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.
Italian£shoreditch-spitalfieldsMon 07:00-16:00, Tue 07:00-16:00, Wed 07:00-16:00, Thu 07:00-16:00, Fri 07:00-16:00, Sat 07:00-16:00
E Pellicci's 1900 Italian-British family cafe on Bethnal Green Road in east London, Grade-II listed for the 1946 marquetry interior, runs full English.
Try: Full English breakfast
Tip: Closed Sundays. Cash and card. The famed lasagna is £8; the bacon-and-egg roll is £6. Saturday queue runs 30 minutes.
Burgers£brixton-tootingMon 12:00-16:00, Tue 12:00-22:30, Wed 12:00-22:30, Thu 12:00-22:30, Fri 11:30-22:30, Sat 11:30-22:30, Sun 11:30-22:00
Honest Burgers' first counter inside Brixton Village London, opened 2011, runs dry-aged Ginger Pig beef burgers at £12 with their famous rosemary-salt chips.
Try: British burger
Tip: Walk-up only at the Brixton original. Online queue system shows wait times. The Plant burger is the £12 vegan option.
Taiwanese£sohoMon 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
Bao Soho counter on Lexington Street in central London, opened 2015, runs the classic Taiwanese bao at £6 each, the city's best-value Asian counter eats.
Try: Taiwanese steamed bao
Tip: Three bao plus a side runs £20-25; budget visit is two bao for £12. Walk-up only with the chalkboard waiting list outside.