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Located just off Piccadilly Circus, Ryo is a Japanese noodle bar that we stumbled across late at night, in search of something to eat more substantial than a burger.

You order and pay at the counter, as you walk in, and then take a seat and wait for your food to be brought over.

They do a typical range of Japanase dishes: sushi, ramen, noodles and rice dishes, all for about £6 or £7, and also, I was pleased to see, Japanese lager Asahi Super Dry.

We both ordered the katsu curry (deep fried pork fillet in breadcrumbs served with curry sauce and rice), which was tasty and filling - even without the complimentary bowl of miso soup. One criticism would be the curry sauce; I think it’s microwaved on the plate, so it had a sort of ’skin’ on the top, but don’t let that put you off - fortunately it tastes better than it looks!

Ryo is open late - til 3am. Always worth remembering when you’re on the hunt for a cheap eat after a night out in the West End. The place itself is a little gloomy, but then perhaps a lot of places are at that time of night.

5.5/10

“Auddy’s Authentic Thai Cuisine” is one of the many Thai eateries setup in a London pub. Often I find the food outclasses the pub and this is certainly one of those instances I’m afraid. I’ve had the pleasure of eating Auddy’s food on many occasions over the years and my girlfriend and I have never been disappointed. It’s particularly good when the small patio is open in the summer and you can escape the smokey hordes in the pub - this is one of those pubs you feel may struggle to meet the new anti-smoking laws.

If we forget about the venue for the moment and focus on the food, I can happily report this is another fantastic cheap eat. There are the usual Thai classics you expect to find such as the cracking Massaman curry, stir fried chicken with cashew nuts (kai pad medmamuang) and Pad Thai. Alongside the classics there is a good variety of vegetarian dishes and Auddy also understands this means no Nam Pla (fish sauce). The Salad Churchills is excellent - sliced beef, with cucumbers, tomato, onion and a spicy lemon Thai dressing - although it has changed names since I last had the pleasure. On the whole the dishes maintain the truly authentic tastes you expect, with moderately spicy heat.

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On the down side I’ve sometimes found the deep fried fish cakes are a little overdone for my tastes, but aside from that, the portion sizes are fair and the food excellent. I have to say this is perhaps my favourite cheap eat in SW London, I only hope Auddy and his family eventually find some premises that do them justice. Churchills is a good pub, but it isn’t a place to enjoy food as good as this.

Auddy and Churchills can be found on St. John’s Hill, a five minute walk from Clapham Junction train station.

7.5/10

The Victoria Cafe is at the Queenstown Road end of Lavender Hill in Battersea. It’s basically your classic greasy spoon with the added bonus of some fantastic lunchtime specials. I’ve been a handful of times to this cafe, each time struggling to squeeze my newly rotund stomach out of the door as the portions are enourmous.

Most recently I had the liver and onions special with chips, two veg and a cup of tea. It was perfectly designed to replace some of the nutrients I’d lost on the beers the night before. As ever the amount of food was gargantuan and the quality was reasonable. I sometimes get reminded of my school dinners with the veg you get, but for the price (£3.95) you couldn’t expect more.

If I was to be ridiculously picky and try to pick out some bad points, I could only say that it’s way too smokey - but of course come 1st July and the smoking ban, this will no longer be a problem.

My overall feeling is this is a reasonable greasy spoon that offers a much broader menu than the standard fry-up. With everything from jacket potatoes, to home made lasagne, chicken pie and more. If you’re very very hungry and don’t have much money, this is a cheap eat you could comfortably fill up at. Don’t expect too much and you’ll definitely walk away a happy man (or woman).

6/10

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