The capital's best restaurant isn't run by a superstar chef in central London - it's an old Woolwich sandwich bar transformed into an Eritrean cafe.

Last year, the Salad Bowl on Woolwich New Road looked to be on its last legs, priced out of the market by cheaper stores and the huge new Tesco opposite.

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But now, transformed into the Blue Nile, business is booming and, this week, the restaurant was ranked number one in the whole of London on the TripAdvisor website.

Owner Shewa Hagos explained: "When I set up the sandwich bar in 2008 the business was good. But after the recession people didn't have much money and no one was coming to buy sandwiches anymore.

"When I first started I had eight staff. Last year I only had one left so the business was completely gone.

"I couldn't even get a loan from the high street back because they told me 'come back when you make money'."

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Ms Hagos sat down with her architect son and daughter-in-law to trash out a new business plan and The Blue Nile was born, serving cuisine from her home country of Eritrea with a mix of Italian classics.

The food - including the ever popular cardamom and cinnamon-infused stews - is made from local produce, while all the furniture inside was donated by friends.

By removing one of the old walls, there was also an unexpected find - a series of beautiful old wall tiles dating back to around 1935, inspiring one customer to say the restaurant was "lost on its way to Shoreditch".

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Also serving Italian coffees, pasta, ice-creams and home-made breads, word has spread and Blue Nile's reputation has now bagged it top spot online too.

TripAdvisor reviews have variously described it as "one of the most wonderful dining experiences of my life" and "a beautiful little surprise", with gushing praise for the service alongside the food.

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Ms Hagos said: "The way I look at it, every customer is very important to us. We treat them like my family."

And she went on: "I say never give up. Last year was the worst year in my life. It was really, really bad but now, 11 months later, to be in this position is wonderful. 

"I'm very grateful to all my customers and my friends and family. They supported me, they believed in me and that's also wonderful."