City of London: Fuzzy's Grub

Fuzzy's Grub with several locations in London offers lovers of roasts the best bang for your buck. You can get a sandwich from Fuzzy's or Grubbies as I prefer to call them (that's not a critique of their cleanliness it's just me) but why would you?

The real reason to come here is the Roast Lunch Boxes. You can choose from beef, chicken, pork or turkey. Personally I'm a fan of a good turkey roast. What will you get with your meat? Carrots, peas, Yorkshire pudding, roast potato (or mash), cranberry sauce and gravy. I've been told the mash potato is better and that's quite possible as the roast potatoes are usually dry but for me a roast just isn't a roast without roast potatoes. The gravy helps too, although the gravy tubs are a bit small.

The staff will generally add a bit more if you ask and all of this food gets crammed into these mid size boxes for the affordable price of £5.50. A bargain compared to the cost of many other take away boxes. The substantial weight of the boxes should allay any fears that you're not getting you moneys worth.

My coworkers and I will occasionally go to Grubbies and even the big eaters amongst us (myself included) find it a struggle to finish but finish we do and we are normally well satisfied. You could have Grubbies every day but I think it works best - like a good Sunday roast - as an occasional meal with anticipation heightening the experience.

Generally, you'll receive fast and efficient service as the staff bustle the line in and out of the store. None of the Fuzzy's I've been to have included seating so you'll have to make your way back to a park, canteen or at your desk. In the latter case the smell of a good roast may make your co-workers salivate and/or hate you!

Generally I've found the food to be reasonable, filling and very good value for money.

Unless you're a vegetarian, in which case, skip it.

City of London: Japanese - "ASTA"

Japanese in London isn't exactly hard to come by. Walking into any Pret will give you a ready made box of sushi. However, what Pret and its like can't give you is good quality and value for money Japanese food.

ASTA 3 at 5 Midlesex Street (near Petticoat Lane) may not have sushi but this is easily forgiven because of its wide range of ramen soups and bento boxes not to mention the well stocked drinks cabinet.

A big bowl of ramen with miso broth will set you back around £8 and it'll be brought out in about 5 minutes. With daily specials there's bound to be something here to intrigue and as the food is prepared to order ASTA 3 is a step above the standard pre-packaged lunchtime fare.

While the place looks nothing more than a glorified school canteen with plain walls and simple table and chairs it does have quite a lot of seating so you'll probably find a place. Otherwise wait until 2PM when things die down. On that note ASTA 3 is only open during the busy lunch time rush and closes at 3PM.

I've now been here a few times and always had friendly, prompt and patient service from the staff.

As for the food itself. In addition to a generous quantity to cost ratio (at least for London) you'll also get a reasonably good meal. The broth is hot and bracing, which is perfect even during this mild winter. In ramen I've found the egg and pork component can often be a bit hit and miss but thus far they've been pretty good. Finally, the noodles and vegetables are easy to pick up and wolf down or nurse depending on how much time you have.

For the city this is very good, to get significantly better you'll have to pay an equally proportionate amount.

Next time you have a craving for Japanese give ASTA 3 a try. If you've been please leave a comment.

I'll also endeavour to review ASTA 1 in an upcoming post.