Sofra St John's Wood

Sofra made its name by following the Pizza Express blueprint – namely serving colourful food that everyone could afford in settings & surroundings they never thought they could. Just because you don’t have a ton to drop on dinner doesn’t mean you don’t deserve tablecloths, clean wine glasses & waiter service, goes the thinking. To an extent, the formula still works for Sofra’s thronged Turkish restaurants (& their smarter sibling, Ozer) with £10 menus & mezze platters luring in the tourists & theatregoers. Classics of hoummos, falafel, baba gannouj, tagines & lamb kebabs are still reliable & reasonable, & very fine with one of a handful of Turkish wines. It’s just hard to get excited about a menu of steaks, seafood & grills when newer, fresher chains wink so seductively just round the corner.