Filipino ice-cream specialists Mamasons have an outlet inside the shopping centre, with flavours including black buko, ube, and calamansi served in cones or as toasted pandesal bilog ice-cream sandwiches. Also on the menu is halo halo, a summertime treat in the Philippines made up of red beans, coconut, and jackfruit supporting a tower of shaved ice laden with evaporated milk, ube ice cream, cereal flakes, and more.

From its earliest days in a converted van to its current mini empire, Bleecker Burger is an enduring contender for London’s best burger. What sets Bleecker apart is the quality of their ingredients, with grass-fed Dexter, Hereford and South Devon beef aged on the bone for up to 40 days before becoming the patties in thoughtfully constructed, simple burgers.

Also inside Westfield itself, diners can’t do much better than chef Judy Joo’s Seoul Bird, which offers up juicy and crispy Korean fried chicken in wing, tender, bowl, wrap, and burger form. The “Kimchi Chick” is a five-napkin burger, loaded with gochujang, coleslaw, and kimchi, crunchy vegetables, and skin that shatters like glass.

Pakistani chef Aida Khan followed up a series of successful supper clubs with training at Leith’s School of Food and Wine; Shola Karachi Kitchen is the bricks and mortar result. Khan’s menu focuses on curries and grills, but a light bites selection includes crisp, fried okra chips and chicken pakoras lighter than air.

One of the gems of the Television Centre complex is the White City outpost of British-Indian mini chain Kricket, probably best known for its Kerala fried chicken (which is a must-order, along with the samphire pakoras). Of course, it goes without saying that Michelin-starred sushi temple Endo at Rotunda would be on the list... If it were possible to get a walk-in.

A Shepherd’s Bush institution open since 2005, this little spot is still serving some of the best man’oushe in the area, a boon for days when the journey to Yasmina is just a few stops or steps too far. The eponymous option is the move, with a heady floral perfume escaping the bag, while the chocolate and nuts sweet iteration is for the greedy.

Furthest afield (but well worth the extra 100m or so) is Esarn Kheaw, an Uxbridge Road institution since 1992. Food hails from Ubon Ratchathani in northeastern Thailand, with both heat and funk maximalised and balanced in stand-out dishes: the laabs, and ox or chicken livers served northeast style. Thai curries and noodle dishes are equally well-executed.

Perched on the corner next to Shepherd’s Bush library, Tian Fu is a local Sichuan favourite helmed by a former Barshu head chef, and offers such classic fare as dan dan noodles, smacked cucumbers, and fish fragrant aubergine. But the menu also lists a number of more lesser-seen options, from a variety of offal to frogs’ legs. The iron wok dishes, bubbling with chillies and oil — the eel is exceptional — take roast potatoes from side dish to centre stage. The result is both crunchy and pillow-soft, fiery and numbing.

Just past the entrance to the market on Goldhawk Road is the relative newcomer Cho Sim. With some of the friendliest service in the neighbourhood and a seemingly permanent 2-for-£12 happy hour on cocktails, it also happens to serve superlative Korean comfort food in the form of fried chicken, toppoki, mandu, and pancakes. From the excellent pickles selection, make sure not to miss the suk ju namul, bean sprouts in sesame oil, which are far greater than the sum of their parts.

Running alongside the railway tracks and parallel to the market, The Hawk’s Nest is a fairy-light strewn garden hideaway perfect for whiling away an afternoon-into-evening. While it’s technically a cocktail bar, the Nest serves up good pizzas from a brick oven, with thin crispy crusts perfect for soaking up a spicy margarita or six. The pro move is to visit on Margarita Mondays, when the eponymous pizza and drink come as a pair for £12. There is a sister venue, The Phoenix, on site at Westfield, but it’s usually filled with the stressed out shoppers you’re trying to escape.

Takeaway only Roti Joupa serves up fortifying Trinidian street food like roti, doubles, and buss-up shot — the island staples which have seen it become one of the city’s essential Caribbean restaurants in Clapham, Finsbury Park, and W12. Spicy goat is a local favourite, but vegetarians are also catered for, both in the curries and via a tamarind-laden slab of macaroni pie.