New to London Met University, I was walking around aimlessly looking for cheap food when I stumbled into Sphinx. What attracted me to it was the insanely low prices they were advertising on the door. Their most prominent deal was a burger of choice, fries, AND a can of coke ALL FOR £1.99. I was in shock so I had to go inside.
The place has sort of a weird set up. A very long and large counter for ordering engulfs nearly half the space. This leaves a relatively low amount of seating/standing for the size of the place, but they've still got about four, four person tables and a counter against the window.
I was greeted by a kind looking Turkish (?) man who didn't seem to be totally great at the English language but was trying. The menu has lots of varieties of burgers, pizza, and Turkish dishes, all for incredible prices. I wasn't sure what to get, so while I was staring at the menu he shows me this experimental tuna pizza he was concocting. He picked up a slice for me and told me I could have it for free. I really don't like fish so I politely said no thank you but he continued to demand I eat it. He eventually stopped trying to convince me, but we went back and forth for a solid couple of minutes. Such a nice guy.
Anyways, after choosing a 7" mini Margarita pizza which was listed at £2.50, I got a bottle of water and waited. I saw he was actually making the pizza fresh which was nice, not sticking in a pre-made pie. Eventually the pizza was finished and it actually appeared to be the 10" size which is 50 pence more expensive. I was surprised at how great and flavorful it tasted. For that price and for the type of place I thought it was (cheap, etc), it shocked me. As a New Yorker I hold pizza in high esteem, and he did a great job!!!
When I paid for it, which was after I finished eating, I had to tell him how great of a job he did and he was very thankful. He charged me £3 total, which is definitely less than it actually was priced (pizza was larger than 7" plus the water was at least a pound).
The place was empty for the entire duration of my meal until the very end when a woman came in and took advantage of the £1.99 burger/fries/drink deal. I hope he gets more customers! Albeit I was eating there at 4 PM so it wasn't rush hour.
On an unrelated note, I noticed a crest on the plate I was eating on. It said "My Word Is My Bond." Decided to look it up and found that it is the English translation of the Latin phrase "Dictum Meum Pactum" which is the motto of the Coat of Arms for the London Stock Exchange. Not sure what to make of that. read more