When it is safe to come back to London – and that could be later this summer – then it is
safe to say visitors will not probably always want to eat in the capital’s top restaurants.
So join the trend and go for street food. It’s inexpensive. And providing the weather is dry (London is
never as rainy as Hollywood wants you to believe) or you can find one of the many places that provide shelter, it’s a good way to extend your eating experience.
Once upon a time, street food was limited to fish’n’chips or, less often and less spread across the city,
variations on seafood such as jellied eels or winkles.
But growing for the past decade or so has been other types of food.
There is little you cannot find – it comes from Africa, the Americas, Australia, and you can work through
the alphabet yourself. Anything that suggests the Indian sub-continent is really popular.
But to really work it has to be something you can hold in your hands without too many utensils. This is
not silver service.
Street food is more of a lunchtime experience – typically (but not always) served from the back of mobile trucks, it has grown to serve office workers who want something more than a sandwich. And because much of the food is served hot, people eat it on the spot.
If it is not from a stall in the street, then there are plenty of cafes and other establishments which provide street food. Some even use the phrase “street food” in their title.
It’s all over London and other big cities in the UK. But some of the best places to check out the variety
are found in street markets. Some such as Exmouth Street (not far from Farringdon station and
convenient for the ballet at Saddlers Wells) are now nearly all food stalls. Others such as Leather Lane
(not that far from Holborn and Chancery Lane stations) have a mix of stalls and more traditional
stallholders.
Expect to pay around £6 for a meal – plus a drink if you want. There are no service charges and the price
shown is what you pay (sales tax or VAT has to be in the list price). Most street food outlets take bank
cards – preferably contactless.
Finally, how to you know good from bad (well, I’ve not found bad but I have discovered indifferent)?
Look for the queue!!! If people are willing to wait in a line for a time, then the end product is likely to be
good.
Get more tips and venues location from our guides during your next tour in UK