Marks & Spencer

You're dodging shoppers with their wheeled baskets in the city centre, but there's something reassuring about ducking into M&S Food on Cornwall Street. The bakery section here isn't trying to be artisanal or revolutionary – it's just doing the classics properly, which is exactly what you want when you're grabbing lunch between errands or need a decent coffee and pastry before tackling the Barbican crowds. The sandwiches are reliably good, the croissants actually flaky, and you can count on finding something decent whether it's 9am or closing time. It's the sort of place that locals use as their fallback when everywhere else is rammed or you need something quick before catching the bus home. No fuss, just solid food that does the job.