Where shall we meet?: Ridley Bagel Bakery

It's 3am and with a deft flick of the wrist, Billy Kent is making bagels from a sausage of dough. A couple of cabbies and a gaggle of bedraggled clubbers, bleary-eyed in the bright lights, stand watching and chatting.

Ridley Bagel Bakery keeps going 24 hours a day, but is most congenial at night. Taste its bagels straight from the oven with melting butter (20p). Other fillings can be picked from a well-stocked deli counter.

During the day, stop off here while exploring Ridley Road market. Or pop in for an appetiser before feasting on eels and mash at nearby F Cooke & Sons (41 Kingsland High Street).

Ridley Bagel Bakery, 13-15 Ridley Rd, E8 (071-923 0666)

Monday: The Pillars of Hercules, Greek St, W1

(Photograph omitted)