Esher, Sandwiches, Cakes, Etc Restaurant Guide

2024 Review: “Great coffee and extremely moreish light snacks” is the simple-but-winning formula at this ethical and sustainable Scandi-style roastery that started life in Richmond six years ago and now has outlets scattered across some of central London’s foodie enclaves.

It’s a long way from the West End and there are very few tourists in leafy Barnes – but you still have to book for afternoon tea at peak times, at this local institution that celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, and attracts tea and cake-lovers from across southwest London.

“Love this place” – “vinyl records and amazing cakes” ensure this cute coffee shop near Turnham Green “has a great atmosphere”: “there’s always some interesting music being played” while you sip “great coffee” or tuck into “breakfast served beautifully with edible flowers, what more could you want?”. In the evenings they serve booze and host live music – which must make it one of the capital’s smallest gigs.

This “very good local coffee shop” in the heart of Chiswick sources, imports and roasts its own coffee beans, which are available on subscription as well as across the counter. If you’re dropping in for a bite, there are “tasty (if smallish) sausage rolls and Ginger Pig bacon rolls”, and they “make their own pasteis de nata”.

2023 Review: 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.

Fans still cross the neighbouring postcodes to brunch at this Antipodean-inspired brunch favourite, in deepest Balham (which has been a trendy local hotspot for over 10 years now). Have your phone ready to look up all the never-before-seen Asian flourishes to the dishes. Top Menu Tip – fish sando.

From South African owners, this eight-strong chain of cafés based in London and the Home Counties wants to be a neighbourhood ‘third space’ where you ‘feel good’ (hence the name). By all accounts they’ve hit their target: fans say the venue, with its “fabulous environment”, is “very popular with locals, always full and fun” and “never fails to satisfy or put a smile on your face”. The reason? Its “very good brunch” – French toast, the Full English, or fancier fare – and it’s also a “lovely lunch spot” if you’ve an appetite for salads, burgers and sarnies with a side of South African cheer.

“5/5 for the pastels de nata, in our experience unsurpassed… even in Portugal!” – this veteran Portuguese patisserie in Notting Hill has no airs and graces, but has been trading in its “unbeatable pastries” since long before they became the world’s favourite take on the custard tart.

2022 Review: Following closure of L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon and the death of the man himself, this Picadilly café is now one of two London ventures opened in late 2019 by the group he founded. It’s all very chic and continental, but you don’t come here for culinary adventure – but to buy or snack on everyday staples (lots of tempting patisserie and viennoiserie, lasagna, club sandwich, Caesar salad…).

2023 Review: “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.

2022 Review: “Still turning out wonderful cinnamon buns and coffee” along with some “excellent Scandi sandwiches”, this Nordic fixture in Soho remains “well worth a visit”.

2024 Review: “Great coffee and extremely moreish light snacks” is the simple-but-winning formula at this ethical and sustainable Scandi-style roastery that started life in Richmond six years ago and now has outlets scattered across some of central London’s foodie enclaves.

2024 Review: This “small, often crowded” independent coffee shop by Soho’s Berwick Street market is a pilgrimage site for caffeine junkies, as the source of Antipodean ‘third wave’ coffee culture in Britain since its 2005 opening. And yes, “the coffee’s very good”.

“Really splendid open sandwiches” (smørrebrød) to eat in or take away are the most eye-catching items at this Nordic café in Fitzrovia from a Dane (Bronte) and a Swede (Jonas), who also import and distribute food and groceries from Scandinavia. After 18 years they opened a second café, ‘SK Vicky’ near Victoria station, in spring 2025. Top Tip – “the Shrove Tuesday Fat Buns look astonishing”.

“So good that they keep up the high standards they set themselves over the years” – Peter Dore-Smith’s Aussie duo of Fitzrovia brew stops started in 2009 on Great Tichfield Street. “They still do some of the best coffee in London, with proper flavours” plus very decent breakfast, lunch and baked treats, alongside coffee classes and one-to-one barista training. “It can be a bit of an awkward sit down but you can’t have everything!”

“So good that they keep up the high standards they set themselves over the years” – Peter Dore-Smith’s Aussie duo of Fitzrovia brew stops started in 2009 on Great Tichfield Street. “They still do some of the best coffee in London, with proper flavours” plus very decent breakfast, lunch and baked treats, alongside coffee classes and one-to-one barista training. “It can be a bit of an awkward sit down but you can’t have everything!”

“One of London’s treasures”, founded in 1871 and now “the only traditional patisserie baking on the premises in Central London” – this French operation is “with Bar Italia the last authentic Soho coffee stop since Chez Valérie was taken over by private equity and destroyed into a chain”. “I doubt if anything has changed here in the last 100 years – even the chips on the paintwork are unchanged from my visits as a child with my grandparents”: it’s the place to go when you want to get “high on genuine old Soho atmosphere”.

Fans flock to this coffee shop trio for “always delicious” brews and “friendly, well-organised service” – they’re “so busy, it’s amazing that they don’t make mistakes”. The cute Covent Garden branch, established in 1978, is “the original and the best” – “tiny and crowded, but there’s something lovely about sharing a booth with strangers whilst nibbling an excellent pastry and drinking the best coffee in town”. Its follow-up was an early marker of Borough Market’s emergence as a foodie hub, while the roastery has moved to newer premises in Bermondsey.

Down a cute Covent Garden alley, this tiny Scandi café with a handful of seats outside in summer is sweet in more ways than one: “the renowned Princess Tarta is criminally delicious and can be personalised to order… 100% authentic too!”

“One of the handsomest dining rooms in London… and they serve EXCELLENT kedgeree!” – The Wolseley Group’s theatreland outpost is “a recreation of Vienna in London” and its “classy” and “impressive” interior is “buzzing” from early breakfast onwards, especially with “a lot of successful meetings”, as its well-spaced, cossetting and comfortable interior is “ideal for those ‘serious’ discussions”, making it one of the most popular venues in town for a business meal. (Its location, off Aldwych, makes it an ideally placed rendezvous, convenient to Legal Land, the City and the West End). As with its more famous sibling near The Ritz, though, its appeal is wide-ranging, and it also serves shoppers, tourists and – in particular – “makes a great option when popping to a show”. “Despite Jeremy King’s departure, the Delaunay has retained its level of service” and “the food has changed little, if at all”: “authentic Mitteleuropean” dishes that “aren’t setting the world alight but are very reliable”: “a formula, yes, but a good one”. “Prices are not as high as you might expect either”. There is also “an adjacent ‘counter’ area, serving coffee and pastries”. Top Menu Tip – “one day I will order something other than the schnitzel… but it is soooo good!”; “always finish (or start!) with their superb Black Forest gateau or their apple strudel, all of which are made to authentic recipes in their kitchen”; “fantastic eggs royale”.