Kensington Specialty

More community hub than just a café, this new addition to Kensington’s coffee scene offers monthly live music sessions and rotating art installations. The food is exactly what we want when we’re in a hurry—Parma ham and white bean hummus on the best sourdough, a couple of fried eggs, and granola with thick-as-ice-cream Greek yogurt. The coffee is always perfectly made, but we tend to go for the iced matcha, which has a hint of lemon. At night, Over Under turns into a bar that serves a very good Negroni.

Basically, Squirrel is everything you'd want in a salad bar and so much more. In fact, it's a health emporium where grain bowls, kale salad, gluten-free avocado toast, cold-pressed juices, nut milks, and kombucha are all available under the same roof. Have any of the above delivered or eat out of an acorn-shaped bowl at the "treehouse," the wood-lined mezzanine overlooking the custom-made fallen-oak counter downstairs. With a concept this well executed, it's only a matter of time before more Squirrel "treehouses" pop up around town.

Locals come here for chicken shawarma with garlic paste and cabbage and a bit of lemon squeezed over the chili sauce. They wrap it in a special way so it’s basically like an ice cream—you unwrap the paper slowly and work your way down to the bottom. Word to the wise: It can get a bit messy when you get to the bottom (make sure to have plenty of napkins on hand).

Aux Merveilleux de Fred specializes in delicious concoctions of delightfully light, soft cream and crystallized meringue. These cakes come in six different flavors—all amazing—but the Merveilleux and the Incroyable are probably our favorites. The brioche is also noteworthy.

Partridges stocks food from around the globe you can't find anywhere else in London, including a large American section. The original is on Sloane Square.

The cold-pressed juices and smoothies sold at this beautiful South Ken shop are part of the ever-expanding juice and nut milk movement in London. We love their filling smoothies (the lightly sweetened mint chocolate chip is a favorite), which will tide you over for an entire morning. They've also teamed up with delivery service, Deliveroo, which is helpful if you opt into one of their cleanses.