London

Attendant

An independent coffee shop in a converted Victorian public toilet.

Mon–Fri 8AM–6PM, Sat 10AM–5PM, Sun 10AM–4PM

Cafe East

Wonderful Vietnamese food and if you like spicy authentic oriental food, this place is an amazing value.

Cafe Kick

Hidden down a backstreet away from the busier parts of Clerkenwell, lies a cosy little bar crammed with several table football machines, and a good selection of cocktails. In the summer people spread out onto the pedestrianised street and chat in the sun. Happy hour 4-7PM daily.

Mon-Sat 11AM-11PM; Sun 11AM-10:30PM

Cafe Pacifico

London's original Mexican Cantina, serving all your typical Mexican food along with a good range of margaritas and tequila.

Daily noon–11PM

Café in the Crypt

In the basement of St Martin-in-the-Fields church is the Café in the Crypt which offers reasonably-priced cafe food that you can eat amongst the brick-vaulted ceilings, pillars and gravestones.

De Hems Dutch Cafe Bar

Dutch-themed pub with an excellent selection of beers. It is often crowded, but has a good atmosphere and a comedy club.

Frank's Cafe at Bold Tendencies

A unique bar open in the summer months on the top floor of a multi-storey car park, with fantastic views over London.

Summer months only

Grazing Goat

Lively pub with cafe, restaurant on first floor, and 8 rooms up lots of steps.

Food daily 07:30-22:30·Mains £16-£25

Hard Rock Cafe

The original cafe that spawned a global franchise, established in 1971. The food and drinks - burgers, fries and cocktails - are certainly overpriced, but the real stars are the memorabilia items: Elvis Presley's coat, John Lennon's glasses, an antique chair owned by Freddie Mercury, and more famous guitars than Guns 'n' Roses has had members.

Daily noon-10PM / 11PM Sat·Mains £15-£30. Access to the Vault (memorabilia museum) free, with no requirement to purchase food

Hay's Galleria

A beautiful converted wharf on the Jubilee Walk which, since 1987, has been home to cafés, shops and traditional barrows. Originally a warehouse and associated wharf (Hay's Wharf) for the port of London, it was redeveloped as a visitor attraction in the 1950s and has lots of boutique shops.

Maggies Cafe

Below platform 4 of Lewisham train station, is a charming Irish café, extremely popular with the locals, which can make it hard to get a table come lunch-time. A mixed clientèle of City commuters and construction workers frequent this institution. They serve an all-day 'Make-your-own' fry-up for £6, where you can order what and as much as you like off a set-menu. Besides the traditional 'heart attack on the plate', they do pies, pastas, steaks and salads, as well as curiously good curries, owing to the fact that the eponymous Maggy being married to a Bangladesh chef. Good banter is delivered with free refills of tea and coffee. Make you sure you ask for the Specials and also try the infamous Irish Musturd.

Marie's Cafe

A favourite with locals, don't be put off by the shabby exterior of this greasy spoon/Thai cafe hybrid. The Thai menu is authentic and very tasty and service is quick. Very close to the Old Vic and around 10 minutes walk from the Southbank Centre.

Mon-Fri 7AM-10:30PM, Sat 7AM-4PM and 5-10:30PM, Serves Thai only from 6PM·Mains £4-8, 'bring your own' alcohol policy

Mary Ward Cafe

Temporarily closed as of May 2022. A selection of veggie and vegan dishes that changes daily. Cakes, pastries, and salad available as well. Busy, eat in or take away.

Mon-Thu 9:30AM-8:45PM, Fri 9:30AM-8PM, Sat 9:30AM-4PM·Under £5 for a heap of food

Monmouth Coffee

Some people say this is the best coffee in London. Primarily a venue for quality coffee roasters, the shop on Monmouth street has a tasting room, i.e. a café, where you can marvel at the fact that not everywhere in London sells poor chain-café coffee. A selection of goodies such as croissants, pastries, and brownies are also available. As you would expect of a roasters you can also purchase excellent coffee in bean form or ground, with various blends to suit your taste. Helpful and knowledgeable staff can help you make a selection.

