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!

Princi, Soho (London)

When I think Milan, I don't think Gucci, Prada, Armani. I think Princi. (Ok, I also think veal milanese and the best red wine I have ever tasted, but that's another posting).

It was a cool, overcast day in March 2008 when The Peanut Gallery and I, feet aching from endless hours spent trodding the well worn, cobblestoned streets of Milano's shopping district, stumbled upon a breathtaking bakery. In a trancelike state, we were forcibly drawn, mouths agape, into its bounty of loaves, cakes and delights both savoury and sweet. Like greedy piglets at the trough, we ate everything - pizza, bread, sausage rolls, pastry, cake. All at once and in no particular order, we devoured, pillaged, ransacked and consumed, leaving in our wake nothing but a scattering of crumbs at our feet and a trail of grease around our lips. This is my lasting and most pleasant memory of Milan.

So it was a certain amount of gluttonous anticipation that we watched the familiar Princi layout spring up in Soho last year. Could it be the same one? If it was, would we ever be able to look down and see our feet again?

And so it was that Rocco Princi, famed as the "Armani of bread", teamed up with Alan Yau, the man behind Wagamama, Busaba Eathai, Hakkasan, Yautcha and Cha Cha Moon, to bring the Milanese baker's delights to London last year.

Helen and Suzi joined me there late on Friday night, after our invigorating Italian feast at a nearby eatery. We simply followed the drool up Wardour Street, passed the noses pressed up to the glass and stepped into the buzzing throng that is London's Princi.

For the food lover, Princi looks like food porn. The counter runs along the left hand side of the restaurant with giant bread ovens and shiny loaves in the background. It is stocked up first with Italian pastries, then a glitzy array of cakes, biscuits and slices. Further along come the olive bread sticks, focaccias and pizzas, enticing one down to the amazing and colourful side salads, before the counter intersects with a hot food bar containing meaty meals and various pasta dishes.

But let me start by saying something controversial. As far as the sweet stuff goes, with some notable exceptions, the overall impact of looking at a smorsgasboard of 20 colourful treats oozing with cream, custard and chocolate is actually more magnificent than any one of them, individually, tastes. The croissants and chocolate pastries were the biggest let down for me - expecting the French style pastries I love, I don't bother with the heavier, breadier Italian style pastries here.

The exceptions include the delectable custard filled cannoncini and the chocolate chip biscuits. The Peanut Gallery is addicted to these and if he does not bound in the door on the way home to pick up an evening selection, he is at least blaming me for deterring him from doing so by espousing my ridiculous notion that we should, in the interests of good health, hold back at least one night per week. As we stare into space entranced by the after glow of dinner, it will be a rare night indeed if The Peanut Gallery does not break the silence with a hopeful "Princi?"

On Friday night, the divas and I chose the happy triangle of passionfruit cheesecake, chocolate fudge & biscuit slice (I'm sure it has a more technical Italian name) and a bold newcomer, the lemon custard and sponge slice topped with soft, gooey meringue. The cheesecake is tangy and creamy and the chocolate fudge thing hugely rich. Both are good, but they are not as amazing as you think they will be when faced with a counter-full which could only be conceived by an Italian Willy Wonka on acid. The meringue number was the best.

The pizzas and salads are delicious, although we didn't sample them on Friday. And all are reasonably priced.

Service is chaotic and often disorganised. Serious teamwork and strategic coordination of military precision is required to obtain everyone's food items at the same time. Finding a seat among the communal benches is tough. And what's with the water feature running constantly down the back wall?

However, despite the catches, I still love it. Princi has a late night buzz and enough good stuff to keep us coming back, and to be attracting the crowds in their droves. It's open for breakfast, lunch and dinner until midnight (although I believe the doors are open all night in Milan...).

Princi, 135 Wardour Street, London W1F 0UT.