Eating the East End – London Food Tour Review

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No matter where you travel to in the world today, chances are you can find a food tour.

This isn't just because people love to eat though (although I'm sure that's at least *part* of the reason). It's because, no matter where you are in the world, food is one of the best reflections of a culture. Food can give you an insight into a destination's past, and also a glimpse into its future.

So when I was invited on a food tour of London's East End (a part of London I knew almost nothing about), I jumped at the chance.

East End Food Tour

Eating London Food Tours is a brand new company looking to break into the food tour scene. They were still in trial runs when I booked a spot on a Saturday morning tour, but our guide Nicole was already quite polished in her presentation.

The thing I love about food tours is that it's not just about the food. On this particular tour, we also learned a heck of a lot about the history of the East End. It's this history — of immigrants, poverty, and re-invention — that has influenced the area's food culture over the years.

Today, the East End is a lovely mash-up of people and cultures, and this is definitely reflected in what was probably one of the best food tours I've been on thus far.

Highlights of our East End food tour included:

The English Restaurant

We began our foray into the edible delights of the East End at The English Restaurant. The building used to be a house hundreds of years ago, and inside even has wood from an old nearby church that is no longer standing.

The restaurant was cozy and served up some amazingly delicious banana pudding. A perfect way to start a chilly London morning.

East End Food Tour

St. John Bread and Wine

After our pudding, we headed to St. John for something a bit heartier. This restaurant, located in a building that was once a bank, is known for its bread, and for its bacon.

Both the bread and the bacon are exclusive to St. John (baked and cured on site), and the chef here is known for using EVERY part of the animals he cooks with. We had a bacon sandwich, made even more delicious by a secret-recipe ketchup.

East End Food Tour

The House of AndrOuet

Our next stop was inside Spitalfields Market, which today is a fun conglomeration of merchants and restaurants. We hit up AndrOuet, a French cheese and wine shop with some astoundingly well-versed cheesemongers.

At AndrOuet, they cut out the middle-men and buy cheese direct when it's young, and mature it on the premises. They feature about 200 cheeses throughout the year, but we only tried 3.

First we had an English cheddar, which we learned makes up about 51% of all cheese sales in Britain. This was followed by a Waterloo cheese (very similar to Brie), and we then ended with a Stilton. Stilton is basically a bleu cheese, but it's the name that is special. A true Stilton cheese can only be made in 3 counties in England.

East End Food Tour

Poppies

After a sampling of English cheeses, we were off to try another English staple: fish and chips.

This dish, we learned, was actually invented right here in the East End. Britain adopted fries from Belgium and buttered fish from Portugal, but it was actually a young Jewish boy from the East End who began selling the two together from a basket around his neck in the 1800s.

Not quite dating back that far, Poppie's is nonetheless a locally-owned neighborhood staple. In a fun 50s-themed atmosphere, we had fried Cod and chips with vinegar. It was surprisingly light!

East End Food Tour

Aladin

No food tour of the East End would be complete without a stop on Brick Lane. In the 1970s and '80s, as more and more Bangladeshi immigrants moved to London and called the East End home, curry shops began to pop up all over the place. Today, there are more curry houses in England than anywhere else in the world, essentially making curry the national dish.

We stopped in at Aladin for 3 different curries. While curry isn't exactly my favorite food, I'm now glad I can say I've had one on Brick Lane.

East End Food Tour

Beigel Bake

Even though none of us could possibly fathom how we were going to eat MORE food, we weren't done yet. Our next stop was Beigel Bake, which is yet another locally-owned shop that's been in the neighborhood forever.

It's open 24 hours a day, and you can usually find the owner there working behind the counter. The shop smells like heaven, and you can actually watch them making the bagels in the back of the shop.

Here we had Beigel Bake's specialty — a corned beef bagel with pickles on top. It was pretty much to die for (which I actually thought I might, being so full at this point).