Mon-Sat: 8am–5pm; Sun: Closed

Necco

Japanese cafe bar with home-made sushi and a range of bento-box combinations. Friendly staff.

Mon-Sat noon-9:30PM·Lunch around £6.50

Polo Bar

An unpretentious cafe serving fried breakfasts and similar basic food 24 hr a day, and a great place for a late snack after you leave the Eat & Drink. Liverpool St is a safe area anyway but you cannot get safer than this for a late night meal, as at night you'll often see police from the nearby City of London police station. There are no toilets, however, so you need to use those at nearby Liverpool St Station.

24H

Regent's Park

Large open space very popular with Londoners and less visited by tourists than the other great city parks. A number of lovely lakes, an open air theatre, regular puppet shows, various sporting activities and some splendid ancient trees. There is also a cafe and play area next to the boating pond.

Smiths of Smithfield

Grade II listed four-floor restaurant in Smithfield Market. Opening hours listed are for top-floor restaurant and terrace. Ground floor cafe and bar open longer hours: M-F 7AM-5PM; Sa Su 9:30AM-5PM.

Mon-Fri noon-3PM, 6-11PM; Sat 6-11PM·Main meal from £16

Southwark Park

A large, open and green park in an otherwise densely built part of London. Wide range of sporting facilities, a cafe, boating lake and an art gallery.

The Holy Tavern

A converted Georgian coffee shop, which sells the Norfolk beer, St. Peters. The building is from the 1700s, remodelled in 1810, and it was converted in the 1990s, making this both a new and an old pub. The interior is a little small so, while well worth a visit, after 5PM on weekdays it gets quickly flooded with City workers.

The Rake

Tiny pub that used to be a cafe, attached to Borough Market (it shares the gents' toilets) and owned by the market beer shop, Utobeer. Specialises in bottled beer, especially local and international craft beers.

Mon–Fri noon–11PM, Sat 11AM–11PM, Sun noon–10PM

Wandsworth Museum

A modest museum covering local history which relocated in 2010; has an excellent cafe.

Wandsworth Park

This 19-acre riverside park was opened by London County Council in 1903 on land which used to be allotments. The park is replete with a putting green, small cafe, cricket pitch and tennis courts. The park is home to 350 species of trees and the riverside promenade is lined with London Plane trees which provide shade and beautiful views across the river.

Waterstone's Piccadilly

5 floors of books of all kinds, plus a cafe in the basement and a restaurant on the top floor. The store has long hours and comfortable seating, so you can potentially spend hours in there.

Mon-Sat 9AM-10PM, Sun 12:30-6:30PM

Westminster Cathedral Cafe

The cafe in the basement of Westminster Cathedral is one of the cheapest places to have lunch in the area. Simple tasty hot lunches (Jacket Potatoes etc) cost under £5. Get in through the Cathedral main entrance.

Tue-Sat 10AM-4PM

Wright's Bar

Excellent value little cafe with friendly Italian family serving, tasty sandwiches and coffee. Gets crowded with LSE students come lunch.

Southside Wandsworth

The Arndale Centre

Has a 14-screen Cineworld multiplex cinema, an indoor gaming and go-karting arcade, two large supermarkets (Waitrose and Lidl), a soft play for young children on the first floor, an array of coffee shops (Caffè Nero, Starbucks, Black Sheep Coffee), name-brand shops including Primark, H&M, Poundland, Decathlon and River Island and lots of food outlets including McDonald's, Five Guys, Nando's, Ekachi and Wagamama.

Bar Italia

A cafe with a lot of character.

C&R Cafe Restaurant

Worth checking out for cheap Malaysian-Singaporean eats.

Tue–Sun noon–10PM, closed Mon

Cafe Metro Express

Moroccan cuisine