Bistro 1

Nous visions un tout autre restaurant, recommandé par mon Cartoville, mais il était fermé. En passant de rue en rue, nous avons trouvé que celui-​ci avait une bonne tête et nous avons décidé d’en pousser la porte.
Bien nous en a pris, c’était un très bon choix. Au programme: entrée-​plat-​dessert pour £13.90 (sans service). Ça nous a paru assez honnête. En entrée, j’ai pour ma part opté pour une petite salade de pommes de terre et bacon grillé. C’était plutôt bon, un peu léger pour une grosse mangeuse comme moi, mais très bon. Quant à mon cher et tendre, il a pris du saumon, très bon aussi m’a-t-il dit.
Ensuite, nous avions tous les deux opté pour le «Homemade Burger» accompagné de frites et de salade. Bön, les frites étaient surgelées, mais le burger était délicieux, la viande super bonne et le pain aussi, nous nous sommes régalés.
Enfin, en dessert, j’ai opté pour une crème caramel et Monsieur pour un cheesecake à la framboise. Alors bon, la crème caramel était plutôt un genre de flan au caramel, plutôt moyen au niveau du goût. Mais il semblerait que le cheesecake ait remporté du succès.
Au niveau du lieu, si de l’extérieur il né paye pas de mine, l’intérieur est super joli avec des lampes absolument magnifiques, super colorées qui apportent beaucoup au charme de ce petit bistrot charmant. Le personnel a été super agréable, très arrangeant quand nous n’avions pas de monnaie, rien à redire. Par contre, le gros bémol c’est le bruit ambiant. En fait, il y avait pas mal de conversations dans le restaurant, mais le gérant (ou en tous cas une personne du restaurant) a poussé le son de la musique un peu plus fort, ce qui fait qu’on s’entendait moyen. Mais bon, ça reste une chouette adresse où vous pouvez aller sans hésiter.

We had some «issues» with the breakfast buffet at our otherwise fabulous hotel in Piccadilly Circus /​Leicester Square, so we were on the look-​out for an alternative when we stumbled across Bistro 1 while wandering through SOHO one night. It looked like a nice spot, the sign said they opened at 8am, and the Breakfast menu looked good.
Note: This review is based on two visits.
Breakfast #1: We stopped in the next morning shortly after 8am and scored a window seat. There were just a few other tables so we got our coffee and orange juice pretty quickly. The atmosphere was nice but would have been infinitely better without that god-​awful Celine Dion CD playing. The last thing I want to hear on a gorgeous morning is that woman wailing away about her Heart Going On.
We both ordered the Eggs Benedict, on toast, and it came with bacon. It was a very tasty breakfast!
The service was very good in spite of a language barrier with the waiter (his English wasn’t the best and we had to repeat ourselves a couple of times). The price was right. I’d give this experience a solid four stars.
Breakfast #2: We stopped in again the next day around 8:40am and found the waiter from yesterday scrambling to open shop … although the sign clearly says they open at 8am. He asked us to wait on the sidewalk while he did his thing and we eventually got seated (same spot as yesterday) at about 8:50.
It took significantly longer to get our coffee and orange juice this time, as it looked like he was there all alone. Oh well, at least we didn’t have to suffer through any more Celine Dion. It was blissfully quiet.
This time we ordered omelettes. I had mushroom and cheese. My husband had bacon and tomato.
As we waited for our meal we saw other employees casually wander in, with no sense of urgency that they were late. I felt kind of sorry for the waiter with the thick accent. He seemed to be the only one really working.
This time our breakfast was disgusting. It was almost inedible. The cook obviously fried the bacon first, then made our omelettes in the bacon grease. They were salty and greasy beyond endurance. So, we enjoyed the small green salad that came on the plate, picked at the omelettes, had our coffee and orange juice and left.
This is a two star experience, bordering on one star. The only saving grace is my sympathy for the hard working waiter. So I guess that averages out to three stars overall.

I went here for lunch with my boyfriend on our 6-​day trip to London. I enjoyed the décor of the place and the fact that outdoor seating is available. I must say that the staff seemed a little weird. They were polite but the politeness was obviously forced to the point where it made me feel a little uncomfortable. The food was good though and the portion sizes were more than enough. I ordered the crispy bacon and potatoes as a starter and fried calamari with fries as the main, both tasty dishes.

I’m not sure how this place got recent reviews over 1 star but to each his own.
Not even the fact that I was inebriated could disguise the fact that the food here was just not good. My mates had the Mousaka and the Lamb something — both said it was uneventful. I had the cod fillet and not sure what contaminated waters they pulled it from but they tried to hide that fact by bathing it in frying oil that oozed over the shards of alleged & overcooked chips on my plate.
Avoid this place and their nasty toilets.
The staff is pleasant so they get the one star.

Food was ok, not great, but my main issue was having to wait so long for the food to come when the place is not even full…

friendly, fun atmosphere with lovely food.
definately would go there again as you get two courses for less than £10, brilliant.

Meh is probably the most adequate word I could use to describe this place. It’s ordinary, and as ordinary can get… Had the Turkish Spicy Sausage for a starter and a Sea Bream for mains. Note to self, never top sea bream with sliced smoked salmon. Those two don’t mix good tasty y’all. Thankfully the sauce helped to mask the conflicting fish flavors. Not to mention, the turkish sausage was just meh as well.
Service was so so, and my date — bless him, was also just so so. Meh meh meh meh meh so so. Starting to sound like a Sound of Music song. Ended paying £14 for 2 course meal, bread and sharing a wine. Pricey for London on this sort of quality.
Would I go back? (I always ask myself this question). No. Will I call him back? Probably not.

