Literary London

All it takes is a walk through Hatchards on Piccadilly or Books for Cooks in Notting Hill to make me wish I've brought extra empty luggage. Next time, definitely.

I think, for example, to buy "Pies and Prejudice: In Search of the North" by Stuart Maconie, or "Breakfast at The Wolseley" by A.A. Gill, or "Great British Grub" by Brian Turner or "Full English: A Journey Through the British and Their Food" by Tom Parker-Bowles, son of Camilla...

But I practice restraint and limit myself to one title - Nigel Slater's "Eating for England: The Delights and Eccentricities of the British at Table," in paperback.

Upstairs we eat

Downstairs in The Horniman at Hays, a stone's throw from the HMS Belfast and London Bridge, people laugh and drink after work and into the evening.

Upstairs, away from the bustle, we eat. We have pie and mash and veggies. We have fish and chips and mushy peas. Others come for the beer. We, apparently, come for the food.

Fortnum for sure

Nor can we resist the pretty sweets at Fortnum & Mason on Piccadilly.