East End Food Tour

Pizza East

From Beigel Bake, we walked from Brick Lane to Shoreditch, Nicole pointing out interesting street art and other fun facts along the way. We eventually ended up at Pizza East, where we sat down for some tea and a chocolate salted caramel tart.

Even though I was SO full by this point, I couldn't say no to this decadent end to our tour. And I'm glad I didn't — I think it was my favorite thing I ate!

East End Food Tour

I don't think I've ever been on a food tour where SO MUCH food was involved. But the variety was so perfect that I definitely couldn't complain. The different foods also reflected the diversity of the East End, which Nicole did a great job of supplementing with plenty of interesting facts as we walked from place to place.

If you like to eat AND want to explore a part of London that most tourists skip, I can highly recommend this East London food tour!

IF YOU GO

Interested in taking this food tour yourself? Here's all the info you'll need:

WHAT: London East End Food Tour with Eating London

WHEN: Mon-Sun with departures at 10 a.m., 10:45 a.m., or 11:15 a.m. (tour lasts about 4 hours)

HOW MUCH: £69 ($88 USD) per person. I know this sounds like quite a bit, but you get SO MUCH FOOD, as well as a walking tour around the East End.

OTHER FOOD TOURS:

If food tours are your jam, here are some others to try in London:

READ NEXT: A Guide to the Most Unique Themed Afternoon Teas in London

Which of these dishes would YOU most like to try in the East End?

 

 

*Note: I did receive a complimentary food tour of the East End thanks to Eating London. As always, though, my opinions are all my own.

"It's a dangerous business, going out your door. You step onto the road, and, if you don't keep your feet, there's no telling where you might get swept off to." - JRR Tolkien

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27 Comments on “Eating the East End – London Food Tour Review

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  1. […] get the chance to enjoy a sit-down meal at one of Brick Lane’s more famous restaurants. Check out more photos and a review on A Dangerous […]

    I’m definitely going to try out this Food Tour when I have time!
    I have bought cheese from AndrOuet before, and it is some of the best cheese I’ve ever had!

      Do it! As far as food tours go, it’s really top-notch!

    The East End is a dream for foodies! It’s so overlooked too apart from Brick Lane. Loved reading this!

    I love Brick Lane! I work near Spitalfields so I have to take a trip to The House of AndrOuet. Cheese and wine – good!!! Great post and definitely places for me to try!!!

    x

      Oooh, yes, definitely go check out the cheese/wine shop! They are so friendly and knowledgable there.

    this looks AWESOME and delicious (but really expensive! having just finished reading the website)!!

      The tour is not cheap, no. But I think it’s totally worth it! You get SO MUCH food.

    I worked in London for eight years and I have never made it to Brick Lane. I will definitely try it out when I am there in the autumn. Looks amazing!

      If you like a good curry, there are TONS of places to choose from. (Though, personally, I liked my Brick Lane bagel better!)

    Oh man, I’m hungry. I wasn’t even looking at the bread. The pickles did it for me! Thanks ao much for sharing this. This tour looks great, definitely a must-try. Cheers. *runs off to search for pickles*

    Food tours are always hard for me. I get so full too fast. However, it looks like they all gave you small proportions to keep you going 🙂

      I have that problem, too! And there was A LOT of food on this tour. The trick is to pace yourself – though that can be nearly impossible when everything tastes so good!

    I’ve never been on a food tour, but it really does seem like one of the best ways to get to know a city. For this particular one, I would be all about the cheeses!

      If you’re going to do just one tour in a city, I would check out food tour options. You usually get the history thrown in, too!

      And the cheese place was great. They knew SO MUCH about the different cheeses. It was actually pretty fascinating.

    Now I’m hungry 🙂 This sounds like a great tour. What I particularly like about it is that it reflects the rich diversity of cultures you find in some of Britain’s cities.

    Food tours are amazing aren’t they? You can learn so much history and culture just by eating a country’s food! I hope to go on a few as I make my way around Europe. 🙂

      Yup, food tours are usually some of the best, because you get so much more than just things to eat. I’m also planning at least a few here in Europe!

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