There’s something quite delicious about a deadline. The prospect that if you don’t book now you might never get to try the dish of the moment is enough to pull in queues and queues of customers. But in most cases the attraction of a pop-up eatery is not solely hype. Some of these temporary dining rooms offer the chance to sample the oeuvres of up-and-coming chefs – often those at the cutting edge of cuisine but without the resources for a permanent gig yet. Others give seasoned chefs an opportunity to test new concepts outside the constraints of an established space.

Plenty of pop-ups have popped up in London this year as rising costs and post-Covid uncertainty deter some chefs from opening permanent locations. Here’s our lowdown of the best to try now – before they disappear.

For those in the know, the return of Luke Farrell’s bánh mì (Vietnamese baguettes) last month was a moment of great excitement. The bánh mì – crispy baguette smothered in rich pâté and mayonnaise, piled high (typically) with juicy grilled pork, and then dappled with pickled Asian vegetables, zingy chillies and plenty of herbs – has its roots in the French colonisation of Vietnam. But although its history may be unsavoury, the recipe is a sumptuous umami delight. Farrell’s take on the sandwiches started gathering fans last year in a previous outpost that has since closed. But now, back by popular demand, Viet Populaire is popping up each day Tuesday to Sunday (usually 10 a.m. to 11 p.m., although Sunday opening is 12 p.m.) at Arcade Food Hall. Located inside Centre Point, the Grade II-listed brutalist tower, it's minutes from Tottenham Court Road Tube station. Farrell’s Vietnamese herbs come straight from the nursery in Dorset where he cultivates them in tropical greenhouses. A classic bánh mì costs £9.50. Viet Populaire's closing date is TBC, but it will be around for at least another month

Shoreditch High Street meets the seafront in this unusual collaboration between ice cream maker Happy Endings and sleek seafood restaurant Goddard & Gibbs. You can enjoy an elegant meal of Maldon oysters and Cornish crab – before picking up an ice cream sandwich from the Happy Endings hatch at the side of the restaurant for the walk home. With the hatch open Tuesday to Sunday (11 a.m. to 10 p.m.), you can also pop by for a soft serve or sundae whether you’ve got a dinner booking or not. Our hot (well, cold) tip is the Float Your Boat sundae, specially curated for G&G and featuring vanilla soft serve, fresh banana, palm sugar honeycomb, morello cherries, whipped cream and pecans. Prices range from £4.20 to £7. The hatch will be operating until at least early October. Although the final closing date hasn’t yet been announced, it's worth swinging by before the ice cream weather disappears. You can whet your appetite with a few glasses from G&G’s superb wine menu.

As the name suggests, Carousel dances from one chef pop-up to the next. Located on Charlotte Street in the foodie haven of Fitzrovia, its open kitchen has hosted some 250 chefs from more than 30 countries, including Olia Hercules and Romy Gill MBE. Each has around four days to put their stamp on the place. Some of the most highly anticipated pop-ups coming up are from Debora Fadul (4-8 October), a doyen of Guatemalan gastronomy, and Rimpei Yoshikawa (11-22 October) of Pignon, one of Tokyo's trendiest restaurants. Expect contemporary takes on maize and corn from the former and seafood with international flavours from the latter. Prices for the set menus are £75 per head.

Rondo La Cave is a natural wine bar hidden inside the uber-trendy Hoxton Hotel, just by Holborn station. It describes itself as an ‘incubator kitchen’ and, like Carousel, hosts a regular rotation of pop-up eateries. One of the most recent – Chet’s – had a smash-hit four-month stint serving American classics mashed with Thai specialities. Now it’s the turn of Dollars, a sandwich shop inspired by the delis of New York City. It is being run by Andrei Soen, whose similar joint in Singapore that has received huge acclaim. Think 21-day aged pastrami swimming in puddles of Swiss cheese on caraway bloomer, and classic Philly cheesesteak baguettes with wafer-thin slices of rump and melt-in-your-mouth caramelised onions. Dollars opened on 14 September and runs for three months, and sandwiches cost between £10 and £13.

Darjeeling Express became a phenomenon after its mastermind, Asma Khan, was the first British chef to feature on Netflix’s Chef’s Table. Khan abandoned a career in law to return to India on a mission to collect her family’s recipes. She then came back to the UK to launch supper clubs introducing the royal Mughlai cuisine of her heritage to British diners. Darjeeling Express has been through many iterations, from pop-ups in pubs to a full-time restaurant in Soho. All have proved immensely popular. Now Khan is back to the pubs, this time popping up at The Pembroke (between West Brompton and Earl’s Court in west London) until at least the end of November. Fans of her fare will be delighted to see old favourites, such as her home-made puchkas (crispy shells brimming with spiced chickpeas and squidgy potatoes) and prawn malaikari (a creamy coconutty curry affair) back on the menu. Dishes cost around £20 for a main (including rice) and around £8 for a starter.