Wok to Walk, 4 Brewer Street

I really really dislike the name of this place. I mean come on, Wok to Walk, it's rubbish. I don't get it, you don't get a wok, you get noodles, granted said noodle dish may have seen a wok during its brief cooking time, but that's as much wok as your likely to get. As for the walk part of the title sure a little bit of walking is involved as with any takeaway but not enough to justify putting it in the name of the business for goodness sake. So to sum up, barely any Wok involved and a little bit of walking -  so still no idea why its called Wok to Walk.

Right on to the more important things, the food. As previously mentioned this establishment deals in noodle dishes. Noodles, some meat or vegetable component and a sauce to be exact. As easy as one two three, which is handy as that is the way the menu works. Step 1, choose your noodles, udon, rice, egg, or if you want, try some rice, jasmine perhaps, go on be crazy I dare you. Then step 2, choose a meat or vegetable accompaniment, usual suspects here, duck, chicken, mushrooms, tofu, pak choi etc. Then step 3, choose a sauce again nothing you haven't seen before, Teriyaki, oyster, sweet and sour and voilà after a little wok time you're noodles are served to you in a handy cardboard box. You know, those types you see on American TV shows but never actually get when you order Chinese in England.  

Cost wise its around the £5 to £6 mark depending on excatly what combination you go for. For freshly cooked food this isn't too bad, seems to be the average for Soho, and the portion size isn't too shabby either. As regards flavour, its got some, but it does taste a little processed, I would imagine a hefty amount of MSG is included along the line somewhere, probably the sauce. It's perfect for a quick lunch but not going to leave a lasting impression on your palate.

The best thing about Wok to Walk is the nutrition calculator that can be found on the website. Here you can choose what you might like to eat, but before you commit you can see how many calories, carbs and protein it contains. Perfect for those health conscious individuals that are so prevalent in these modern times. More to the point you can play a game to see what the lowest and highest calorie count possible is. Under 500 and over 800 respectively is what you should be aiming for.

Rating: 2.5/5
Cost: ££

Opening Times: Mon - Sun 12pm - 1am

http://www.woktowalk.com/

Breakfast Club, 33 D'Arbley Street

Ok I know what you're thinking, its called the Breakfast club, so why go there for lunch. Well turns out they do lunch as well as breakfast, in fact they are open until 9pm Mon - Sat so you could even get dinner there as well if you wish. I didn't, that would go against my principles, and I am a man of principles.

Obviously, breakfasts seem to be what they do best as they have received a few awards along the way, the Observer, Timeout and the evening standard, but lunch is good also. You can get anything from a burger to a pie, to a wrap to a salad. Those wanting to feel healthy in the new year may opt for a salad, I didn't, I went with a chorizo and fried egg bap. Plenty of protein. My own slapdash attempt at the Atkins diet.

It was a nice bap! The chorizo was reasonable, and the egg was fried so i got what i asked for. The bap itself was just a plain white bread roll, nothing exceptional and not on a par with the rolls available at Fernandez and Wells or Foxcroft and Ginger. But I enjoyed eating it. For just over £5 it was filling enough to make me feel as though I had got my monies worth. Though it didn't blow me away.

Can't help thinking though that the Breakfast club comes into its own as a sit in venue rather than takeaway. Possibly the ideal place to go if you have a hangover, or if your a student with very little to do. I would certainly have frequented it when I was a student if I lived in London. Many days would have been spent there avoiding lectures and the like.

Rating: 2.5/5
Cost: ££(£)

Opening times: 8-5 Mon - Fri, 9-9 Sat, 9-5 Sun

http://breakfastclubcafes.com/

Beatroot cafe, 92 Berwick Street

I've been lunching in Soho for just over 6 months now and it wasn't until last week that I finally gave this vegetarian cafe a try. The main reason being that in order to get there I would have to walk past the bagel man, and as much as I tried I just couldn't. I would go with intentions of getting some vegetarian salads, and I would come back with 2 bagels. However thankfully bagel man and his bagel boys deservedly took some time off over Christmas and New Years, so that allowed me to go to Beatroot guilt free.

Its a simple premise and I like simple, walk in choose a size of container, (small £4.30, medium £5.50 ad large £6.50), then choose your contents. There is a large range of both hot and cold foods, and you're allowed to mix and match as much as you like. I went with half and half, seems like the obvious thing to do. Cold salads include Greek salad, quinoa taboullah, potato salad, dilled coleslaw plus others. Hot food ranges from Moussaka, curry, Shepard's pie to Tofu stir fry, pasta bakes and blanched broccoli and sausage rolls. Service was done with a smile, which is a nice touch and not as common as you might expect.

Its all quite tasty, certainly nothing wrong with it but it doesn't blow you away. Can't help thinking that the same quality could easily be knocked up at home. Another small gripe is that they seem to do a lot of vegetarian alternatives to dishes which usually contain meat, for example Moussaka, Shepard's pie and sausage rolls. Seems a little pointless to me, I would prefer to eat a traditional vegetarian meal that is unique and different rather than just a meat free version of an old classic.

Value wise it's ok. The medium and large containers are the only ones I would give the time of day to. £6.30 for the large is quite expensive, and there are places where you can get the same for less (Rosalind's Kitchen).

So in summary, nice idea, but needs a touch more finesse to take it past the home cooking level, that it is currently at. Would I go back? Possibly but the Bagel Man would have to be on holiday again.

Rating: 2/5
Cost: ££

Open: Mon - Fri, 9am - 9pm, Sat 11am - 9pm

http://beatroot.org.uk/