What's for Lunch? Kastner & Ovens

By tikichris Last edited 194 months ago
What's for Lunch? Kastner & Ovens
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Londonist asks that most pressing of daily concerns: where to go on your lunch break.

Kastner & Ovens

52 Floral Street WC2E 9DA

Nearest Tube:

Covent Garden

020 7836 2700

8am-5pm Lunch (Monday-Friday)

Expect to pay: about £7 for a hot dish and a slice of cake

Rating: 7 out of 10

If you’re working in central London it’s often hard to find decent takeaway food besides the greasy spoon down the road serving up chip butties. All well and good most days, but if you’re looking for something slightly fresher then Kastner & Ovens is a fairly decent bet. They serve up two hot dishes a day (one meat and one vegetarian) alongside an array of pastries, tarts and salads. And, of course, lots and lots of cake. K&O has lots of things to recommend it for the occasional visitor. Everything is cooked fresh, the food’s of a good quality and there’s a decent range of sweet options.

What brings it down is its tendency to seem slightly repetitive once you’ve been there a few times. Although there’s often pasta dishes served up, there’s a heavy reliance on casserole in its many different forms. And if you’re not a fan of heavy rice dishes then it’s best to steer clear. The quality of the cakes is impressive though, with the chocolate fridge cake a particular favourite. Be warned that they’ve recently hiked the prices up though – a large hot dish is now £5 rather than £4.50, and several of the cakes have seen their prices inflated in addition to slightly stingier portions. Mind you, for central London it’s still not too expensive and at least you’re guaranteed fresh food all the time. It might lose its glimmer with repeated visits but for the occasional lunch it’s pretty darn good.

Written by Stripy

Photography courtesy of ruudb0y's photostream on Flickr

Last Updated 29 January 2008