Dapur

Weekdays are dreary with the potential to be depressing, so eating lunch out, or making a bit of an effort, is a must. As far as antidotes to dreariness go, Dapur is up there. Getting a plate of fragrant coconut rice and all the trimmings—ayam masak merah and beef rendang—from the daytime Malaysian cafe is just the ticket for anyone who’s looking for a pick-me-up. There are six or seven Malaysian curries to choose from, but the familiar (the rendang) and the fiery (chicken in a tomato chilli sauce) are always good. The chicken is cooked to an almost deep-fried crispness on the edge and its sauce has the slap-on-the-back you need, as does the homemade sambal. The rendang is the necessary hug everyone around Holborn craves on a working lunch—it’s not open on weekends—and, all in all, it will set you up perfectly for the rest of the day. Which, in our case, is usually a second lunch.