[UK] FOOD GUIDE – WHERE TO EAT IN LONDON (Part 1)

Aside from the famous Fish and Chips, London has so many delicious things to offer, from the famous legendary places to new hipster hangout spots, it is filled with plentiful amount of interesting food both traditional and modern.

Goodbye #London. You have been lovely 🇬🇧 Big thanks to @UKinIndonesia @lovegreatbritain for the memorable and unforgettable trip ❤💙 #AnakJajan #TravelwithAnakJajan #AnakJajanUK #lovegreatbritain #ayokeUK #FoodisGREAT #travelgram

A video posted by ANAKJAJAN.COM (Julia & Marius) (@anakjajan) on Nov 23, 2015 at 4:15am PST

AnakJajan was invited to join a trip to London arranged by British Embassy Indonesia, the main objective of the #AnakJajanUK trip was to explore the richness of British culinary as a part of their #FoodisGREAT campaign. In this post, AnakJajan are going to show you the food scene in London and take you for a virtual culinary tour with us. Let’s start from the first recommended place to eat in London.

A mandatory shot of #London. Double decker bus and red phone booth 🚌☎🇬🇧 @UKinIndonesia @lovegreatbritain #AnakJajan #TravelWithAnakjajan #AnakJajanUK #LoveGreatBritain #AyokeUK

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COAL HOLE
Coal Hole was our first stop, it is very near to our hotel. We stayed at Strand Palace Hotel located conveniently in the central of London, just minutes away from Covent Garden, West End Theatres and subway station, surrounded by so many shops, cafe and restaurant.

Coal Hole is actually a pub with antique and vibrant atmosphere, most locals visit this place for drinks, besides that Coal Hole also serves various pub meals along with breakfast/ lunch/ dinner meals.

After 19hours long flight, we arrived in London around lunch time and we had our first meal at Coal Hole, here are the dishes we ordered: Steak Frites GBP 9.95, Glazed Chicken GBP 10.50, Gloucester Old Spot Sausages GBP 10.50 and Kentish Bramley Apple Crumble GBP 4.95.

You know, we often heard about how bland the food in this country but it’s all rumour only because the meal we had was surprisingly very delicious and flavorful. I had the Glazed Chicken which was very tender with nice char-grilled aroma along with smooth and well-seasoned mashed potato, then the dessert Kentish Bramley Apple Crumble was also superb! Buttery, juicy, not overly sweet with amazingly smooth custard.

Address:
Coal Hole
91-92 Strand, London, WC2R 0DW

Map:

TIPS: Tap water in London is safe to drink, most restaurants provide tap water for free.

RULES RESTAURANT
Located in Covent Garden, Rules is a heritage restaurant, it was established since 1798, it is apparently the OLDEST restaurant in London.

Considering the age of this restaurant, I’m pretty impressed by how well they maintain the restaurant in the best shape. The interior inside is very classic yet elegant with lots of historical items, unfortunately taking photo of the restaurant’s interior is not allowed, that’s why I only can show you the picture of our food. FYI, reservation is strongly recommended because this place is very popular.

If you’ve watched 007 James Bond movie ‘SPECTRE’, you will definitely aware that this place is one of the set location for the blockbuster movie.

Fillet of Loch Duart Salmon GBP 23.95
with mussels, carot puree, ginger beurre blanc

Braised Wild Rabbit in Cider GBP 23.95
with roast apple, prunes, mashed potato

Braised Pheasant GBP 22.95
with celery, mushroom, swiss chard, madeina sauce

Rules is specialized in traditional British food such as classic game cookery, oysters, pies and puddings. We enjoyed our dinner by ordering mostly wild game such as wild rabbit, pheasant, partridge, all of them are remarkable and flavorful, the meat was tender without any unpleasant smell at all and fully absorbed with balanced seasoning. Desserts were also impressing, the Sticky Toffee pudding was unbelievable!! Very rich, moist yet soft, one of the best I’ve ever had!

Roast Red Leg Partridge IDR 27.95
with wild mushrooms, creamed celeriac, red wine jus

Sticky Toffee Pudding GBP 7.95
with caramelized walnuts and creme fraiche

Selection of Ice Creams & Sorbets GBP 7.95

Pear & Cinnamon Bavarois GBP 7.95
with cocoa jelly & caramel sauce

Address:
Rules Restaurant
34-35 Maiden Lane, Covent Garden
London WC2E 7LB

Map:

PRET A MARGER
Pret a Marger is a huge chain in London serving ready-made sandwiches, breakfast menus, coffee, soups and salads you can find easily anywhere in the city.
Based on my observation, healthy eating lifestyle seems to be very common in London, you can find this kind of store that sells sandwiches or salads with fresh vegetables and fruits easily everywhere.

Pret a Marger opens early from 6.45AM on weekday or 8AM on weekend till 11PM, because I wanted to try other things for breakfast instead of hotel breakfast, me along with my travel mate decided to try sandwich, fruit salad, muffin sandwich, oat porridge and coffee, the ingredients were very fresh with clean taste, it was such a healthy way to start our day.

