Asta

Asta is a strange place. It serves Japanese food, and has an Italian sandwich counter as well. I’ve never tried the Japanese food, so I can’t comment on that. I had one of the sandwiches however, and although it was just so so, it was excellent value for money. £4.40 gets you a massive sandwich (imagine two Big Macs), and you can get it toasted and served panini-​style. The Japanese food did look tempting, but the prices looked quite high, and with Wasabi just round the corner I doubt that it could be that much better to justify those prices.
This was the first time I’ve had a sandwich for lunch and felt so full afterwards!
EDIT: They have now recently introduced a min. £5 rule for using a debit/​credit card, and what’s worse, a 50p charge for using a card, even if the transaction is over £5! I do not support any place that charges a card transaction fee I do understand the min. card amount. For that reason, I am only giving 3 stars instead of 4.

I love this place! If you are tired of Pret sarnies and fed up of boring salads for lunch in the city, pop in here for a fix of chicken katsu curry or salmon teriyaki. It’s not especially cheap for lunch I guess, but the portions are large and it’s tasy and filling. I used to treat myself if I felt like I needed some comfort food. Asta also serves up sandwiches and salads too but really, the gem is their hot counter at the back. You can also buy interesting japanese snacks too, and small sushi selections. (don’t remember being that impressed with those though).