Cafe Carmen

You're walking along the Queen's Walk, probably having just crossed the Thames, and Cafe Carmen isn't going to announce itself with neon or a queue round the block—but that's rather the point. It's the kind of spot that works because it doesn't try too hard, serving proper coffee and simple food to the steady stream of people who've discovered it's a genuinely useful place to stop. The County Hall setting means you've got that distinctive riverside backdrop without the tourist markup, and whether you're after breakfast before heading into the South Bank or a quick lunch between galleries, it does the job properly.