Restaurants

Brew House

Peak times at this much-loved Kenwood institution may seem chaotic, but that’s just the customers. Look carefully and you’ll see staff working like a well-oiled...

Hampstead: Kenwood, Hampstead Lane, NW3 7JR

Canela

Canela means cinnamon in Portuguese, which explains why you’re given a quill of the spice when ordering a coffee here. Stir it in for a subtle Christmassy flavour....

Covent Garden: 33 Earlham Street, WC2H 9LS

Clerkenwell Kitchen

Sustainable cooking

Clerkenwell: 27-31 Clerkenwell Close, EC1R 0AT

Fernandez & Wells

If only there were more coffee bars like this in central London, rather than the minefield of mediocre café and sandwich chains. In 2007, Fernandez & Wells won the...

Soho: 73 Beak Street, W1F 9RS

Kipferl

Lucky are the folk of Smithfield that they get such a thoroughly modern Austrian café on their doorstep. Somehow this small square gem doesn’t feel crowded, every...

Farringdon: 70 Long Lane, EC1A 9EJ

La Fromagerie

Famed with foodies for its dedicated cheese room, Patricia Michelson’s high-end deli also dishes out freshly cooked café food. Its communal tables are often packed...

Marylebone: 2-6 Moxon Street, W1U 4EW

Macaron

Don’t search for ‘Macaron’ – this pâtisserie’s name is nowhere on the signage – look for the giant pink ice-cream cone by the front door. Nab a small...

Clapham: 22 The Pavement, SW4 0HY

Oddono's

Portions are generous at this renowned shop, which also has kiosks in Whiteley’s and Selfridges. Try the Venezuelan Araguani single origin dark chocolate ice-cream,...

South Kensington: 14 Bute Street, SW7 3EX

Orange Pekoe

A riverside gem favoured by young families as well as tea experts, the Orange Pekoe tea room enjoys a broad following. Fans are attracted by its villagey charm, homely...

Barnes: 3 White Hart Lane, SW13 0PX

Scoop

Long lunchtime queues are a testament to the fact that even the dairy-free health ices (intriguingly made from rice flour) at this Italian artisan’s shop are utterly...

Covent Garden: 40 Shorts Gardens, WC2H 9AB

The Table

The Table won the Best Cheap Eats category of the Time Out Eating & Drinking Awards in 2006. Three years on, we detect no slip in standards – the food from the...

Bankside: 83 Southwark Street, SE1 0HX

William Curley

This fine pâtisserie and chocolatier’s can seem a bit severe, but the desserts and chocolates simply overflow with warmth and creativity. Playful French and...

Richmond: 10 Paved Court, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 1LZ

202 Café

Café in a fashion boutique

Westbourne Grove: 202-204 Westbourne Grove, W11 2RH

Bea's of Bloomsbury

Multi-tiered special-occasional cakes make a spectacular window display at Bea Vo’s plush café. At the rear, three steps lead up to the open-plan sky-lit kitchen,...

Bloomsbury: 44 Theobald's Road, WC1X 8NW

Books for Cooks

The back of this renowned bookstore – brimming with all the cookbooks any food-lover could want – houses a tiny sky-lit ‘test kitchen’ where scrumptious,...

Ladbroke Grove: 4 Blenheim Crescent, W11 1NN

Cafe Ginkgo

Garden centre café

Hammersmith: Ginkgo Gardens, Ravenscourt Avenue, W6 0SL

Daylesford Organic

With zhooshy pavement tables, counter seats by the window and a smart communal table down the centre, there is plenty of temptation to stop for a meal while shopping...

Pimlico: 44B Pimlico Road, SW1W 8LP

Deptford Project

All aboard in south-east London

Deptford: 121-123 Deptford High Street, SE8 4NS

Din Café

Handily positioned for Temple Fortune shoppers, Din Café – on our Sunday morning visit – was buzzing with an assortment of diners, ranging from family groups to...

Golders Green: 816 Finchley Road, NW11 6XL

E Pellicci

Not just a caff, but a social club, taxi drivers’ meeting room and unofficial matchmaking service, E Pellicci has been warmly welcoming customers since 1900. The...

Bethnal Green: 332 Bethnal Green Road, E2 0AG

Fernandez & Wells

Soho: 43 Lexington Street, W1F 9AL

Flat White

‘A flat white’, as the definition on the wall here will tell you, is ‘an Antipodean-style coffee’: a shot of espresso with plenty of milk. It’s also the name...

Soho: 17 Berwick Street, W1F 0PT

Fleet River Bakery

Artisan café adds life to Holborn

Holborn: 71 Lincoln's Inn Fields, WC2A 3JF

Fortnum and Mason's Parlour

The Parlour’s warm, silky Amedei chocolate sauce is superior to the chocolate ice-cream sold here, so our best recommendation is to order an ice-cream flight –...

Piccadilly: Fortnum & Mason, 181 Piccadilly, W1J 9FA

Freggo

Ice cream, South American style

Piccadilly: 27-29 Swallow Street, W1B 4QR

Gelateria Danieli

This excellent Richmond outfit has been quietly expanding, with kiosks in Bentall’s of Kingston, Centre Court Shopping Centre in Wimbledon, a stall by John Lewis on...

Richmond: 16 Brewers Lane, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 1HH

J&A Café

Excellent produce, home-style dishes

Clerkenwell: 4 Sutton Lane, EC1M 5PU

Ladurée

London now holds two branches of these ornate Parisian tea rooms – a large one in Harrods and a smaller outlet in the Burlington Arcade. The company has also spread...

Knightsbridge: Harrods, entrance on Hans Road, SW3 1DB

Lantana

Australian-run café

Fitzrovia: 13 Charlotte Place, W1T 1SN