Everyone has a favourite eating place in their town, but when you’re looking for the real deal you need eat in some of the most select establishments around. In this case we’re not talking about the Ritz or Thirteen, but the small independent stalls and shops that have built their reputation for quality food without any of the unnecessary razzmatazz and glitz.
In London finding these establishments can be even harder given the wide diverse nature of the food market, but Simon Majumdar of the Guardian has done the hard work to find some of the best places to eat in London without remortgaging your house.
Tubby Issacs is a good place to find jellied eels if you’re in the Walthamstow area, especially as they’ve been serving eals and such since 1919. The stall is in the Petticoat Lane Market and also sells whelks and cockles, plus the Guardian recommends trying the special vinegar. For the full menu available which is pretty extensive, click here.
F Cooke’s Pie & Mash does exactly what the name suggests. Nothing pretentious here, just good old fashioned pies and potato for a fair price. Slightly strangely they also sell eals too which is apparently a tradition dating back to the 18th Century in the capital. F Cookes can be found at 150 Hoxton Street, N1.
Brick Lane Sunday UpMarket offers an increasing range of foods from Jamaica to Tibet and almost everywhere else too. The market is held in the The Old Truman Brewery, E1. Other examples of the food and drink on offer currently are Red Tent Ethiopian Coffee, the Spanish Caravan and Thai Sabai as well as Molly Bakes who serves decadent English cupcakes.
Exmouth Market is in a similar vein to the Brick Lane market with a wide range of worldly foods including crepes, Thai food, “pure vegetarian” Gujarat and schnitzel.
For fuller details and more places to eat, see the Guardian article.
Other London links:
Hotels in London
Shopping in London
One Comment
I’ve done a couple of guides to two of London’s better street food epicentres – namely Camden and Brick Lane. So if you’re new to the area these should give you an idea of what to expect!!
http://www.ravengarcia.com/2011/02/street-food-in-brick-lane/
http://www.ravengarcia.com/2010/04/street-food-in-camden/
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[...] 1. Pie and mash and jellied eels – London: I admit I’d not heard of this one until writing a blog post a little while back on where to find London’s best street food. [...]