BTW, I had a funny experience there, I was taking picture of my fruit salad and then suddenly a stranger approached me and asked permission to take picture of my salad too. It was a funny yet memorable moment, happy to share the same passion with others 🙂

Address:
Pret a Marger
88 Strand, London WC2R 0DW, United Kingdom

Map:

M&S
Marks and Spencer is a major British multinational retailer in London. Here in M&S you can find various items from clothing, home products and luxury food products.

AnakJajan visited M&S Headquarter located in Oxford street, one of Europe’s busiest shopping street and also London’s most popular shopping destinations filled with exciting mix of high-street fashion and international brand.

The food section of M&S Foodhall is a true heaven for every foodie, it is filled with so many ready to eat and tasty looking freshly made items. On upper floor, you can also find M&S Cafe that serves various dishes from light bites to heavy meal.

Address:
Marks & Spencer Marble Arch
458 Ford Street, London, W1C 1AP

Map:

BOROUGH MARKET

A trip to London is not complete without a visit to Borough Market for every foodie. Borough Market is one of the largest and oldest food markets in London. The gourmet food market has more than 100 stalls and stands offering wide variety of British and international produce.

You can find various fresh produce such as fruits, vegetables, fish, meats, cheeses along with cooked items such as bread, cakes, patisseries, ice cream, paella, coffee, etc. The best days to visit Borough Market would be from Wednesday to Saturday because you get the whole experience of the full market while on Monday and Tuesday you can find hot food traders, and fruit and vegetable stalls.

Right in front of the market’s entrance, you can find Neal’s Yard Daily, a cheese specialty store where you can buy finest British cheeses that are carefully selected from cheesemakers from UK and Ireland. Full story on following link https://anakjajan.com/2015/12/18/london-borough-market/.

Address:
Borough Market
8 Southwark St, London SE1 1TL
Direction:
Around 4minutes from London Bridge Subway Station
Opening Day:
Monday – Saturday
Full Market Opening Hours:
Wednesday – Thursday 10.00 – 17.00
Friday 10.00 – 18.00
Saturday 08.00 17.00

FIFTEEN BY JAMIE OLIVER
Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen restaurant is a ‘non-profit’ restaurant where disadvantage youngsters are recruited and trained to become professional chefs through its Apprentice Programme.

We sat on bottom floor where we could see the hardworking and passionate young chefs doing their job. I must say that it is such an impressive programme.

Our meal in Fifteen is one of my most memorable meals in London, the Crab Bisque was super sweet and rich in sea flavor, Raviolo was cooked perfectly with al-dente texture of pasta and runny egg yolk along with comforting mushroom broth, also the Middle White pork chop with pickle garlic, parsley root and kale was nicely done, flavorful yet juicy.

Homemade Sourdough with Butter GBP 4

Mushroom Broth, Cep Raviolo, Egg Yolk, Corriander GBP 12

Dorset Crab Bisque, n’duja, Samphire GBP 11

Middle White Pork Chop GBP 22

Crispy Potato Cake with Fifteen Chili Ketchup GBP 4

Address:
Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen
15 Westland Place, London, N1 7LP
Opening hours:
Mon – Sat 12.00 – 15.00, 18.00 – 23.00
Sun 12.00 – 21.00

Map:

GRENADIER
London’s drinking scene is one of the best in the world, and to get the real drinking scene in London, one of a must visit pub in London is Grenadier.

Grenadier is a traditional cozy English pub that originally built in 1720 as the Officers Mess for The First Royal Regiment of Foot Guards, it is one of the oldest pubs in London with wide variety of drinks. The interior inside the pub is really quirky decorated with many banknotes or money from all around the world and spider web.

Address:
Grenadier
18 Wilton Row, Belgrave Square, London SW1X 7NR

Map:

POPPIES FISH AND CHIPS
Famous for its fish and chips, you cannot visit London without trying it. One of the best place for authentic fish and chips is at the famous and award winner Poppies Fish and Chips situated near Camden Market, a popular open-air market area full of stalls, shops, pubs and restaurants, Camden Market is also one of the many places where you can purchase souvenirs for relatives.

The restaurant has a nostalgic decor with quirky 1940s memorabilia on the walls, even the staffs wear cute retro style uniform. Specially for the traditional fish and chips, there are two options Cod fish or Haddock fish, one with thicker and short cut, and the other with thinner and wider cut with two options of portion Regular GBP 11.70 or Large GBP 14.90. The batter was very light and crispy while the fish was extremely juicy yet fresh.

Traditional Fish & Chips GBP 11.70 regular

Address:
Poppies Fish and Chips
30 Hawley Crescent, London NW1 8NP

Map:

Alright, I think this blogpost is long enough, you continue read the rest of the half on the second post on following link https://anakjajan.com/2016/02/12/uk-food-guide-where-to-eat-in-london-part-2/. Stay tuned! Let’s Travel!!