The Wishing Well, Hammersmith, London

The Wishing Well has to be one of the oddest restaurants I have ever encountered. The first think you’ll notice is that it appears to be permanently Halloween; model witches dangle from the ceiling, and the walls are decked out with garlands of wooden bats, cats, and pumpkins. I don’t know why. Just go with it. The whole restaurant is wooden-panelled with wallpaper above the panelling that has a fake brick pattern on it. There are some strange wooden frieze things as well. And fairy lights around the window. And disco floor lights on the way to the toilets. I suppose that if you’re tall, it probably feels quite cluttered, but I love it.

Everything is extremely cheap, especially if you have one of their vouchers, a handful of which are thrown in when you get your bill. The vouchers entitle you to an amazing deal: three courses for about £7.50 (or cheaper before 7pm). When you realise that the main courses start from around £7, that starts to look almost too good to be true, doesn’t it?

The food itself is simple but good, and the portions are enormous. You are brought a free hunk of bread with butter before you order. The menu is mostly Italian and Mediterranean, but with the occasional curve ball (burgers, enchiladas) thrown in for good measure. Be warned that if something comes in a “creamy” sauce (such as the excellent salmon tagliatelle), it’ll be full of double cream, and hence very rich. There’s usually a range of specials on offer as well. They also do some fine meat dishes such as chicken with tarragon, and pork medallions. The puddings are slightly less engaging, especially if you are doing the voucher deal as then the dessert choices are limited to a few at the top, but to be honest you might not have room anyway.

The staff (it appears to be a family business) are efficient, delightfully friendly, and extremely accommodating, and to top it all off, they eschew the tradition of after-dinner mints and pop a stick or two of Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit gum on the tray when they bring you your bill. Pure class.

I only live a moments walk from this place but would walk a 100 miles to get there. The people are charming and friendly, The food is great value wholesome european mix.
I have taken so many friends here and they love it, no one has ever said anything bad. If you fancy a cheap night in a cute place this is a real must.

The witch’s hanging all over the place are for sale too!

Lovely setting! Such a cute place! Lived in Chiswick for ages and decided to explore H’smith and found this jem there! My bf and I had a delicious meal for over 20 pounds and were completely full! Cosy, different place that helps us beat the recession!!!!

This place is so cool! It’s almost utterly random in it’s interior as well as the choice on the menu, but some how it seems to work.

Our table had such completely different dishes, from chicken fahitas to stuffed aubergines to deep fried cheese. All were really good!

The best thing about this place is if you come on one of your party’s birthdays. The owner has a special cassette tape he will most joyously whack on if he finds out you’re celebrating and his favourite song, which he likes to sing out at the top of his voice, is '21 Today’! Excellent!

When I first moved to London this was one of my favourite restaurants and would still be if we hadn’t moved a bit further away.

It has a sort of fusion/European/Polish menu that is super-affordable and really tasty. I loved that we could go there, get a good meal for two and a bottle of wine and spend just £25! I haven’t been there recently so not sure if they still have the meal deals - a starter and a main for £6 - including yummy things like duck en croute and mussles.

It’s family-run and the best part about it is the quirky decor - with little witches and pumpkins hanging from the cavernous ceiling. Full of character and greatvalue for money, if you’re in the area you should definitely check this place out.