Sanxia Renjia (Goodge St)

Student noteA Sichuan restaurant right outside Goodge Street station, better known in London's Chinese community as an event space: it regularly hosts Mandarin stand-up open mics, and singles' nights for occasions like Qixi happen here too — you can eat and catch a show in one trip. The food is proper Sichuan, there's KTV in the evening to carry on after, and cocktails are buy-one-get-one during events. The kind of place where eating alone doesn't feel awkward.