What to Eat in London: The 21 Best Things

Wondering what to eat in London? Let’s be honest, British food doesn’t exactly have the best reputation. People love to joke that everything is beige, boiled, or bizarre – and TBH, there is a lot of brown food.

But if you’re visiting London and want to eat your way through the classics without wasting time or meals on the duds, this list is for you. Having lived in London for five years, I think it’s about the weather (as with everything in Britain).

The food here is comforting, hearty, and nostalgic, which suits the rain and grey skies perfectly. There is absolutely nothing like a Sunday roast in a cosy pub on a cold day, and I genuinely think the food is a big part of why Londoners stay so cheerful, despite the weather.

Here are 21 of the most iconic things to eat in London, and where to find them.

The Most Famous Food in London

The 13 classic things you absolutely must try when in London.

1. A Full English Breakfast

A full English is an absolute must, and should ideally be had on your first morning in London. They usually consist of fried eggs, bacon, pork sausages, baked beans, toast, sometimes tomatoes, mushrooms, hash browns, and black pudding.

Black pudding is a sausage made from animal blood, and a few slices are often served with an English breakfast. If you don’t want it, just ask for your breakfast to be served without it, or don’t eat it – I’ve survived five years here without sampling it, and nobody seems to have been offended.

The best place in London to get an English breakfast is the Breakfast Club, which has lots of locations. If it’s the weekend, get a breakfast cocktail – I had a marmalade gin for breakfast, complete with toast crumbs, at the Breakfast Club on my first ever trip to London, which was very memorable.

2. A Sunday Roast

Perfect British comfort food, most pubs will serve Sunday roasts on Sundays (and be warned, a lot of them won’t serve anything else on Sundays). Make sure you are hungry when you arrive, and carve out some time for a nap afterwards.

A Sunday roast consists of your choice of protein (usually chicken, lamb, beef, or pork, and there is usually a vegetarian or vegan option too), plus vegetables, very crispy roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, and gravy.

I must confess that I took a while to come round to Yorkshire puddings. They are a savoury side dish made from egg, milk, and flour, and I find them quite flavourless. In comparison to a lovely, golden, crispy roast potato, for example, they are a sad second.

But it was recently explained to me that they are merely a vessel for the gravy, and that’s when it all clicked – they’re even shaped like miniature gravy boats. The trick is to ask for your gravy to be served on the side, rather than poured over the food. Trust me on this, your Yorkshire pudding will be a million times better before the gravy makes it soggy.

You can get a Sunday roast at almost any English pub, but I’m quite fussy about them (and I like a nice wine list too) – generally, avoid pubs in big chains. These places serve the best ones:

• The Holly Bush – Ok, breaking my own rule because the Holly Bush is actually a Fuller’s pub, but the menu is excellent, and this is easily the best Sunday roast I’ve had in London. For a perfect London Sunday, have a walk in Hampstead Heath afterwards.

• The Albion – We had the roast here on a recent chilly Autumn Sunday (perfect roast conditions), and it was excellent.

• The Marksman – The Marksman makes ridiculously good food. It is also very close to the Columbia Road Flower Market, so it’s perfect for after your Sunday flower browsing.

• The Duke of Cambridge – They claim to be Britain’s first organic pub, and the Sunday roasts are really good. They often have a fish option for their Sunday roasts, which is quite unique. One downside is that they sometimes don’t have Yorkshire puddings, as apparently organic eggs can be difficult to source reliably.

• The Culpeper – A sister restaurant to the Duke of Cambridge, so you know the food is great (plus they have a fab cocktail menu). They also have a rooftop garden, which is perfect for Sunday lunches in the summer.

You should make a reservation for a Sunday roast in advance. It is pretty much a compulsory activity for Londoners, and even if there is space, pubs often run out of roasts by mid-afternoon on Sundays.

3. Fish and Chips

You can get fish and chips at almost any British pub, but fish and chip shops are everywhere too – the best one is Poppie’s in Spitalfields. White fish is battered and deep-fried, and served with crispy chips.

If you’re after a more unusual London delicacy, try jellied eels, a fish and chip shop speciality. They originate in East London and are a bit of a cultural legend. Eels are cooked in a stock which cools to form a jelly (you will be pleased to know that the eels served in London fish and chip shops no longer originate in the Thames).

4. Bangers and Mash

Pork sausages served with onion gravy and a lot of very creamy mashed potatoes, this is the perfect example of British comfort food – warm, simple, and feels home-cooked. I will never forget the first time I had bangers and mash at a London pub, the first time I ever visited.

You can get them at pretty much any pub, but try the Narrowboat, the Churchill Arms, or Mother Mash.

