Sadly my lunchtime reports from Trafalgar Square are now over. A spectacular denouement – even by Molière’s standards! A Friday lunch al fresco at Terroir, a super French joint in King William IV Street with a Coutt’s banker, no less. I have been reading – on dubious websites called Dissent or something – that banks and bankers rule the world, so I thought it wise to get to know one. But he wasn’t at all superior or alien or anything! Just a super human being, I’m glad to say. (Okay, he did get the bill but that is not why I am singing his praises.) He had super manners and was most magnanimous. If you want to meet a nice banker, head to Terroir, as I am told, it’s literally the Coutt’s canteen as it is right below it.

Anyway, back to the lunch. Terrific house wine, Côte du Gascoigne white, and Duck Rillette. All one needs in such good company! Perfect! Even produced the headline of the week when I got back to the office too! A great argument for the importance of lunch hours, I’d say!

I cannot leave Trafalgar Square without mentioning my other lunchtime favourites:

1. Korean fast food in the style of Leon called Kimchee, in the Strand. So nice to see city folk tucking into my comfort food of choice – you can even get ttok bokki, ricecakes in savoury/sweet Korean chilli sauce called ggochujang. Korean street food superior! And of course, bibimbap, the super-healthy rice mix.

2. Koshari Street in St Martin’s Lane. Another super-healthy dish – Egyptian street food consisting of quality pasta/rice/lentils mix topped with a spicy or not tomato sauce, chickpeas, herb/nut/spice mix, house garlic chilli sauce and the piece de resistance – fried onion.

3. When you are super hungry on a budget, you can’t beat Fernando’s in St Martin’s Lane. HUGE portions of pasta, chicken kebabs with rice & salad, paninis with piri piri chicken (three huge sandwiches), chicken curry for a fiver or so…served pronto, takeaway or eat in, by, they say, Portuguese, but I swear they were speaking Russian or some other eastern European language! In all respects, a fascinating, cheap & satisfying eat. Next week, I’m freelancing north of Oxford Street, so watch this space for super lunch-eats in W1! Super! Koshari