Pieminister are according to themselves and their “manifesto” firm believers in locally sourced natural ingredients. Making “great British food that tastes lovely” is what they are passionate about.

What started out in 2003 as a small two man band making pies for friends and festivals today delivers delicious pies to some of the best cafes, food halls and delis in the country. The shop in Gabriel’s Wharf sell the pies with a choice of vegetables, mash and gravy.

Read some of these pie names and tell me you don’t want to drop everything you are doing and go down to the Wharf straight away: minty lamb, chicken of arragon, thai chook, heidi pie, matador (chorizo and beef…), moo and blue (with stilton!)… Lovely.

In the summer Gabriel’s Wharf is a lovely place to go to have a browse through the designer shops, buy a treat and sit down among the outside tables and enjoy the sun and atmosphere. Great way to spend a relaxing lunch.

Don’t let that deter you though, when it comes to acquiring your lunch this place is a real gem.

Not sure what the other half of the name alludes to, it being very German I can only assume that the origins of this place is firmly based in leberkäse, sauerkraut and wienerschnizel, but I think those days are gone. Zeitgeist has evolved, they no longer have a German slant on their food anyway (neither is this place mentioned on the Zeitgeist web site). Shame, I love sauerkraut.

What you will find though is two to three hot dishes (menu changes daily), a salad counter, pickled gherkins, nice bread and usually some sort of pudding (like a cake or similar treat). The warm dishes seem to usually be some sort of curry or stew with rice, roast potatoes and sausages… …and the piece de resistance, always on offer: a big slab of slow roast pork with amazing crackling!

Get the pork with potatoes, or if you like me follow a food philosophy low in carbs, with the tomato salad and a gherkin. Lots of food for a mere fiver, and it will keep you full well into the after work drinks session.

While possibly a tad OTT on creative freedom, the moniker is not far off. This is heaven on Earth for the cake, pastry and coffee aficionado. Not only is coffee and edible accessories delivered to perfection, the framing of their excellent work is always pleasing to the eye and sometimes even giggle inducing. For example, I couldn’t help laughing when I saw their Ninja Slice cake. “A mind blowing experience”, as one (presumably!) happy customer put it.

Conveniently located just a coffee mug throw away from the excellent lunch pub The Kings Arms, this is a must visit after your meal. Get one of their marvellous double espressos and walk around the corner to the park behind the church opposite the IMAX and enjoy a few peaceful moments of pondering the better qualities of life. Such as sitting in a park in Waterloo with an excellent cup of coffee, pondering the better qualities of life.

Failing that, you could always think about the quote on the church wall:

All may have, if they dare try, a glorious life or grave.

That line is from a poem by George Herbert, one of this country’s greatest religious poets. Look it up, it is called “The Church Porch”. Print it, bring it to the park. Well worth a read and a ponder.

Only drawback of Konditor & Cook is that it draws more people in than cameras at a G20 rally. Persevere though, you deserve that relaxing moment in the park.

Food served has a vegetarian slant to it, and you can choose from a range of salads, soups, quiches, tortillas, sandwiches, fresh bread, coffee and tea. Redommendation is to go for a combination plate, of which they have a few suggestions or you can combine your own. I tell you, a plate with their salad of the day and a piece of still warm potato tortilla fills you up and makes you feel really good about yourself.

Haven’t looked for it myself, but rumour has it that their selection of herbal remedies and teas is excellent.

With very decent prices (in my opinion) it is a very popular place, so come early or slightly late-ish unless you want to wait by the counter for a while.

Once you make the decision to step inside, passing through the small front room with the takeaway hole in the wall, the impression isn’t changing much. Minty green walls and plastic tables? Well, it has character (photo of visiting celebrities on the wall, check) and it looks neat, clean and tidy… Did we come to the right place? Yes, you did. Which you will be totally convinced of as your food is served and you take the first bite. Undoubtedly they dish out some of the best fish and chips you can find in London.

Servings are big, batter is golden and crispy, fish is flaky fresh (delivered from Billingsgate every day) and chips are crunchy on the outside with a velvety, soft goodness inside. Served with pickled gherkin and onion, this is indeed a feast for kings. Oh, and they always start you off with a small plate with three prawns on it, delicious peeled on a buttered piece of bread.

They serve other food as well, like pies, burgers, salads and soups, but it is all about the fish. Order the Superbite or the Masters Special. And do try the calamari, they are divine.

Food served is salads, full English breakfast all day, pastas and various types of sandwiches (you can compose your own from their tasty fillings on offer or pick a ready made one from the counter) on decent bread. They also serve various types of snacks, cake and other nibblies as you would expect from a cafe style diner.

Typically we don’t eat here a lot, since it is too close to our office and sandwiches are as you might guess a bit frowned upon, but here is a recommendation: order the warm piri piri chicken on a toasted poppy seed bagel with lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes. No butter, no mayo, no cheese. Just top it off with some salt and pepper. Best bagel around Waterloo, honest.

Word of warning though, don’t get your coffee here. Just up the road you find Smålands Coffee where you can get really good coffee while bantering with the Swedish girls working there. Nothing much wrong with the Caffe Quattro coffee, but the coffee at Smålands just is that much better.

Smålands Coffee is run by Eva, an energetic woman who makes up for her short stature with a great personality and an even greater smile. As the name implies (Småland is a region in Sweden) you can find Swedish treats, sandwiches and references here served by Swedish speaking Swedish girls who will fill you up with amazingly tasty caffeine while providing excellent banter.

You read right, this is a sandwich shop. So why are they on here, the critical reader may ask. Well, as I see it, this site is not really about having a cooked meal every lunch. Most important is to get away from the office and the computer and have a relaxing lunch hour. Talking to the girls at Smålands Coffee while getting a fantastic coffee and a sandwich with Swedish meatballs and beetroot salad (the Viking, a must try) will certainly put a smile on your face and spring in your step.

So get tooled up and then either have a seat at the chairs outside the shop, or if you prefer a view different from the traffic on York Road cross the street and go into the Jubilee Gardens and dine in style under the cyclopic stare of the London Eye.

Wasabi makes individually wrapped pieces of sushi, for you to combine in a box according to your tastes and take away with you. They also serve warm food, but to be honest I have never tried any of it. Smells like lots of MSG, so I am sure it is really tasty.

Since the sushi is of the mass produced kind and wrapped individually in cling film the sushi aficionados probably find this place appalling but I say there are few lunches as nice as the ones spent in a park with some finger food spiced up with really hot wasabi paste, pickled ginger and soy sauce.

They also sell bottled green tea, a great thirst quencher on a really hot day.

Enter the small park across the road from Old Vic, the easiest access is from Baylis Road. Next to the path, on weekdays (at least most weekdays), you should see a gazebo with a man and woman, busy barbecuing vast amounts of jerk chicken. 

The dish to go for here is in my opinion the beef stew with rice and peas, but that isn’t always on the menu. Depending on day of week, and I have yet to understand which day is what, they serve either the beef stew or curry goat. Both dishes are fantastic, but the beef stew has a deep spicy flavour that is one up on the curry.

If it is a sunny day, get a box (if you are hungry you can go large…) of the stew, find a spot to sit in the park and enjoy getting away from the fray for a while.