5. Curry

This may surprise you, but the British are absolutely curry-obsessed. My husband and I play a game every time we are in a very tiny British town, where we try to prove to ourselves that it doesn’t have an Indian restaurant. Thus far, we haven’t been able to find a single one – it seems compulsory for every town, even the ones without much else, to have an Indian restaurant.

The best place for a curry in London is Dishoom – try the chicken ruby or the house black dahl, with a garlic naan, and thank me later.

The only slight downside to Dishoom is that you can’t make a dinner booking unless you have a large group, which sometimes means you have to queue from quite early (on the upside, if it’s winter, a Dishoom dinner shouldn’t mess with your circadian rhythm too much, as it gets dark before 5 pm).

If that doesn’t work, you can’t go wrong with a curry on Brick Lane, London’s most famous road for all things curry – get a chicken tikka masala, which is actually a British curry creation.

You can, of course, combine your curry experience with your pub experience. Go to the Tamil Crown or the Tamil Prince in Islington, which both serve excellent Indian food in a pub setting.

6. Pies

I realise “pies” is a slightly vague category, but there are an absolutely enormous number of iconic London pies to be had.

Pie and mash is a pub staple, as is a steak and ale pie, which is sometimes served with chips instead of mash. There are also pork pies, which are usually served cold, and which sometimes come in a Ploughman’s Platter.

If you’re not getting a pie at a pub, try them here:

• Mother Mash, which serves pie and mash (and also bangers and mash).

• F Cooke in Hoxton, for classic East London pies in a very traditional restaurant, which are served with mash, mushy peas, and “liquor”, which is a green herby gravy.

• On the absolute other end of the pie spectrum, go to the Holborn Dining Room at the Rosewood Hotel for very upmarket pies (and you can take dogs!).

7. A Sausage Roll

A sausage roll is sausage meat wrapped in pastry, and an English staple. It is very portable, so good for having on the go (although if you get a good one, the pastry flakes make walking while eating a bit challenging).

You can get them at almost any bakery, and lots of Londoners will say Gregg’s, the famous British bakery chain, is their favourite, but these are my favourites:

• The De Beauvoir Deli – They make the absolute best baked goods. My husband had to ban me from using our joint grocery card here.

• Gail’s Bakery – They have lots of locations, and they make all sorts of baked delights and great coffee (separately, the chicken parmesan sandwich here will change your life).

• Jolene Bakery – Delicious sausage rolls, cakey items, and coffee.

8. A Scotch Egg

A Scotch egg is an egg wrapped in sausage meat and then crumbed and deep-fried (so imagine a hybrid of basically every English staple – an English-breakfast-sausage-roll-fish-and-chips-hybrid, if you will).

Scotch eggs are served in many pubs, often as a lunchtime item or a snack. If you get one with an actual runny yolk, you know you’ve won in life – your best bet is the Flask or the Pig and Butcher, or Fortnum and Mason, which apparently invented them (at the Parlour).

9. Beef Wellington

A Beef Wellington is a large piece of fillet steak, wrapped in pâté, and then in pastry. They are notoriously difficult to cook, and they have an old-school, bougie British charm to them.

Gordon Ramsay would be quite horrified to hear this, but I think of them as a very upmarket, very large version of a sausage roll. Get them at Bob Bob Ricard (I love it here – there is a “Press for Champagne” button!) or Fortum and Mason’s 45 Jermyn Street.

10. A Ploughman’s Lunch

We discovered the concept of Ploughman’s Lunches during the lockdown, and went all in on them. Think of a Ploughman’s Lunch like a cheese and charcuterie board, but make it pub food (so slightly less bougie).

Ploughman’s Lunches always feature a British cheese, usually cheddar, and bread (not crackers). There is usually also ham and sliced apple, and sometimes boiled eggs. Occasionally, you might get a pork pie with your Ploughman’s too.

There are then pickles (as in gherkins or pickled onions) as well as pickle – this can cause some confusion, but “pickle” in the UK refers to a jarred chutney sauce, Branston Pickle, which is always served with a Ploughman’s lunch.

Yes, pickles and pickle – I also thought I understood the English language until I moved to England.

You are more likely to see a Ploughman’s lunch on a pub menu in the summer, but they aren’t as easy to find in London as they are in the country. Get one at the Flask in Hampstead, or at Gordon’s Wine Bar.

11. A Salt Beef Bagel

I have a very soft spot for Brick Lane bagels because when I moved to London, mid-lockdown, I had to self-isolate when I initially arrived. I was then able to venture out for a single day before another version of a lockdown was announced.

