The Troubadour
Old Brompton Road
020 7370 1434

Earl's Court

Famous café over the Troubador Club, where apparently Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix and Joni Mitchel have played. Comfortably shabby, with worn wooden floors, marble topped tables, wooden stools and wall mounted benches. We squeezed into a space at the window and ordered a couple of 'Lady Mucks' - a toasted muffin with two poached eggs and smoked salmon, coffee and English breakfast tea. My cappuccino was very tasty with a firm head of froth, and the eggs delicious. According to the menu, no GM foods are used. The place is renowned for poetry and music, and this theme is carried through to the decor which includes mandolins, lutes and other musical instruments, as well as vinyl discs and record covers - the one behind me was of folk singer Chris Barber, pictured sitting outside the Troubador. Website

Soulless and ubiquitous chain, but which made the smart move of opening one of their earliest outlets on the King's Road, thus ensuring an aspirational cachet. This branch has a bright paint job both outside and in and benefits from large picture windows - which draws shoppers on the busy King's Road. However, the other branches seem gloomy by comparison. Coffee is inferior to what's available from the other chains. The iced frappuccino coffees are oddly flavoured, while cakes and cheesecakes are rather dry and the sandwiches not the freshest. Website

Lunch overlooking the recently re-designed Trafalgar Square sounded like the perfect relief from driving wind and rain on a Saturday afternoon, but Crivelli's Garden failed to impress. The entrance is wide and deserted apart from a couple of tall tables with menus, provides no clue for visitors whether to wait or take a table. Eventually one of the waiters said that we could find our own seats for the café area, or go through to the restaurant proper which is screened off from the cafe by a row of plants. All the window tables were taken, so we sat next to the waiters' station and studied the menu, which included snacks, sandwiches, pasta and salad dishes, pastries and coffee. The salads and pasta also feature on the restaurant menu. The waitress eventually appeared after a lengthy wait, but didn't know if the soup of the day was homemade or not, so I played safe and ordered grilled chicken, mozarella and rocket salad with sun-dried tomato and bruschetta (£8), while my companion opted for smoked salmon salad (£9.50). We waited at least half an hour before our food arrived, and several parties near us who'd been waiting for service got up and left. My plate was hot, the salad was blandly dressed, and I would also have liked more of the thin slivers of sun-dried tomato, but the chicken breast had been freshly grilled and was quite tasty. The salad that arrived with the smoked salmon was a huge pile of rocket, endive, radicchio leaves dressed only in a tasteless olive oil, and a few green olives. As we finished we noticed that the diner next to us, who was clearly in the know, asked the waitress to bring some balsamic vinegar and oil to do the job herself. A large bottle of mineral water at £4 completed our lunch. Although one curved wall is lined with glass, the room seems dingy, and the red carpet around us was covered in crumbs and what looked like dog hairs. Apart from the filthy carpet, decor is modern and understated with dark wood tables placed quite close together and dark wood chairs with chrome legs. There aren't many venues offering views of Nelson's column, but in Crivelli's Garden the food is mediocre and the service is verging on the comatose and could do with a huge improvement, so the experience underwhelms, unlike the artworks on display in the galleries.

Part of the recent refurbishment of the Peter Jones department store in Sloane Sqare, the new top floor café offers views on one side of the sales floors through the large central atrium, while on the other diners can gaze over Kensington's rooftops and museums from picture windows. Tables next to the windows are at a premium, but even on a busy Saturday lunchtime during the New Year sales, we could have wangled one had we felt inclined. The fully licensed self service café offers cold platters and hot meals, as well as sandwiches and beverages from bottles of wine to freshly brewed cappuccino. According to the John Lewis website the chefs will also cook dishes to order. We were looking for healthy options and chose crayfish and avocado open sandwich (£5.50) and Cesar salad (£5.50), together with sparkling Llanllyr bottled water (£1.65). Neither dish was well seasoned and only the addition of salt relieved their blandness. The salad dressing had been applied too early and wilted the leaves to the extent that the bottom of the dish was awash with water. My sandwich dressing was mostly avocado and not much crayfish, and could have done with something to spice it up a bit such as paprika or chilli. The dining room, arranged round the atrium, is bright and airy, while the slinky elevators, white pillars and large shiny floor tiles, frosted glass tables, and smart aluminium and brown leather chairs imbue a modern, clean atmosphere, while broad canvasses depicting flowers in vases and fruit add a bright splash of colour. The food is a let down, and expensive for what it is, but the views and ambience raise it above some of the street level cafés nearby.

