerings in Soho (Ryo in particular), but have since found a new distraction.
Tas is a Turkish restaurant in the Cut, just along the road from the Old Vic. The design is fairly up-to-date, in that it’s more blonde wood and modern lights than flock wallpaper and dribbling red candles.
The food however is solidly authentic Turkish. I popped in on a Wednesday evening with the aim of sating the appetite of a friend and myself before an evening's drinking. We didn’t want to spend all of our beer money, and certainly wanted to have our taste buds tickled, so to speak.
What could be better then than a set meal for 2 at £7 each? Our eyes lit up when we spied it on the menu, and we ordered it without hesitation. We were quickly presented with a host of different dishes – tabule (tomato and parsley salad), kisir (bulgur wheat salad), borek (cheese stuffed pastries), falafel, a broad bean dish and a sautéed aubergine and chickpea dish.
8 delicious dishes for very little moolah, and as much Turkish flatbread as we could eat alongside. A bottle of Turkish white took the overall total up to £24, but it was still seriously good value.
Next time you’re considering a cheap fill-up, I recommend thinking laterally. If you’re in SE1 then Tas should definitely feature highly on your flip-chart.