On my single day of freedom, I walked to Brick Lane for a breakfast bagel, and it was like no other bagel I had ever had, or have had since. It was bacon and cream cheese, but so full to bursting that I didn’t need to eat for the rest of the day.

Salt beef bagels are a London classic, particularly on Brick Lane – Beigel Shop, and Beigel Bake, a few shops down, are both open 24 hours a day. Here’s a tip: if you want a salt beef bagel, go to Bagel Bake, but if you prefer bacon and cream cheese, go to Beigel Shop (which has been around since the 1800s!), with the yellow signage.

12. A Doner Kebab

I am continuously fascinated that doner kebabs, which are essentially wraps, are the British party-goer’s post-party food of choice. Although they are meaty, I consider doner kebabs pretty healthy – sliced meat, salad (!!), and sauce, in a wrap.

I find this surprising because the preferred post-party food when I was a student was McDonald’s or something in that vein. Despite this, kebabs are universally beloved all over London, and kebab shops are open very late. When I go to a kebab shop, my order is chips with mayo, which is a kebab shop classic, but most importantly, it is suitably unhealthy.

13. Welsh Rarebit

This is sometimes spelled “Welsh Rabbit”, but no rabbits are involved!

I first had one years ago when my (now) husband made me one when we were students. It sealed the deal, and I knew I had to marry him. It’s also how I knew I had to move to London, where they serve them in pubs.

A Welsh rarebit is essentially cheese on toast, but it is so much more than that. The toast is cooked in the oven so that the cheese melts to golden perfection, and there are additions such as mustard, beer, and Worcestershire sauce, and sometimes also an egg (which makes the sauce creamier).

If you needed any more convincing, they were apparently a favourite of Jane Austen. A lot of pubs serve them at lunch time, but if you want a bougier version, get one at the Fortnum and Mason Wine Bar.

The Best Desserts to Have in London

14. Afternoon Tea

Afternoon tea at Fortnum and Mason in London

IMHO, afternoon tea is the greatest of all British traditions. What could be better than a tiered platter of sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and jam, cakey items, a pot of tea, and sometimes a glass of bubbles? Answer: nothing.

A warning if you’ve never had an afternoon tea before: don’t make the mistake of starting with the sweet things, as you’ll make yourself sick too soon in the process. It’s all about pacing yourself – start savoury, with the sandwiches, then have the scones, and then have the sweet stuff.

I was quite surprised by how political scones are to the British. There is a massive debate over whether you spread the clotted cream on first, and then top it with jam, or whether you put the jam on first, and then the clotted cream on afterwards.

To me, if you’re using clotted cream (which is usually the case in the UK), which has a similar consistency to butter, it makes perfect sense that it goes first. If you’re using fresh, whipped cream, which is lighter in consistency, it makes sense that the jam goes first.

I once made the grave error of mentioning this logic to British people, and I was promptly told to shut up. It seems that engaging in any sort of debate on the cream/jam order is like discussing the NHS or Boris Johnson, so you’re safer just enjoying your scone in silence or talking about the weather.

You can get an afternoon tea at most upmarket British hotels, but here are my favourites:

• The Fortnum and Mason Tea Room – We were gifted a voucher for afternoon tea here one Christmas, and it was easily my favourite London afternoon tea. The tea room is opulent and lovely, the food is amazing, and the store is absolutely stunning.

• The Orangery – I came here on a girls’ trip before I lived in London, and absolutely loved it (we chose it because it is attached to Kensington Palace and we were hoping to catch a glimpse of William and Kate, but no dice – the afternoon tea was great though!).

• Ham Yard Hotel – We came here for afternoon tea on our first ever trip to London, and it was excellent.

• The Gin Bus Afternoon Tea – A more recent girls’ trip afternoon tea experience, and absolutely fabulous! Your afternoon tea is served to you while you sit on a bus that tours London, and there are gin cocktails to go along with it.

• Great Scotland Yard Hotel – They allow dogs, and they are situated very close to Buckingham Palace, across from the Horse Guards Parade.

• Roast, Borough Market – High Tea at a restaurant which overlooks Borough Market, this place is well-priced and centrally located. The views would be lovely in winter.

• Ladurée – Yes, it’s French, but it does a great afternoon tea.

And others on my afternoon tea wishlist:

• Peggy Porschen
• Claridges Hotel

15. Sticky Toffee Pudding

My favourite British dessert, but the one that constantly eludes me – they are not all made equal (like the university boyfriend who was crap more often than not, but who you couldn’t stop going back to because when he was great, he was like no other. Thank goodness for graduation.).

My husband says I should stop ordering them because I am so often disappointed, but when you love something, you never give up on it.

