Top 10 Snack Attacks, London

Despite my focus on restaurants, I love a good, dirty pig out on the run. Here are my top 10 snack attacks, scattered around London, for when you're eating on the hoof...

1. The Breadman: Gorgeous Berwick Street market stall run by two affable chaps, Chris and Tom, from Mondays-Fridays. Best Portuguese tarts in London. Don't even think about stopping at one. Beigels hot out of the oven from Brick Lane - get them plain, with hot salt beef and mustard, chorizo and other delicious fillings. The doughnuts bursting with raspberry jam or custard are also delicious. Great prices. Berwick Street market, Soho

2. I Camisa & Son: My favourite shop in London. Step in the doors of this tiny Italian grocer and see, hear, smell and taste Italy. Stock up on fresh pastas, home made pestos and sauces, cheeses, truffles (the white Alba truffle is in stock now), hams, salami, jars of tuna, sweet peppers, olives, anchovies, wine, panattonis hanging from the ceiling and fabulous olive oils and balsamic vinegars. The staff are real Italian nonnas, the prices are great and everything's all the better if you can barter in Italian. Prego. Take away rolls and focaccias can be made up with all their fresh ingredients, starting from about £1. Yes, £1.  61 Old Compton Street, Soho W1D

3. Brick Lane Beigel: Needs no introduction. Join the queues to wolf down a giant, salt beef, pickle and mustard beigel made by the masters. 159 Brick Lane, E1 6SB

4. Nordic Bakery: The cinnamon bun is a knock out. They also do a rich hot chocolate to help wash it down. 14a Golden Square, London, W1F 9JG

5. St John: Order a box of fresh madeleines, lull over a wine while you wait, then take them home freshly baked, and don't let anyone else in the house. Scoff them all. Heavenly. 26 St John Street, Smithfield, EC1M 4AY.

6. Princi: This is not the first time I have sung the praises of the marvellous cannoncini and chocolate chip biscuits - see here. 135 Wardour Street, Soho, W1F 0UT

7. Leila's: Warm up over winter with a rich coffee, and a hearty slab of ginger cake or The Peanut Gallery's beloved Portuguese rice flour brioche thingie. 17 Calvert Avenue, Shoreditch, E2 7JP  

8. The M&S Scone: Cakey, sweet, crumbly mounds of joy.

9. Flat White & Milk Bar: Love the haloumi and bacon bagel with brown sauce. Everything tastes better with haloumi. Amazing coffee too. Flat White: 17 Berwick Street, Soho, W1D; Milk Bar: 3 Bateman Street, Soho, W1D

10. Scoop: Divine Italian gelato, made with ingredients sourced from Italy and the UK. I love a sizeable scoop of the Nocciolo made with hazlenuts from Piedmont, their spiritual home. The coffee, dark chocolate and caramel varieties are also sensational. Even worth a bit of frost bite in winter. 40 Shorts Gardens, Covent Garden, WC2H 9AB 


Finally, Borough Market: Ok, so this makes 11. But would I really miss out this glorious mecca of cheeses, meats, veg, bread, olive oils etc, with Neal's Yard Dairy just up the road? Loiter around the cheese stalls and steal as many samples as you can before they start recognising you, load up on a monstrously big roast pork roll with stuffing and apple sauce, scoff samples of chocolate brownies and banana cake, try creamy balsamic vinegars, wrap up a fabulous, giant almond croissant and with your spare hand, or borrow somebody else's, indulge in a lovely Monmouth coffee. Mmmm...  Borough Market, 8 Southwark Street, London, SE1 1TL.

Feed me: Let me know what I have missed!

Milk Bar (and other caffeine hits), London

Milk Bar. The very name calls to mind the halcyon days of big milk shakes, teeth lollies, freckles by the bags full and Return of the Jedi icy-poles. Buffalo Bill anyone?


For the Greedy Diva's money, her local Milk Bar in Soho is making the best coffee of the moment. The younger sister of another Soho old faithful, Flat White, Milk Bar is Dannii to Flat White's Kylie - not quite as famous, but it's having a good time anyway. As the name suggests, Milk Bar is another Antipodean coffee shop and it knows how to roast a bean.


Tucked away near near Soho Square, Milk Bar is a slightly more chilled option than Flat White and is usually a safer bet for a seat and larger groups than Greedy Diva's beloved Fernandez & Wells.


For breakfast options, Milk Bar knocks up a solid serving of avocado & tomato on toast with coriander and lime (Greedy's staple), Turkish bread with Vegemite for a Sunday morning Vitamin B boost, or wrap your lips around one of the scrumptious haloumi and bacon bagels (mmm...).


It also has lovely big fluffy pastries (love the almond croissant) and a range of tasty salads for lunching. All accompanied by the perfect flat white.


In the land of defiant tea swillers, few coffee shops in London have baristas in the same league - Flat White (Soho), Fernandez & Wells (Soho), the lovely Lantana (Fitzrovia, recent winner of Best New Cafe, Time Out Eating & Drinking Awards 2009), Monmouth (Covent Garden & Burough Market), Providores (Marylebone) & Leila's (Calvert Ave, Shoreditch - also love the eggs with sage in a pan, followed up nicely with a slab of ginger cake). In March of the Penguins style, Greedy Diva and her Antipodean-style coffee lovers tend to migrate around between these options as the best coffee of the moment randomly flits between them. 


The Greedy Diva, who always has her ear to the ground for word of a good flattie, has heard rumblings that Taylor Street Baristas (Bishopsgate) and Dose (Long Lane, City) are also up there with the big hitters - sadly, Greedy Diva has yet to try.


For reliable back up options, LJ's Coffee (Winnett St, Soho - coffee is pretty good but more of a gamble; the hot chocolate is great and comes with shaved rich chocolate on top) and Kaffeine (Fitzrovia) are also not bad at all for emergency hits. 


And no mega grande vanilla options in sight...

Milk Bar, 3 Bateman St, Soho, W1D 4AG