And these are the cafés that I use all the time, having eaten everywhere in the area, and judging these to be the best for quality, value for money, and the welcome you receive from the people that own them and work there.

Two of them are located on London Street – the street you come onto when leaving Paddington Station from the main exit. Straight away on the right-hand side you’ll find Lite Bite which might be an ideal spot to decamp for a while if you’ve arrived in London ahead of the check-in time at your hotel. Maybe dump your baggage where you are staying and have a coffee at this cozy little cafe just off Norfolk Square – a perfect spot to watch the world go by.

Further down London Street you will find Mimo’s, another friendly café offering moderately priced meals from breakfast-time to lunch and dinner, with a main focus on Italian dishes. It’s also only two doors away from The Sussex Arms, which allows you to take your Mimo’s takeaway into the pub to eat, if you order drinks there.

If you want to enjoy the best breakfast in the area, try out the Craven Cafe on Craven Terrace. There you will see your English breakfast or pancakes being prepared in the open kitchen in this little gem of a place by the only two staff that the place can accommodate. It’s a little pricier than the other local cafés, but that’s because they take a great deal of care to get everything right – the bacon is good quality, the fried eggs are spot on, and the butter packets for the toast isn’t granite hard for spreading. This café is where you’ll find local people of a morning tucking-in at their leisure while perusing the day’s newspapers.

Just around the corner on Craven Hill is La Costa Café (not the be confused with the big coffee chain – this is a small privately owned business), which serves affordable freshly prepared Italian fare to eat-in or take away, including rolls, pizza, really really good pastas (I am one of their best customers) and other meals of the day.

Fancy a picnic in style?

Straight across the street from La costa is Laurents, a French-owned delicatessen offering a fabulous selection of continental foods ideal for taking away for a posh picnic in nearby Hyde Park, or even back in your hotel room. It’s by no means cheap, but everything on sale here is top quality, including its breads, seafood, salads, cheeses, and savoury and sweet baked goods, as well as its enticing selection of cakes on display in the window. I’m a sucker for the lumpfish caviar, unfortunately not recommended for the budget traveller.

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