DOWN THE HATCH

Cruise by these windows for brilliant sips and snacks,

Stomach rumbling while you’re wrapped up warm and on the move? Stop by one of the city’s holes in the wall, a window into almost anything you fancy.

Perhaps the most iconic hatch in London is Russell Square’s Cabman’s Shelter. Informally known as Kate’s Cab Hut, non-cabbies are only allowed to order from the window, which serves brilliantly satisfying egg, bacon and sausage sarnies, fuss-free teas and coffees, and sometimes hot roast beef baguettes with lashings of horseradish. Elsewhere, at Bao Borough,

hungry souls can cruise by the front of the restaurant for takeaway beers and fluffy signature buns, and down the side of Chip Shop Brixton, there’s everything from Korean chicken wings to slap-up battered cod, chips and mushy peas on offer.

If you’re set on immersing yourself in the hoardes of people at Columbia Road Flower Market on a Sunday, you’d be a fool not to sling back a dozen British rock oysters and a Bloody Mary via Oyster Boy,

hidden among corrugated steel panels on Ezra Street. Meanwhile, for those in the mood for something sweet, Everyday Sunshine in Stoke Newington serves wholly satisfying cinnamon buns from its vibrant yellow door, and at Doughnut Time Notting Hill and Soho, the gargantuan Original Sprinkle vegan doughnuts are never not delicious.

And don’t forget to keep an eye on The Hatch at 100 Shoreditch, which will be announcing a new pop-up food concept soon, as well as the reopening of The Pie Hole at the Holborn Dining Room, and the return of Pleasant Lady on Greek Street, which will hopefully be back to serving Jian Bing Chinese crepes asap.