Rakie's recommended diners

She's worked with John Hurt, Robson Green and Jerome Flynn on TV, and performed in Shakespeare plays on the London stage. Now actress Rakie Ayola takes time out to tell us her five favourite restaurants in London.

Thai Chung 8 Nelson Road SE10. Tel: 020 8858 8588. DLR: Cutty Sark It's very small and intimate and I like that. The food is wonderful - you don't feel like you're eating mouthfuls of MSG - and they do the most amazing soups. They have bowls for two, which are very spicy and made with lemon grass and chilli. Very romantic.

The Cutty Sark 14 Joyce Dawson Way SE23. Tel: 020 8312 2793. Rail: Abbey Wood Everyone loves the Trafalgar Tavern, but I love this place. It's bang on the river and does all the standard gammon and steak and kidney pies, which are really fresh. And it has a fantastic view of the Dome.

Othello 113 Trafalgar Road SE10. Tel: 020 8858 7050. Rail: Maze Hill They do a fabulous steak that tastes home-cooked. Everyone who works there is really friendly, too. I don't know why it's called Othello, considering it's a Greek restaurant. I meant to ask them where they got the name but I forgot.

Balan's 60 Old Compton Street W1. Tel: 020 7439 2183. Tube: Leicester Square/ Tottenham Court Road It's a bit of everything because you can have breakfast there as well as lunch and dinner. They have music in there, too, so there's a bit of a clubby vibe. If you want to know the crowd, I suppose you could say it's just full of very gorgeous gay men.

Cafe Med 22-25 Dean Street W1. Tel: 020 7287 9007. Tube: Leicester Square/ Tottenham Court Road I like it because it's got big sofas and along with everything else they do huge bowls of fries, which I think is a very good idea. If I need somewhere to meet people, Cafe Med's always a good place.