City, Sandwiches, Cakes, Etc Restaurant Guide

“Amazing coffee” – “a wide selection from single estates that’s carefully selected and optimally roasted” – together with “well-paired pastries and cakes as complements” continue to make these “lively and fun”, artisanal brew stops “a good morning ‘perk me up’”, and some of the most popular destinations in town. Staff are “impressively calm and friendly” too; “worth queuing for”.

“Great coffee” (and also stone-rolled and limited-edition tea) wins praise for this well-known brew stop near Hatton Garden, which also offers pastries, sarnies and other light bites.

“Unmatched in London”, this remnant of the East End Jewish community is “always busy, and you can see why”. Every week it produces up to 20,000 beigels (note the traditional European spelling), available 24/7 stuffed with “good portions of salt beef”, lox, pickled herring and more. “A dire location, but I can’t help going back on a regular basis, as I’ve done for nearly four decades”.

“Calmer in tone than The Wolseley” (although still “tending to be noisy”): its “understatedly glamorous” sibling is even more in the “Austrian Grand Salon style” than the mothership. And being “well-located for the City and West End” (just off Aldwych), combined with “professional service” and “well-spaced tables”, all foster its massive popularity for a “textbook business lunch”, or the “archetypal City power breakfast”. True to the group’s culinary DNA, the food can seem “unimaginative”. Viewed more positively, “the undemanding but reassuring menu” is “solid” and “reliable” and the specials of schnitzel, tarte flambée and sausages add to a “pleasing and cosseting” effect that “transports you to Mittel Europe”. So, “even if it’s never going to provide a top gastronomic experience, a meal at The Delaunay always feels special”. Given the recent changes at The Wolseley Hospitality Group (as the business is now called), many reporters voice “trepidation” at the recent loss of the founders: “it’s an example of Corbin & King at their best… whither now that they’re no longer running the show?” That said, the ratings, here, actually improved on last year in our annual diners’ poll. Top Menu Tip – “wonderful gateaux to go with good coffee” either after a meal or during the day.

“Fabulous Swedish cakes and good coffee” are the siren call to this tiny Scandi kafé in Covent Garden, if you can nab a seat – but “it’s just so small you can’t always get in”. Top Tip – “the prinsesstårta is to die for”.

“Amazing coffee” – “a wide selection from single estates that’s carefully selected and optimally roasted” – together with “well-paired pastries and cakes as complements” continue to make these “lively and fun”, artisanal brew stops “a good morning ‘perk me up’”, and some of the most popular destinations in town. Staff are “impressively calm and friendly” too; “worth queuing for”.

“Fight to get a seat and enjoy the best pâtisserie in town” at this “Soho institution” – founded by a Parisian exile in 1871 and frequented by generations of artists, revolutionaries and bohos. It’s “eccentric to say the least”, and not incidentally “one of the few pâtisseries still cooking on the premises – there are so few of these places left!”. And while “still miles ahead of other French pâtisseries, they also offer a (very English) cream tea”. “They do their utmost to squeeze you in (as it is always busy). I guess the ambience is a matter of taste but luxurious it isn’t!”

The original (back in 2005) and, say fans, still “best flat white in London” – this Antipodean-style indie in Soho’s Berwick Street Market has launched imitators on every high street in Britain.

“A top choice for breakfast and coffee” – the Shoreditch and London Fields outlets of this 20-year veteran of the Antipodean speciality coffee scene have imported the chilled, high-quality approach of its branches back home in Auckland and New Plymouth. In E2, the galvanising aroma of roasting coffee wafts up from the beans being ground in the basement, adding to its superb hipster vibe.

“They go the extra mile” at this Antipodean-style outfit whose “excellent” brews, including “the perfect espresso”, ensure that is “always packed”. Its two “convenient” sites in Fitzrovia make “a great escape not far from the Oxford Street chain experience”, and they serve “decent food (especially by coffee shop standards)”.

“Good to see Richoux return” on its old Mayfair site, and the new incarnation is “an improvement on the old chain” (which fell into administration in 2021). Its patisserie and all-day menu are still “excellent for a light meal or afternoon tea”, but the cuisine generally (overseen by ex-Moor Hall chefs, Jamie Butler and Lewis Spencer) rises much above the workaday standards of its former format: “a simple French selection of dishes that’s excellently executed”, delivered by “friendly and charming service” and which provides very solid value too.

“They go the extra mile” at this Antipodean-style outfit whose “excellent” brews, including “the perfect espresso”, ensure that is “always packed”. Its two “convenient” sites in Fitzrovia make “a great escape not far from the Oxford Street chain experience”, and they serve “decent food (especially by coffee shop standards)”.

“The coffee is the best!”, according to fans of this “zen” Scandi-style café in Fitzrovia, from an ambitious ethical importer and roastery that has won a clutch of barista awards in the five years since it was founded (including Top Coffee House at the Harden’s London Restaurant Awards 2021). The shop offers “light snacks such as cinnamon rolls and cakes” – and “everything is good, not just the coffee”. Their original venture, in Richmond, moved into a new address in summer 2022, and they also have kiosks in Shoreditch, King’s Cross and Sloane Square.

“What a brilliant bakery!” – “the bread (especially the potato sourdough) is to die for”; “the pastries are also incredible” (“amazing sticky buns”), and “they serve a very decent filter coffee”. “The sandwiches are massive and always filled with interesting and delicious things”. Given that it’s a social enterprise, providing job training and mentorship to at-risk young people, “this small chain (branches in Dalston and Haringey) deserves all the praise it gets”.

The food at the quartet of London cafés supplied by Lady Bamford’s organic farm in the Cotswolds suffered a mauling from some reporters this year. The Daylesford brand does have some “huge fans”, who praise its venues as “very pleasant for a good-quality snack”. But critics – citing “long waits”, “clueless staff” and “poor-quality, ropey ingredients” – feel they “may be a place to be seen but are overpriced and uninteresting”.

“Great coffee and an always-buzzy vibe” make it worth remembering this attractive, all-day Marylebone deli/café, which serves a mix of patisserie, cakes, soups, salads and sarnies from breakfast onwards.

This “ever-popular” haunt serves “excellent coffee”, while “the food menu is perfectly acceptable”, and includes a “really precise and delicious shakshuka”. Any negatives? – “finding a spot can be a trial”.

“Be prepared to queue for the delicious and original brunches” at this Antipodean champion that has had devotees beating a path to Balham for 11 years (It’s “achingly hip, which I’m emphatically not, but the food is so good I love it anyway”).

This “rather sweet little café” in Chiswick from transplanted South African Angie Steele provides “very friendly and quick service for a light menu” of healthy-ish treats from breakfast to 5pm.

“Wonderful coffee and great pastries” are served at this rustic Chiswick spot, inspired by the cultural coffee shops where artists and politicos gather in Rio. All the baked goods – empanadas, croissants and pasteis de nata – are made daily on the premises, and they have begun to roast their own Brazilian coffee beans.