Sitting inconspicuously on the Farringdon road is Little Bay restaurant. You may even have walked past it and not realised it was there. But you would have a long way to go to find anywhere else selling decent food at these prices.

With three other branches of Little Bay across London, owner Peter Ilic made this one famous in February 2009 when he decided to let customers pay what they thought the food was worth. The campaign was an overwhelming success.

When I opened the door I was surprised to be confronted by a quirky and colourful room. The ceiling is adorned with a billowy silk of blue, green and turquoise. The décor is opulent, seductive even.

With ‘Born Free’ playing in the background, I looked through the wine list and opted for a burgundy: Chablis Victor Bérard. This turned out to be refreshing; the citrus and mineral notes gave it a steely finish.

The food is European with a French influence. Starters from the main menu are £2.25 before 7pm and £3.25 after. I went for the Moules Mariniere; steamed moules with shallots, parsley, white wine and cream. Fantastic value and one of the most enjoyable sauces I have ever tried; creamy with a pleasant sharpness. The mussels themselves were fresh with a taste of the sea.

From the specials menu Tom chose the Breaded King Prawns and Squid, mixed leaf salad, cherry tomatoes and saffron mayonnaise (£4.95). The breadcrumbs had a crunch which gave way to soft and tender shellfish.

The specials menu itself was a piece of paper that looked like it came from a nearby café, and there were some glaring typos but this added to the restaurant’s unpretentious charm. Take the main course I ordered from it: Roasted Fillets of Sea bass with sautéed new potatoes, green beans, cherry tomatoes & chilly butter (£10.95). I held the menu up to the waiter and joked “is the butter a bit cold then, ha ha.” His bemused smile suggested that I should not pursue comedy as a career and neither do I intend to.

My sea bass was beautifully fresh but the butter was a bit oily and the chilli seemed absent without leave. Ironically the menu description proved to be spot on; the butter needed heat to bring it to life.

As it was after 7pm main courses cost £7.45. Tom had the Pan Roast Chicken Breast – mashed potato and vegetable ragout. Not bad overall, but what with the sweet potato and sweet soy based sauce he needed to remove his savoury head to enjoy it.

Dessert time and I chose the Vanilla cheesecake with passion fruit coulis which was tangy, sour and delicious. Tom’s Apple cake with custard and vanilla ice-cream was lighter than it looked but he would have liked it a bit sharper. Both desserts were £3.25.

The service was attentive and the relaxed atmosphere truly infectious. For decent food at reasonable prices, Little Bay is an excellent choice.