Our guide to the best gallery food in town

Whitechapel Gallery Dining Room
Two years and a £13.5m renovation later, the Whitechapel is once again a firm fixture on the East End's art scene. The restaurant is set in the former Whitechapel Library wing of the gallery and the building's original lead windows, parquet flooring and old library card holders have been integrated into the design. The seasonal British food is kept affordable and the two-course set lunch is only £15. Try pan-fried scallops and roast apple purée, £8, followed by slow roasted pork belly, shaved fennel and cherry vine tomato salad, £15.50. Maria's chocolate, lemongrass, lime leaf and ginger tart with crème fraîche, £5.50, is a work of art itself.
Showing now: Goshka Macuga's installation in Gallery 2 (free) focuses on Picasso's Guernica.
77-82 Whitechapel High Street, E1, 020 7522 7888, whitechapelgallery.org. Open for lunch and dinner Tue-Sat, Sun lunch only

Bombay Sapphire Dusk Café And Bar
This summer, Somerset House's River Terrace Café has given way to a new pop-up created by designer Tom Dixon. It's a café by day and after dusk becomes a swinging addition to the local cocktail scene. Lunch includes a salad of artichoke and bresaola with asparagus tips, £9, or chicken and bacon flatbread with lettuce, garlic mayonnaise and hand-cut crisps, £10.50. Evenings are all about sharing generous platters of salami, Parma ham and chorizo with sunblush tomatoes and ciabatta bread (£17.50 for two to three people). And let's not forget the cocktails — the Sapphire Rosato, £5.95, is a lively mix of gin, martini rosato, fresh lime juice and rose syrup, perfect for summer drinking.
Showing now: Greater London, Richard Bryant's photographic celebration of a city (free).
Somerset House River Terrace, WC2, 020 7845 4646. Café open daily, 10am–midnight

ICA Café
The ICA has long been an artistic hub and the café, a collaboration with restaurateur Oliver Peyton which re-opened last year after a revamp, is no exception. The dining room and mezzanine bar mix monochrome cool with a retro colour scheme and host events from one-off club nights to live bands. The menu has a similar retro twist and classics include crisp fried squid in sweet chilli sauce, £7.50, and asparagus and wild herb salad with boiled egg, £6.50, to start. Mains include roast chicken with courgette fritters and spring vegetables, £10.25, or organic salmon and haddock fishcake with poached egg and spinach, £9.50. But do leave space for Eton Mess, £4.
Showing now: Poor. Old. Tired. Horse. (free) an exhibition of Sixties concrete poetry, text-based art and graphics.
The ICA, The Mall, SW1, 020 7930 8619, ica.org.uk, open seven days a week, and until 1am Tue-Sat

Bubble
Fashionistas will love Bubble Café at the Fashion And Textile Museum. It has just reopened and everything, from walls to tables to cushions, is pristine white. And there's a cute terrace outside that's an all-day suntrap. Grab a stylish cupcake, £2.50, with your mid-morning latte, £2.30, but lunch is really where it's at. Dishes have a Mexican slant in homage to the FTM's architect, Ricardo Legorreta. They include chicken with molé sauce (£4.80), plus a plethora of burritos and tacos, from £3.50. A second branch opens soon in nearby Blossom Square.
Showing now: Undercover: The Evolution of Underwear (£6.50) featuring a corset belonging to burlesque artiste Immodesty Blaize.
Fashion And Textile Museum,
83 Bermondsey St SE1, 020 7703 2653, ftmlondon.org
Café open daily 8am–6pm