Noura
An elegant Lebanese restaurant that is part of a short chain. To get the best value at the Mayfair branch, eat upstairs and pick your way through the mezze items which cost between £4 and £8 per dish. If you can curtail your greed you'll end up with a reasonable bill.
Noura, 16 Curzon Street, W1 (020 7495 1050, www.noura.co.uk)

Truc Vert
A deli/traiteur that thinks it is a restaurant (or a restaurant that thinks it's a deli). The food leans towards France and you'll find the best kind of simple, fresh dishes. Great salads (three for £8.95). Great quiches (£5.95). A pleasant place and deservedly busy.
Truc Vert, 42 North Audley Street, W1 (020 7491 9988, www.trucvert.co.uk)

Bar Trattoria Semplice
The less formal sibling of the much smarter Ristorante Semplice. This is a great place for a simple pasta lunch or a civilised coffee and a pastry. The cooking and service is of a high standard here, excellent value.
Bar Trattoria Semplice, 22 Woodstock Street, W1 (020 7491 8638 www.bartrattoriasemplice.com)

Sofra
This chain of cheerful and accessible Turkish restaurants waxes and wanes (currently there are half-a-dozen branches). Eating at Shepherd Market can be as wallet-friendly an experience as the others — good meze starters at around £5, mains start at around £12. Look out for the specials.
Sofra, 18 Shepherd Street, W1 (020 7493 3320, www.sofra.co.uk)

L'Artiste Musclé
Used to have a sister restaurant in Notting Hill called L'Artiste Assoiffé (long gone). The muscly one has been dishing out old-fashioned French food for decades — think snails. It's a jolly, buzzy place, tables are crowded in, everything is rather loud and frenetic. Good fun and good value.
L'Artiste Musclé, 1 Shepherd Market, W1 (020 7493 6150)