When sticky toffee is good, it’s great. A sponge cake, served warm, with toffee sauce poured over it, and usually some vanilla ice-cream – absolutely delicious. But when they’re bad, they’re terribly disappointing – stale or rubbery sponge or too-sweet toffee.

The best one I’ve had in London was at the Duke of Cambridge, but they change their menu often, so it’s not always there (it continues to elude me!!). I haven’t tried the one at Hawksmoor or Mother Mash, but people rave about both.

16. Eton Mess

English summers tend to be quite short, but they are honestly so lovely – the UK feels like an entirely different country in the summer. There are endless picnics and drinks in the sunshine, really long days, and everyone is in a good mood.

An Eton mess is an English dessert that fits the vibe of English summers perfectly – strawberries, whipped cream, and crumbled meringue. A lot like a pavlova, but with the meringue crumbled, for a casual, carefree, summer vibe.

Get one at Brown’s, Hawksmoor, or the Ivy.

17. Victoria Sponge

Another summery cakey item, a Victoria sponge is a light sponge cake layered with strawberry jam and cream, and the cake is usually uniced (or “naked” as they say these days). This adds to its lightness and easy summer vibe.

You can get a Victoria Sponge anywhere that serves cake (see the afternoon tea list above), but also at almost any grocery store. A great surprise about British grocery store cakes is that they are actually reliably good – the Victoria Sponge at Marks and Spencer is a lovely treat.

18. Percy Pigs

A lot of people’s absolute nightmare, skip this if you don’t like sweets (I actually had 20 things on this list before I realised I couldn’t possibly leave Percies out).

I love a Percy Pig, and before I moved to London, I always made a point of getting them when I visited. Now I take them back home as examples of the peak of British culinary charm, like people bring chocolates back from Switzerland, and everyone loves them.

Basically, these are pink gummy sweets, shaped like a pig, and themed for almost anything you can imagine – they make Christmas ones, Halloween ones, the list goes on. You can only get them at Marks and Spencer.

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Londoners love a beverage. Thursday night is the new Friday night in London.

19. A Proper Pub Pint

If you’re a beer drinker, London pubs will be heaven for you. A pint is just over half a litre of draught beer, served from the tap, not bottled or canned (you can also get a half pint).

Pints are available in every London pub, but you want one that gives classic London vibes – a dark wooden bar and brass accents (preferably also a wise old barman, although they are harder to come by). Try these:

• The Churchill Arms – Covered in flowers outside and eccentric paraphernalia inside, this is every tourist’s favourite London pub.

• The Narrowboat – One of my favourites, on the Regent’s Canal, and with consistently nice food.

• The Spaniards Inn – Allegedly haunted and definitely charming (and Harry Styles loves it here!).

• The Mayflower – Thames views and old-school atmosphere.

20. Pimm’s

Pimm’s is technically a spirit, but it is very low alcohol – I think this is the appeal. It gives student punch vibes, but in a classy, English summer kind of way.

Pimm’s is usually served with lemonade or ginger ale, and always seasonal fruit, like strawberries and cucumbers, for the perfect summer drink (separately, do yourself a favour and try an English strawberry in summertime, there is nothing like it).

Almost all pubs will serve Pimm’s during the summer, but you want one that has a garden or is on the water. Try the Spaniards Inn, the Albion, the Narrowboat, the Mayflower, the Prospect of Whitby, the Horniman at Hay’s, or the Lighterman.

21. Gin and Tonic

I am a wine drinker, rather than a beer drinker, and I spent my first few years in London grumbling about the inconsistency of the wine served in London pubs – unless you’re at a pub known for its wine list, don’t expect anything amazing. This seems particularly unfair given how easy a time beer drinkers have in London pubs.

I’ve now decided to stop chasing things that aren’t for me, since I realised that the humble G&T, like the reliable English man in your life, is the perfect standby (been here all along, so why can’t you seeeeeee?). They are consistently good and always available.

Ask for a Tanqueray and tonic, with grapefruit or orange if possible, for a perfect London drink. You can get one in any pub. They’re great in summer, but work perfectly in winter as well, if you don’t want wine – they really are a perfect substitute for beer under any circumstance.

Ready to Eat Your Way Through London?

From pub classics to picnic treats, London’s food scene is anything but beige, and ticking off these iconic eats is the best way to get a true taste of the city.

Bookmark this list, plan your meals accordingly, and don’t be surprised when you develop a full-blown Percy Pig food fixation.

Let me know if I’ve missed one of your favourites, or if you’ve found a great sticky toffee pudding, or a roast better than the one at the Holly Bush. I’m always looking for an excuse to do another “field test”…