Food hall in old post office · £
The answer to most meals when you cannot be bothered to decide: eight kitchens under one roof in the new Paddington Square building beside the station, on the site of the sorting office that was demolished for it, among them an Argentinian grill, a Greek souvlaki counter, Malaysian street food, tacos and Thai, with two bars and a terrace. Its own site gives 8am to 10pm Monday and Tuesday, to 11pm Wednesday to Saturday and 9am to 9pm Sunday, with the kitchens closing an hour before the doors. The 8am start is half an hour after the hotel's own lounge, and it is 9am on Sunday.
Walk in1 Paddington Square, W2 1DL
Neapolitan pizzeria inside Frontline Club · £
The Neapolitan pizzeria that started on St Mary's Road in Ealing now has a branch inside the Frontline Club, a minute from Norfolk Square, which serves it in the Clubroom. Traditional Neapolitan pizza from the oven, in a room that fills with people who could have walked to the train. Its own site gives 11.30am to 10pm Sunday to Thursday and 10.30pm on Friday and Saturday, and it is the quick supper of this list: no booking, short walk, done in an hour.
Walk in13 Norfolk Place, W2 1QJ
Victorian pub with real fire · ££
A Fuller's pub in the quiet grid between Sussex Gardens and Hyde Park, kept for what its own site calls an opulent pub steeped in history, with a real fire and a place on the Evening Standard's list of London pubs to visit. Pub classics from seasonal ingredients, cask ale and a wine list, and step-free access, which the hotel cannot offer. Its own site gives 11am to 11pm Monday to Saturday, noon to 10.30pm Sunday, with food from noon to 10pm every day. Book for Sunday lunch.
Reserve ahead10a Strathearn Place, W2 2NH
Family Malaysian restaurant since 1973 · ££
Family-owned and open since 1973 on a side street off Praed Street, and its own site still describes it as a family restaurant more than fifty years on, in a small room that does not chase fashion. Its own site gives noon to 10pm Sunday to Thursday and 10.30pm on Friday and Saturday, seven days a week, with online booking for parties of up to six. If the Duda Diner residency in the hotel has given you a taste for Malaysian food, this is where the neighbourhood has eaten it for fifty years.
Reserve ahead13 Sale Place, W2 1PX
Grade II pub, seasonal British food · ££
Paddington's local since 1852, on its own site's telling, on the far side of the station towards Cleveland Square, with a proper kitchen: seasonal British plates and a Sunday roast, and recognition from CAMRA for the beer. Its own site gives noon to 11pm Monday to Saturday and noon to 10pm Sunday, with food to 9pm and to 8pm on Sunday. Book for Sunday; walk in otherwise.
Reserve ahead28 Chilworth Street, W2 6DT
Indian restaurant in Connaught Village · £££
The grand old Indian of Connaught Village, with siblings in Kuala Lumpur, Toronto, Brampton and Beverly Hills, which is the tell for the kind of room it is: linen, waiters and prices to match, so this is the evening out rather than the quick supper. Its own site gives lunch from noon to 3pm and dinner from 6pm to 10pm, every day of the week, so it is also the one place on this list that serves a full Monday and Tuesday dinner.
Reserve ahead50 Connaught Street, W2 2AA
Cantonese dim sum by the canal · ££
In the office-block basin behind the station, which is not a reason to go, and a serious Cantonese room with a long dim sum list, which is. Its own site sells it as creative interpretations of Chinese seafood and dim sum, and the diners it quotes keep coming back to the Peking duck, the roast pork and the tofu. Open noon to 10.30pm daily, with bookings through SevenRooms. Right at the ten-minute limit from the hotel door, so give yourself the full ten.
Reserve ahead8 Sheldon Square, W2 6EZ
Breakfast is not included on either of the hotel's rates; both are labelled room only. It is served in The Lounge on the first floor from 7.30am off the brunch menu, which runs to 2pm on weekdays and 3pm at weekends: the Pilgrm cooked breakfast is 16 pounds, avocado and eggs 15, a bacon butty 11, the house granola 10, with a flat white at 4 and a 12.5 percent discretionary service charge on the bill, cards only. The coffee downstairs is Monmouth and the queue for it is the queue for your key. For a cheaper start, Market Halls three minutes away opens at 8am, and for a better view Darcie & May Green, two narrowboats on the Regent's Canal at Sheldon Square with exteriors painted by Sir Peter Blake, seven minutes away, serves an Australian-inspired all-day menu from 9am every day on its own site's hours.
