Alpino

Going strong since 1959, this Chapel Market institution may bill itself as an Italian café bar these days, but at heart it’s still a grand old greasy spoon – even though the original wooden booths and Formica have been replaced by communal trestle tables. Enormous breakfast fry-ups, pancakes, kippers and porridge will set you up for the day, while traditional sarnies, rolls and muffins sit alongside filled ciabattas and baguettes. At lunch, it’s all about hefty plates of pasta, risottos, gnocchi and other trattoria stalwarts such as chicken parmigiana at knock-down prices, with proper coffee and wall-to-wall photos of Serie A footie stars pointing up the venue’s Italian connections.  Note that Alpino opens early but shuts soon after lunch each day.