Café bistro is just outside of trendy Carnebe Street, and amongst the high street prices it’s nice to find a restaurant that offers two course meals for under a tenner. The wooden tables and custom artwork compliment the soft pastels that remind you of the Mediterranean meal to come. My starter of calimari was well prepared, and the salmon main was nicely cooked, drizzled with a cream sauce that married nicely with the cooked spinach (just wilty enough!). My wife enjoyed the lentil soup, and the chicken arribiata was good, but nothing special. Good portions for prices, a nice discovery that I will return for.
There is a back room which can accomidate one large group of people, but I would recommend making a reservation if you wanted to secure that spot!

Really cheap and pleasant little restaurant! The place was packed full yet the waiters were still really friendly! I had calamari to start with which was lovely, my main dish of salmon and spinach tasted very plain but considering it was £9.90 for two courses and starter was great! will definitely go back!

Two courses for under a tenner? In the WEST END? This restaurant came to the rescue recently when we realised that the place we’d intended to meet for pre-​karaōke nosh had closed down. I was impressed. The service was quick and attentive, the wine flowed, the food — though by no means gourmet — was tasty and the atmosphere was very welcoming. I certainly won’t be shouting from the rooftops about it, but I’d happily go back, and it makes a nice change from Pizza Express.

U love shish kebab and good service, this is the place to be. Good worth for money

You can’t go far wrong for £15 a head for three courses. The food is average but the staff are friendly and a great location for Compton St afterwards, or if you wanna take someone on a cheap date lol… I’d recommend the lamb shish kebab and banoffie pie is to die for :0P

Don’t worry if you get a sense of déjà vu is you see the cheerful orange/​green Bistro 1 signs! There are a few few of these around Soho and they haven’t been imaginative enough to name them Bistro 2, Bistro 3, etc
Despite the name, the food is more Eastern Mediterranean rather than French in inspiration. A lot of crowd pleasers on the menu and cheap at the price.
The food is good hearty fare and good value for money but there are more interesting places to dine very close by

Incredibly cheap (9.90 for 2 courses in Soho?!), and fairly decent little restaurant on Frith Street. I had feta salad and my colleagues took deep fried brie to start, which seemed to go down well, and I had a reasonable salmon to follow. It probably would be 3 stars but the wine was good too!

Great value, and good quality food. Friendly staff.
Calamari is nice, as well as the lamb kebab with rice. Remember to ask for the chilli sauce which complements the dish really well.
A word of warning, this is quite a small venue, so keep the numbers down to avoid awkward seating arrangements.

Looking for cheap, filling eats? You’ve found it at the Bistro. This used to be a frequent workplace lunch haunt for my office. At £6.90 for two courses, we thought it was great. The menu is Turkish inspired, from calamari to moussakka to mezze plates. A lot of the dishes are similar with the same sauces or ingredients.
Ahhh the only problem is after coming here a few times and sampling nearly everything on the menu, it gets old fast. Mostly because the food is so heavy and everyone always tumbles out rubbing their belly and feeling dead full. Now, whenever anyone suggests coming here, we all groan, the fullness leaves a lasting memory. It’s worth it for a once off visit though.

Busy, hap-​hazzard and FANTASTIC!!! 10.99 for 3 courses on the evening or 7.99 lunchtime. (Cheaper for the 2 courses) So friendly staff, excellent food (for money) and huge choice. Drinks also very good prices especialy the house champagne which I would highly recomend.5star.

I cannot fault Bistro at all– it is the perfect restaurant offering great service, great food and extremely good prices. The 3 course set menu is an amazing £9.95 and unlike many set menus there is a lot to choose from.
I think over the 5 – 6 years I have been going to Bistro I have probably had almost everything on the menu. There is something for everyone including lamb, sea bream, calamari, chicken and a good selection of vegetarian dishes. You would have to be the world’s fussiest eater not to find something on the menu that you do not like. My problem is that everything looks so good I can never decide what to choose.
For the past 5 years I have been going here with friends for our Christmas dinner and this year is no different– I cannot wait till December 12!

«Bistro» is a small chain of exceptionally good value for money restaurants in the West End. I’ve been going to them for years and everyone I take there, whether it’s at lunchtime or in the evening is amazed by the price of the food.
You get two courses for £6.95 (ish) and three for £7.95 (ish) — (depending on whether you’re there at lunchtime or for dinner) either way it’s under a tenner.
There are little bowls of bread and olives on the table when you arrive, which the staff seem happy to fill up at no extra cost.
Starters range from the excellent vegetarian mixed meze (stuffed vine leaves, tzatizi, falafel, etc), smoked duck with a berry sauce, sardines and other nice things.
Mains are great — the salmon with creamed spinach is my personal favourite. You can also have fish cakes, vegetarian moussaka, chicken kebabs, goats cheese pancake with spinach, lasagne and lots more. All very, very healthy sized portions.
If you can fit in a dessert there are some delightful stuffed apricots, banoffee pie and tiramsu. Plus to top it off they give you a couple of pieces of turkish delight with your bill.
Wine is fairly basic, but again well priced.
I really do not know how they manage to serve such well cooked food for such a ridiculously cheap price. It’s not cordon bleu, but it will fill you up and leave you with a feeling well-​being.
The other Bistro 1’s are in Beak Street and Southampton Street in Covent Garden.