Wok and Cook

Of the smattering of wok restaurants in Amsterdam, Wok & Cook is one of the best - and one of the best value.

Located on Reguliersdwarsstraat, close to the art deco Pathé Tuschinski cinema and Amsterdam's main gay scene, it's also a handy pit stop post-film or pre-club.

Wok & Cook serves a number of special menus for between €10 and €12, which comprise slightly more luxurious dishes or ingredients (fried chicken with cashew nuts, shiitake mushrooms and pepper in spicy sweet coconut sauce with white rice). But putting together your own wok wonder is the cheapest way to go.

Choose first from a base of rice, noodles or stir-fried vegetables with egg; add beef, pork, chicken, shrimp, tofu or more veggies; then select a free sauce. All this costs under €6.

Ingredients are fresh - although the chefs are sometimes a little overenthusiastic with the oil - and your meal will be wokked while you wait.

Take your food away or eat in Wok and Cook's clean, cheery interior at one of the few seats while admiring the rather incongruous mosaic of a panda bear on the wall.