American diner£shoreditch-spitalfieldsDaily 00:00-24:00
Brick Lane's 24-hour bagel counter in east London, trading since 1974, runs salt beef bagels for £6 and cream cheese bagels for £2.50, the city's defining.
Try: Salt beef bagel
Tip: Order at the counter, pay at the till. Salt beef is the canonical order; cream cheese-and-tomato is the budget version at £3.50.
Brunch£westminsterMon 07:00-15:30, Tue 07:00-15:30, Wed 07:00-15:30, Thu 07:00-15:30, Fri 07:00-15:30, Sat 07:00-15:30
The 1946 white-tiled greasy spoon on Regency Street in Westminster London, runs the canonical full English breakfast for £8.50, a working-class set-piece.
Try: Full English breakfast
Tip: Cash and contactless. Closed Sundays and from 14:30 weekdays. The mug of tea is £1.50; classic mug-of-tea-and-fry-up is the £10 menu.
Italian£boroughMon 12:00-22:00, Tue 12:00-22:00, Wed 12:00-22:00, Thu 12:00-22:00, Fri 12:00-22:00, Sat 12:00-22:00, Sun 12:00-21:00
Padella's hand-rolled pasta counter at Borough Market in London, opened 2016, runs the city's best-value fresh pasta at £8 a bowl, the cheap-counter.
Try: Fresh pasta
Tip: Use the Padella app at 12:00 sharp for first lunch slots. Mid-week dinner queues clear by 19:30 most weeks.
British gastropub£brixton-tootingMon 11:30-17:00, Tue 11:30-22:00, Wed 11:30-22:00, Thu 11:30-22:00, Fri 11:30-22:00, Sat 11:30-22:00, Sun 11:30-21:30
Ning Ma's Beijing street-food cafe inside Brixton Village in south London, opened 2011, runs hand-rolled dumplings, hand-pulled noodles and the family.
Try: Hand-rolled Beijing dumplings
Tip: Walk-up only. Five dumplings around a fiver; the chilli oil noodles cost £8. Weekday lunch walks in without queueing.
Egyptian£covent-gardenMon 11:30-21:30, Tue 11:30-21:30, Wed 11:30-21:30, Thu 11:30-21:30, Fri 11:30-21:30, Sat 11:30-21:30, Sun 12:00-20:00
Koshari Street's Egyptian street-food counter on St Martin's Lane in Covent Garden London, opened 2014, runs the canonical Cairo bus-station dish at £8 a box.
Try: Egyptian koshari (rice, lentils, pasta, spiced tomato sauce)
Tip: Single-size £8 box comes with all the toppings (caramelised onion, chickpea, tomato-chili). Closed Sundays.
Indian£whitechapelDaily 12:00-23:30
Tayyabs Punjabi grill on Fieldgate Street in Whitechapel London, opened 1972, runs charcoal-grilled lamb chops at £12 and karahi gosht at £15.
Try: Pakistani charcoal grill (lamb chops, karahi)
Tip: BYOB; bring beer or wine from the off-licence on Whitechapel Road, no corkage. Closed Mondays. Queue runs 30-60 minutes on weekend evenings.