Are you a foodie? Do you like to explore restaurants and eateries and try new things? I am and I do.
My mom and I take a girl’s trip every year and it’s become a tradition for us to do a food tour. We’ve found that it’s a fun way to see the city and eat along the way. Last year, we were lucky enough to go to London for our annual girl’s trip. After much research, we decided on a food tour of East End. There’s no way you’ll leave hungry if you have seven stops on the tour.
- Bacon sandwich at St John’s Bread & Wine
- Fish & Chips at Poppies
- Pudding at the historic English Restaurant
- Cheese from Androuet
- Indian food at Aladin
- Beigel sandwich from Beigel Bake – Brick Lane Bakery
- Salted Carmel tart at Pizza East
Needless to say we did NOT leave hungry that day. But in all honesty in all the food tours that we’ve done we have NEVER left hungry. Well…except for that one food tour in San Francisco, but that’s a story for another day.
What do you say about a day that starts with a Bacon sandwich and ends with a Salted Carmel tart….
Happiness is great food and great company.
Maralcuisine.com
How can you complain about starting your day with a bacon sandwich….good bacon (cooked just the way I like it…a little chewy) and homemade bread. If only it was later in the day, we could have enjoyed some of St John’s wine. We all ate our bacon sandwiches and moved on not the next stop.
I’ve never been known to shy away from the savory and sweet combo so no objection from me on our next stop. Stop #2: The English Restaurant for a classic…bread pudding. I will happily follow the bacon sandwich with a little bread pudding. I knew there would be more stops on this journey but I would not have turned down a 2nd serving if offered. Unfortunately, the food tour didn’t include 2nd servings, so it’s on to the next stop.
Whatever do they have in store for us? Next up cheese. While the cheese was good, I’m an ordinary girl when it comes to cheese so the fancy stuff doesn’t excite me as it might others. But its was still very good. Just means I have room for what’s next. But for the cheese lovers out there you will LOVE this stop. It was a very impressive shop.
Stop #4….A true English classic….FISH AND CHIPS. A favorite of mine. And Pat ‘Pop’ Newland knows what he’s doing when it comes to this timeless dish. This stop was a true delight and I’m not just talking about the memorabilia filling the interior of this shop. And to make it a truly authentic experience the fish and chips are served in newspaper…well special paper made and printed just for Poppies. Presentation is everything.
Good thing the next restaurant (stop #5) was more than a few steps away so we could prepare for the next round of food. Next up….Indian curry from a staple in this area–Aladin’s. We were served three signature dishes all ranging in various temperatures. Let’s just say that the “hot” dish was in fact hot. One that you just enjoy a bite of and then enjoy some yummy naan and rice to help with the heat. We polished off the mild and medium dishes….practically scraped the sides of the dish to get every last bite. You might be getting full just hearing about all the food, but wait…there’s more.
Next up on our stroll down Brick Lane is the Beigel Bake – Brick Lane Bakery (stop #6). Afraid I wasn’t getting enough meat on this tour, well no need for concern. Next up a traditional Jewish-style treat — bagel filled with salted beef, mustard and pickles. One of the softest bagels I’ve ever had. The beef was thick, tasty and of course salty. Definitely, a savory dish. The bagel really did melt in your mouth.
Now, we get to our final stop on the tour, Pizza East. (stop #7) However will this food coma end you ask. Pizza? No, no pizza. They saved the best for last on this journey. We ended this tour on a good note — English Breakfast tea and a salted carmel tart. We are in full food coma at this point, but we couldn’t leave this delicious dessert behind. Thank goodness for the tea.
Aside from delicious food, we had a great tour guide. It was a walking tour, so not only did we get to eat good food, get in our steps but we also got to walk around a cool neighborhood and learn about it’s history. This neighborhood offers a lot of history but it’s also become a trendy place with a Box Park, shipping containers that create a pop-up mall for shops and cafes. A few things we got to see: a Jewish soup kitchen, a brewery and cobblestone streets. I highly recommend going on this food tour or if nothing else explore this area on your own.
Headed on a vacation? Think about checking out to see if there’s a food tour offered in the area. Better yet….check out the city that you live in. Be a tourist in your own backyard.
Happy eating!
