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Tito’s at London Bridge is that rare thing – a Peruvian restaurant that does an English breakfast. And that’s exactly what I had at 7.15 this morning (the search for the next cheap eat never stops…).

As we walked in, I noticed two dishes on the back counter – one piled high with bacon and the other with sausages. I’d like to think that they’d been cooked in preparation for the lunchtime rush, to be used in sandwiches for the city workers. It was either that, or the bacon and sausages for the breakfasts are cooked in advance and then re-heated when someone orders…

We ordered at the counter and then took a seat at one of the many tables at the back – the tablecloths one of the few giveaways that we were in a Peruvian café / restaurant.

The breakfast wasn’t bad – bacon (tasty if a little salty), sausage (deep fried, as always), two fried eggs (nicely cooked), beans, a token hash brown and toast with butter. Admittedly, there were one or two notable absences from an ‘English breakfast’ – namely, mushrooms and grilled tomatoes (although I must admit, I’ve never been a fan of the latter). But then for £3.50, with coffee, what did I expect?

5/10

Situated at Bankside, The Real Greek Souvlaki & Bar has a nice spot on the river. As you would expect, it’s all Greek food, with an emphasis on sharing.

As we were a party of six, we ordered ‘The Real Greek Meze Taster for 6’ for £31.90, which as the name suggests offers a taster of every meze. The food arrived in three bowls – the selection included dolmades (vine leaves stuffed with rice), grilled crevettes (prawns), tiropitakia (filo triangles filled with feta and spinach) and grilled octopus. It was all good, and although I guess it was all about having a little taste of everything, there wasn’t much of it (it’s not easy sharing three small prawns between six).

To follow, we ordered four souvlaki (meat wrapped in flatbread) to share – two chicken and two lamb – which were tasty, and some more flatbread and dips.

They do sell Alfa, a Greek beer, on draught but we ordered a couple of bottles of the house red Vin de Crete, which unfortunately was a little on the warm side – almost as if it had been sitting next to a radiator.

We ended up paying about £18 a head, and although the food was good, the portion size was small; a little expensive for what we had.

6.5/10

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

Located on Deptford Broadway, Kaya House prides itself on its reasonably priced, authentic Malaysian food.

Although small (booking is essential, especially at the weekend), the restaurant is big on atmosphere, with husband and wife owners Ambrose and Linda offering superb hospitality to both new and regular customers.

Set meals are offered if you want to ‘play it safe’ but we asked Ambrose for his recommendations. After checking what we liked, and what we didn’t, and making sure the vegetarian in our party was catered for, we enjoyed chicken satay, pork dumplings, wrapped prawns and tofu and vegetable kebabs to start – all of which were excellent.

For mains, we had beef rendang, which was tender and full of flavour, squid samba made with prawn paste and vegetables with cashew nuts in black bean sauce – to name but a few. Everything was expertly cooked and tasted delicious.

We even managed to squeeze in dessert – apple and banana fritters with syrup, fried to perfection, not at all greasy – along with a complimentary liquer of our choice, which we were offered to celebrate our dinner companions’ forthcoming wedding.

The bill came to £85 – not bad for starter, main and dessert for four people, plus a bottle and two glasses of wine and four Tsing Tao beers (apparently it’s hard to get hold of Malaysian beer over here).

Kaya House’s popularity seems to be down to word of mouth. Most of the customers had clearly eaten there before, and after last night, its definitely gained four more regulars.

9.5/10