Bites: Munch through the crunch

Is there nothing restaurants won't do to help alleviate our financial woes? More than 100 of London's best eateries have teamed up with Lastminute.com to offer a fortnight of fine dining at a fraction of the normal price. London Restaurant Week, which runs from 16-29 March, is offering two-course lunches for £15 and three-course dinners for £25 at participating restaurants which include Lindsay House, the Albermarle, Imli, Foxtrot Oscar, Galvin at Windows and many other places you probably thought you couldn't afford. Similar launches in Manchester and Birmingham are promised later this year.

And if a fortnight isn't enough, try joining Taste, now the UK's biggest dining club. Members get 50 per cent off the total food bill at over 800 restaurants including Marco, Zilli Brasserie, Bam Bou and the Rivington Grill and, from 1 April, Taste is offering IoS readers the chance to join for a year at the price of £49.99 instead of £69.95. Go to www.tastelondon.co.uk and enter the promotional code: independent