I Can't Live Without... La Torre

Pret a Manger is all very well for a fast sandwich, but there is no substitute for a good Sandwich Bar. You can have the La Torre special (beef, blue cheese, mushrooms on ciabatta toasted) or you can make it up from the ingredients you see through the counter.  They have pasta and chicken curry, beef curry, meat balls with spaghetti or baked potato or salad or however you want it. As often as not, I get a fairly routine chicken escalope with salad to take away - being on a minimum-carb diet thing.

The real treat is to drop in first thing if I had to leave the house too quickly. Egg-and-bacon toasted on brown, cappucino. The ultimate filling breakfast. Eat at the counter in the window and watch the world hurry to work, the morning swimmers from The Oasis stop for a cup of coffee.

Good food is the strating point, it's the atmosphere that makes the place special. It needs an energetic owner who recognises his regulars, the right kind of lighting and decoration, enough of the smell of cooking to be welcoming and just enough background from the radio in the morning and conversations at lunchtime. La Torre has all of them. It's at 32 Endell Street in Covent Garden and well worth a visit.