We just had time to drop by this Soho stalwart, which opens only for breakfast and lunch, for a pre-Christmas cup of tea and a mince pie, though way in the past I've dined here on a more regular basis. Currently the menu features breakfasts of eggs benedict, kedgeree, and various fry ups, and lunches of pasta, salads, grills, baguettes and a range of hot dishes. The walls of the ground floor dining room are covered by an astounding display of ancient boards advertising long gone goods, from Spratts dog pills to petrol and cigarettes. Our mugs of tea were strong and oddly flavoured, and the mince pies were evidently from a store bought packet, but we ignored the short comings of the fare and soaked up the Star's atmosphere. Downstairs is the rather grotty looking kitchen, a damp low vaulted room that provides seating for additional diners, and a very smelly toilet. Could clean up its act a bit. Website

Founded in 1921 by Monsieur Sagne from Verlay, Switzerland, this famous patisserie with its Palladian style murals joined the Valerie group in May 1993. I've snacked here before occasionally, but not lunched. The display in the front window seems to cater more for the sweet toothed as there was a cornucopia of fancy chocolate cakes but I could see no savouries. Inside, an ornamental garden mural complete with balustrades completely covers the walls of both dining rooms, while in the front room an elaborate chandelier takes pride of place in the centre of the ceiling. The counter was busy with patrons queuing for pastries to take away and most of the tables were occupied, but we found a spare space in the front room to squeeze into. I tried the butterfly grilled prawns (£8.25) which arrived with half an avocado and a salad of leaves and cherry tomatoes, but the leaves were dressed but also quite sodden and there were only five small rather mushy prawns. The fries that I'd ordered (£2.50) were crisp but had a strange oily flavour tinged with fish. Ketchup smothered the odd taste, and a glass of chilled French chardonnay (£3.25) also helped. My dining companion fared better with chicken and bacon salad (£7.50), accompanied by another half an avocado, and he said it was very tasty. Mineral water (£2.00 for a medium size bottle) completed our lunch. The pastries make this place worth a visit, service was efficient and the surroundings quite unique, but the food is hit or miss. Website

Previously an ice-cream parlour and more recently a coffee chain outlet, the West Cornwall Pasty Co is almost directly across the King's Road from Marks & Spencer. The pavement café-style pie shop offers a small range of traditional and gourmet Cornish pasties - a circle of short crust pastry wrapped round a filling of meat or veg, which usually includes potato, onion and swede, to form a half moon shape with a crimped edge. In olden days, miners in Cornwall's tin mines ate the filling and some pastry and threw away the crimped crust , which they had held in their contaminated hands. The pasties here are made in Cornwall and cooked on the premises, which also features a basement bar. In the warm mid-October sunshine, we sampled a steak and Guinness pie as well as the bacon and cheese (about £2.70 each). I also had a half pint of Tribute ale from the small range of Cornish beers on offer. I assumed the £2.60 on the menu was for a bottle, but was pleasantly surprised both by the fact that this was the price per pint, and the quality of the beer which was cool, malty and hoppy. The pies were warm but not too hot to hold, with light but chewy golden pastry, while the filling included small, firm slices of potato and tender chunks of meat with a gravy full of flavour. Just enough for a quick bite for not too much outlay, and in my opinion a winner. Bacon rolls and a few other food items, soft drinks and coffee are also available, and there are other branches in Covent Garden and The Strand.

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