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The Moby Dick is located in a prime spot on the docks in Surrey Quays. On a warm sunny day, the patio or the benches in front are the perfect place to set up camp for the afternoon, look out across the water and sink a few pints.

However, I’m also pleased to say that there’s more to tempt you back than just the location; if you’re also after a good meal at a reasonable price than this pub will be right up your street.

There’s a range of traditional pub fare on offer – everything from sandwiches to scampi & chips to…pizza?! They also have a regularly changing specials menu, just to keep things interesting. Although the food won’t blow you away, it’s generally good and freshly cooked and most main meals are around the £6 / £7 mark.

The portions are sizeable, and it’s unlikely you’ll need one of the starters or sweets available on the menu – I’ve eaten at The Moby Dick on a number of occasions and I’m yet to try one. I can however recommend the lasagne and the homemade pies, both of which come with side salad and a choice of chips or jacket potato. The latter are huge and can also be ordered as a meal in their own right, with a choice of filling.

Inside, The Moby Dick has a relaxed, cosy feel – with the décor and sofas giving it a part pub, part front room sort of a feel. As for the staff, for the most part they’re friendly and attentive.

If you liked the sound of my recommendation at the start of this review, then there’s a reasonable if a little predictable choice of beers on offer, and wines start from about £10 a bottle (there’s also a selection available to take-away from £6.50 a bottle).

With a somewhat limited choice of cheap eats in and around Surrey Quays (apart from the numerous stinking kebab shops on the high street), this is one of my favourites in the area. And I should point out that they also host a pretty good quiz night on a Tuesday evening…

7/10

Pellicci’s has been around since the turn of the last century and has become somewhat of an institution round the East End.

Inside, it’s small which, along with the original wood panelling, gives it a cosy feel. We went on a Saturday morning for a late breakfast, and as it turns out, a lot of other people had the same idea; it gets busy so be prepared to wait or share a table.

The menu is fairly comprehensive, offering everything from traditional cooked breakfasts to home-made pies to meat and two veg, and the staff are friendly and provide an efficient service.

We both ordered a cooked breakfast – definitely the real deal because it included a ‘fried slice’. It was good value and, although much of it deep fried (including the obligatory processed sausage), tasty and not too greasy. You can tell they’ve been doing this for a while. The coffee was also good and strong, as you would expect from an Italian family-run business.

Although Pellicci’s clientele now seems to be a mixture of young professionals, students and trendies in addition to the genuine Eastenders, it’s still a good place to sample a bit of real East End life and cooking.

Closed Sundays.

8/10

Tutti’s is a small, bustling café situated half-way along Lamb’s Conduit Street. It serves a reasonable selection of salads and sandwiches and a limited choice of hot food, including jacket potatoes (done in the microwave sadly) and soup.

My personal recommendation is the meatball ciabatta - the best meatball sandwich I’ve had in the area (a pretty big deal when you realise the number of sandwich shops nearby!) and not bad for under £3 (eat in). The coffee is also good and reasonably priced.

Inside, it’s bright and friendly, with a limited number of tables and chairs and a comfy sofa (which seems to take up far too much room). If you do decide to ‘eat in’, try to get one of the few seats available upstairs; it’s definitely not so nice sitting in the basement.

7/10

Before last night, I hadn’t been into a Slug and Lettuce for at least a year. I know this because, according to the friendly barman, it was over a year ago that the chain tried to make its pubs more like wine bars, and the last one I visited certainly wasn’t as ‘upmarket’.

To be honest, I didn’t look at the wine list but there was a reasonable selection of beers available, including Peroni on tap. However, it was a bite to eat we were really after.

We both ordered the same - gammon, egg and chips for around £8. Although we each got a decent sized piece of gammon, mine was slightly overcooked, and one of my eggs sitting on top was missing a yolk; to quote (I believe) Chef Ramsay, “What gives you the right to f*ck with another man’s yolk?!” The accompanying barbeque sauce was also a little artificial - similar to the sort you get in fast food outlets - and the ketchup most certainly wasn’t Heinz, although the bottle tried to suggest otherwise. Having said that, the chips weren’t bad and the salad garnish helped to improve things ‘aesthetically’, if nothing else.

After ordering, we noticed an offer on ‘sharing platters’ available during the week. I’d like to have seen these more obviously promoted, especially as we were looking for a ‘cheap eat’.

Although I was never a huge fan, from what I can remember, I think I preferred the chain how it used to be. And with a move ‘upmarket’, inevitably customer expectations increase. I’m not sure The Slug and Lettuce, Borough lived up to mine.

4.5/10