Chotto Matte, Soho
Just a quickie to highlight the sheer brilliance of the lunchtime bento box at Japanese slash Peruvian restaurant Chotto Matte on Frith Street. Chotto Matte replaced the Giraffe there about two years ago now, but until recently I'd only been for the odd drink and nibble there (which isn't as cheap as the old £1.75 for a glass of Giraffe happy hour wine, let me tell you).
Its quite glam inside, with dark wood, cool lighting and slightly porny Japanese inspired wall art, and there are definitely worse places to prop up the bar with a bottle of fizz and a snackette. This time, I met my friend - the lovely Charlotte of Healthista - for a quick weekday lunch as she'd been raving about the bento box and it did not disappoint.
Start with very good miso soup with generous amounts of silky tofu and seaweed... (it was WAY better than this meh picture looks)
Then move on to the remainder of the box - including miso padron peppers, lobster tempura, various sushi and sashimi, sea bass ceviche and my personal fave of BBQ miso chicken. There's loads of great things in there, all perfectly cooked and interesting and pretty darn healthy to boot.
Amazing value for £20. FYI, they also do the same box for pre-theatre and chuck in a glass of champagne for £25.