London has changed so much since i started going there in 1969 - the many unpretentious cafes ("caffes" have seemed to disappear from central London, in favor of Starbucks, Pret-a-manger, etc., place with which i have no argu. But the greasy spoon dives i so enjoy now seem mainly found outside central lonon (now defined as the area of the congestion charge i presume). But recently whilst exploring around Waterloo Station i discovered that Lower Marsh Road still has several of these places, redolent of Roys' Rolls in Coronation Street. Eggs or beans on toast, sausages, bangers and mash and all the greasy stuff of downscale British cuisine - all still at a cheap price. This street also has local color in its street market, some be-Turbaned shops. A surprising find here was ITA books - with a wealth of publications on trains, trams, old London trolleybuses, buses, etc. - it transport collection exceeds Stanfords or the Transport for London Museum bookstore. Anyway, are there other street scenes like Lower Marsh Road tucked away elsewhere in central London?

i feel dirty now...i caved in and had a starbucks last time in london.

Bob, there will be loads, that only people in the immediate locality will know - and might choose not to tell the rest of the world about!

But ones I know of might be Leather Lane, Chapel Market, Roman Road....

Lamb's Conduit St, off Theobald's Road, doesn't have any kind of chain anything. It's awash with interesting, quirky, untrendy shops. I don't think it has a caff, but the chip shop on Theobald's Road (which uses dripping) makes up for that. Lamb's Conduit St continues on the south side of Theobald's Rd. It's also got useful quirky, though sadly slightly trendy, shops - like a mosaic supplies store that doesn't open at weekends.

Strutton Gardens, south of Victoris Street, has loads of unhealthy, and suitably English (well, Chinese and Indian etc) eateries.

In fact, almost every mainline station has a street nearby with a useful strip of caffs, and there's always at least one doing fried slice and bubble. Offhand, though, I think the area round Charing Cross station has now succombed totally to New Age junk food

Digracefully, this fine British institution has been gastronomically cleansed in the rather tighter core, between the river and Oxford St, and between Horrids and Covent Garden.

But, although there aren't any Lower Marsh Roads, there's almost always one caff in the side street behind most side streets, even in Mayfair and St James's.

thanks for the Strutton gardens reference - i'm often in the Victoria area.