Sara's London Food Guide
Custom made for Sabrina's May visit
Sabrina,
Yes, I know, we still have 3 months until you’re coming to London. A whole season stands between us. Regardless, I have already been consulting my mental map of my favorite things to eat in London and doing lots of scheming to decide which ones you would love most. This is an impossible task, because there’s too much to explore in one week, but I have done my best.
I’ve crafted an initial list for your consideration, which covers some things I know you love:
Fermented foods
Sunday roasts
Halal-cart chicken
Fish-flavored snacks
No IPAs! I know how much you hate them, and will avoid them!
If we follow this guide, we will eat pickles at a fermenting kitchen, drink wine in a cozy railway arch, try Indian-Halal-cart fusion, and taste test every snack at the Off-License.
Food Things
I went to this cozy wine bar a few weeks ago with a friend and loved it. They have a chalkboard menu full of tasty plates and natural wines by the glass. The friendly bartenders let us try every wine they had and did not make us feel like fools for not knowing wine words. They even gifted us a free glass. We spent a few hours talking about books and feelings while we devoured celeriac croquettes and duck confit and sipped our wine. All things you love!
Where: it’s in Bermondsey, just south of Tower Bridge
Nearby activities: It’s right next to the Bermondsey Beer Mile, which is a strip of craft breweries in all of these railway arches. It’s the perfect place for a post-dinner IPA tasting tour to generate content for your IPA hate account (but they also have many ciders!)
This place is legendary in Camberwell, and I finally went for the first time. They serve Xinjiang Chinese food from the north of China. I haven’t had Xinjiang food before, and now I want to try so much more. They have thin, chewy hand pulled noodles which you can order with spicy lamb, tomato and egg, or stir fried veggies. And, there is chili crisp, soy sauce, and black vinegar on every table to eat with the plentiful servings of dumplings.
Where: Camberwell
Nearby activities: strolling on Camberwell high street; walking up Denmark Hill nearby in the hopes of bumping into Florence and the Machine, who is rumored to live nearby
You will obviously need a Sunday roast! There are so many places to get them, so this does not have to be The One, but it’s a nice option. It’s in Angel and it’s decorated like a farm house (why are there so many taxidermied pheasants??). They have scotch eggs and Yorkshire puddings and very crispy roast potatoes, and if you order bread they give you a ramekin full of beef drippings to dunk it in, which is a delight.
Where: It’s in Angel, a bit off the high street
Nearby activities: this is right next to one of my favorite pub tours in London. This tour has two stops. Stop 1 is the Earl of Essex, one of my favorite pubs, which has a cute garden and a delicious cider from Devon on tap. Stop 2 is Regent's Canal. Per Pub Tour tradition, you must bring either A) a bottle of rose or, B) smuggle your pint out of the pub, and then sit on the island in the canal by a nice willow tree and drink and talk.
Everyone is always waiting in line for Dishoom, but I think Kricket, which is just down the road in Soho, is much tastier. They have so many creative things like samphire pakoras and brown butter parathas and Keralan fried chicken with a curry mayo. And, they make various curried and herbed butters which they serve very liberally with the curries.
Where: in Soho, by Piccadilly Circus and lots of misc. famous shit
Nearby activities: it’s close to the famous queer bar Halfway to Heaven, which is then halfway to the famous queer club Heaven.
This is my favorite late night food in Hackney Wick. There are so many great bars in Hackney Wick along the canal where you can sit and drink in the sun with all the East Londoners. And, there are late night dancing spots ranging in size from large (Colour Factory, a mega warehouse club) to small (a mini grocery store that inexplicably has djs and a dance floor sometimes). Preeti Patty is conveniently located next to said grocery-store-club and they have Indian fusion food for drunk people. My favorite is the Naga Shawarma Rice Box, which is extremely spicy chicken shawarma over rice with mint and chili sauce.
Where: Hackney Wick
Nearby activities: All the trendy canal bars – Crate Brewing (which also has nice pizzas), All My Friends (which also has nice pizzas), Colour Factory (can be a bit hit or miss, but when it hits, it hits)
Bonus: Offie Guide, for snacks
I finally realized that an off-license is the British bodega. Lads are always heading over to the offie to buy some tinnies. Tinnies apparently means cans of beer, for inscrutable lad vocabulary reasons. Here’s everything you should try (if you haven’t already had these!).
Pickled Onion Monster Munch: the mascot is a one-eyed monster, and his deranged grin instantly tells you all you need to know about Monster Munch. They’re kind of like massive Funyuns, but in the shape of the monster’s feet (!!) with the refreshing taste (!!) of pickled onions (!!).
Skips: little crackers that taste like shrimp and are fizzy when you eat them. They’re bizarre, and I hate them. But given your love of fish-flavored things, maybe you will enjoy.
Vapes: they’re going all out on the flavors – the other day I saw one called Rinbo Cloudd (yes, with two “d”s).
Gin and tonic tinnies: The only tinny suitable for the President of the IPA Hate Club. These are a joy! Perfect servings of cold gin and tonic for the road!
Old Rosie: this one is a rare find at an offie, but you can get it in Tescos if all else fails. This is the perfect drink for a lad who is a cider-head. It’s an enormous glass jug of cider which costs very little money, tastes crisp and light, and turns out to be 8% strength. Only drink this if you want things to get chaotic.
A running letter between long distance friends who love to eat
Do you miss your best friend? Are really hungry you right now? If the answer to either of these is yes, you know what to do.