Best restaurants for credit crunch munch

There are bargains galore to be had at venues across London, as nervous restaurateurs slash their prices. Taking a cue from the high street retailers, there is a 50 per cent discount, buy-one-get-one-free deal or discount voucher everywhere you turn. Which suits us fine. We may be feeling the pinch, but we haven't lost our appetites just yet. Here's our guide to the best places to dine out in the downturn.

Gilgamesh
Roll up, roll up — cut-price sushi for sale! If the very thought of bargain basement
sushi fills you with alarm, fear not. The all-new 50p futomaki roll at Gilgamesh is made from exactly the same top-notch Chilean sea bass and Scottish salmon that goes into the full-price grub, only budget-conscious head chef Ian Pengelley is now using up all the smaller trimmings and then combining them with tasty Japanese mayo, white radish and red pepper to make a sushi roll that is worthy of his kitchen's high standards. The 50p rolls are available
for lunch and dinner throughout this month.
There's also a great £10 dim sum menu on offer at lunchtimes for you to enjoy. So that's two great ways to dine out for an absolute snip at one of London's most fabulous pan-Asian restaurants.
Gilgamesh, The Stables, Camden Market, Chalk Farm Road, NW1
(020 7482 5757)

Hawksmoor
We don't need much persuasion to eat at Hawksmoor, but this month's bring- your-own wine offer makes the cool Shoreditch steakhouse more attractive than ever. Yes, for the rest of the month quaff the contents of your cellar at Hawksmoor for just a £5 corkage fee. There are two options: do the cheapskate thing and take some three quid plonk left from Christmas, or dust off a great vintage and really do justice to the fantastic charcoal-grilled steaks at a fraction of the usual cost of bottles from the wine list's top end. Steak aficionados will be pleased to note Hawksmoor has added tasty new cuts to its repertoire, namely bone-in prime rib
(£6/100g), porterhouse (£6/100g) and chateaubriand (£12 per 100g).
Hawksmoor, 157 Commercial Street, E1
(020 7247 7392)

Kitchen Italia
Westfield's chic new pasta specialist, Kitchen Italia, has a great deal. Buy one main course, get your mate's for free, then spend your savings in the sales — or on tiramisu. We recommend the linguine alle vongole with clams, parsley and white wine, £8.95, and chitarra pasta with tiger prawns and chilli, £9.45. There's plenty more to appeal to bargain-hunters: free Wi-Fi and "no strings attached" coffee before 11.30am, and complimentary mini-bomboloni (doughnuts) loaded with Nutella at 4pm. The two-for-one offer is available from 5.30pm to last orders (Mon-Sat, 11.30pm, Sunday 10pm) until 28 February. Download your vouchers at kitchen-italia.com/241 and present it to your waiter before you place your order.
Kitchen Italia, Westfield London, Southern Terrace, Shepherd's Bush, W12
(020 8749 9133)

The National Café
If you haven't yet spent that crisp new note Gran gave you for Christmas, now's a good time as the National Café at the National Gallery has its impressive £10 meal deal running Monday to Friday from 4pm until 23 February. There's a different special every day, each one in tune with our dietary needs on cold, blustery January nights: hand-minced, rare breed beef burger on Monday, steak and Guinness pie on Tuesday, Dorset fish and herb pie on Wednesday, beef and barley stew on Thursday and Farmer Sharp's shepherd's pie on Friday. Each dish is accompanied by a glass of chardonnay or grenache merlot from the south of France.
The National Café, National Gallery, Trafalgar Square
(020 7747 2525)

Geronimo Inns
Hurry! hurry! for the everything-must-go sale at Geronimo Inns. The pub group, whose London outposts include The Crown on Victoria Park and The Eagle in Shepherd's Bush, is selling bin-end wines at up to 20 per cent off, meaning such great bargains as an aromatic Chilean riesling at £13, down from £15, and a syrah from Languedoc, perfect with roasts, also £13 from £15. There are bargains from the kitchen, too, with a top lunch deal at £9 for two courses including such dishes as braised oxtail and mash, fish and chips with tartare sauce and shepherd's pie. Not only that, they've a loyalty card that entitles those dining there three times to a free supper and glass of wine.
geronimo-inns.co.uk

Imli
Indian tapas concept Imli has a host of meal deals this month that will set you back little more than a lunchtime trip to Pret. This contemporary Soho restaurant can offer you a chicken wrap and spicy vegetable soup for £6.50, two tapas dishes for £5.95, or a recession busting, pound-stretching lunch platter including a choice of curry, rice and daal at £7.95. To top it off, desserts are on sale at two for the price of one, meaning you can try the fig and ginger ice cream, £2.95, as well as fudge with carrots, melon seeds and raisins, also £2.95. The offer is available from noon to 3pm, seven days a week.
Imli, 167-169 Wardour Street, Soho, W1
(020 7287 4243)

YO! Sushi
Back by popular demand, the annual YO! Sushi sale is bigger and better than ever this year as the high street conveyor belt chain gives away £500,000 worth of tasty and super-healthy sushi. The offer, on until 19 January while stocks last, gives you a healthy 40 per cent off your choice of up to 10 dishes from the conveyor belt, including resolution-friendly sushi, hand rolls and salads. All you have to do is register for your special voucher at the YO! Sushi website and then simply present it at the end of your meal. Get shopping at the many YO! Sushi branches across town (except for Westfield).
yosushi.com

Goodman
Bypass the dregs of the Oxford Street sales with a detour down Maddox Street where Goodman, the first London outpost of the Russian steak-house chain, is doing an appealing introductory offer until 31 January of a complimentary bottle of house wine for every table of two. The offer is refreshingly low on small print — just be sure to book in advance (quoting "wine offer"), order a minimum of two courses each and the booze is yours. The steak's the thing here, with a choice of cuts and types including Australian grain-fed, and dry-aged, grass-fed British Angus beef. Most cuts are £25 so your choice is governed by preference, not by price. Starters kick off at £5.50 for a Caesar salad.
Goodman, 26 Maddox Street, W1
(020 7499 3776)