I hadn’t previously considered London as a foodie city, but we were delighted by several good eats during our visit back in September. We haven’t confirmed the dates of our return trip in spring 2023, although I’ve been reminiscing on everywhere we ate and already know that we will definitely go back to a few places. Here’s a recap of our food itinerary in London, England.
Borough Market
📍8 Southwark St, London SE1 1TL
Borough Market was a short walk from our hotel in Southwark, and made for a delicious stop for our first meal in London. This historic open market is one of the largest and oldest in London, dating back to at least the 12th century. We tried the paella from Furness Food Hut and a scotch egg from The Ginger Pig, both good choices. We were planning to come back for another lunch later in the week but this plan was stymied by me feeling under the weather. We will probably stay in Southwark again on our next trip to London, so Borough Market will be a return visit for sure.
Darwin Brasserie at Sky Garden
📍Level 36 Sky Garden, 20 Philpot Ln, London EC3M 8AF
The Sky Garden is London’s famous indoor public garden situated on the 36th floor of the Fenchurch Building. Admission to Sky Garden is free, but you have to book tickets for entry or make a reservation at one of their restaurants. We opted to have a classic English breakfast at Darwin Brasserie, which was very filling and accompanied by sweeping views overlooking the city.
Blacklock
📍24 Great Windmill St, London W1D 7LG (and other locations)
Another classic English meal we had on our food bucket list was a Sunday roast. We enjoyed this at Blacklock Chophouse in Soho, where we ordered the “All In” roast which included a mix of beef, lamb, and pork roasts on a side of Yorkshire pudding, duck fat-roast potatoes, vegetables, and gravy. Cue meat sweats.
sketch Gallery
📍9 Conduit St, London W1S 2XG
Afternoon tea is a must-do when in London. We originally made reservations at The Savoy, but our booking was cancelled due to changes in their schedule. After a bit of research, I discovered Sketch in the upscale Mayfair district as a modern style alternative. This fancy restaurant boasts three Michelin Stars at their Lecture Room & Library serving French cuisine, while the Gallery offers afternoon tea featuring a photographic selection of finger sandwiches and pastries.
Fortnum & Mason
📍181 Piccadilly, St. James’s, London W1A 1ER (and other locations)
Fortnum & Mason was originally founded as a grocery store, growing rapidly throughout the Victorian era into a department store. Its most well-known section is the tea shop, where we picked up a sampler box of their classic teas and some chocolate biscuits which made for good souvenirs. They also serve a popular afternoon tea here, but we only came by to shop for takeaway items.
BRAT
📍4 Redchurch Street, London, E1 6JL
We had our first Michelin-starred meal in London at BRAT Restaurant located in the east end district of Shoreditch. We had learned about this place from an episode of Somebody Feed Phil, and were especially excited to try the anchovy bread which tasted as good as it looked. We tried the velvet crab soup and lemon sole as well. The whole turbot also looked very tempting but was prepared for a larger group.
Lima London
📍31 Rathbone Pl, London W1T 1JH
Our dinner at Lima London was one of our favourites. This Michelin-starred restaurant is headed by chef Virgilio Martínez Véliz, known for his flagship Central Restaurant in Lima, Peru. Lima London usually offers a tasting menu but had recently undergone renovations when we visited, so this was not available. Instead, we tried a few dishes from their a la carte menu including the secreto iberico, ceviche, and a couple beautiful desserts — the caramelized plantain and pear with lime sorbet.
Seabird
📍14th Floor, South Bank, 40 Blackfriars Rd, London SE1 8NY
Seabird is the rooftop restaurant at Hoxton Southwark hotel, where we were staying. We came here for an early dinner before heading over to County Hall to watch Witness for the Prosecution. The menu features mostly Spanish-style tapas and they also apparently have London’s longest oyster list. We had a couple of those oysters along with the jamon croquettes, dressed crab, patatas bravas, and heritage tomato salad.
Ottolenghi
📍63 Ledbury Rd, London W11 2AD (and other locations)
We learned about Ottolenghi from Mr. Chuckles’ Instagram sleuthing. This chain of eateries around London is headed by chef and food writer Yotam Ottolenghi, who is best known for promoting Middle-Eastern and vegetable based dishes to the British public. There are seven Ottolenghi restaurants in London, and we visited the one in Notting Hill after exploring the Portobello Road Market. This location was just a small shop for takeaway, so we picked up a couple salads and a yummy pistachio rosewater cake to enjoy al fresco.
Dishoom
📍12 Upper St Martin’s Ln, London WC2H 9FB (and other locations)
If I had to recommend one spot to eat at in London, it would definitely be Dishoom. This Bombay-inspired restaurant group has locations throughout the UK and is designed to resemble Irani cafes that were popular in Bombay throughout the 1960s. We visited the Covent Garden location twice during our trip, once for breakfast and again for our final dinner in London. The chicken biryani was amazing! We also liked the prawn koliwada and grilled broccoli with snow peas.
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