snackin' around: london town
the one where she learns the london bridge is not the one with the towers
hey hey hello!
Welcome back to snackin’ around- the column where I either tell you about my monthly food faves or all about the food I ate in a city I visited WOO.
Today we’re talking all about London. Which you guys, is actually such a good food city. I know there’s a little debate about “oh who goes to London for the food?” Me. I go anywhere for the food. The food in London was pretty much all amazing and delicious with just a few bites I was kinda meh about. That being said, I didn’t have any distinctly British cuisine (aside from my first ever sticky toffee pudding). No full English breakfast or bangers and mash here! Which you know, honestly British food still seems right up my alley, it’s just a lot of meat and potatoes.
oh and btw!! I’m starting a support group for Americans who go to the London bridge and are disappointed to learn uhhh it’s in fact not impressive and not the one with two towers. That would be the Tower Bridge… yeah..
ANYways, as per usual, this is not a city guide. Though I think this is the first time I traversed a city in a way that makes sense. But, yeah not a city guide, rather just a run down of thoughts on everything I ate and drank while in London. Also per usual 95% of the spots I hit were recommended via IG stories. Here is the map to all the spots recommended and my disclaimer I am not the one who recc’d these so if you visit and you hate them… take it up with the fellow bake chat baddies and not me!!
ok ok ok enough yapping! time to get into MORE YAPPIN’ but just about food.
xx
DAY ONE
Skehan’s Free Hand- Lewisham, London
Getting into London and finding my way to my bnb was arduous. I’m not gonna get too into it but it was a journey to say the least. When I finally arrived my lovely, lovely host Stephanie offered to buy me a beer from the pub on the corner. The place was a freaking vibe okay. Live music. Thai food and a lovely outdoor patio. To me beer is beer is beer. But, I really fell in love with this place and would end every night with a pint before walking home. If you find yourself out in Lewisham it’s worth stopping in for a drink or two.
DAY TWO
Humble Crumble- Borough Market (Multiple locations)
I got the classic apple crumble with hot custard and I’ve been converted to a hot custard on everything girl since visiting London. (Not in a hot ice cream tyra banks way… that’s not okay!!) The apples were nice and tart, perfectly cooked. I think the apples could have used a little more cinnamon and a touch more salt overall. The crumble component itself was not my favorite. It was a little stale imo and on the softer side. I like a crumble with a little bit of a bite to it.
oh and i’d skip the meringue on top- it really didn’t add much
Black Pig- Borough Market
This stall is right across from Humble Crumble and I was in need of something savory after the crumble (I’m on vacation and I WILL start the day with crumble if I want to). After watching countless sandwiches walk by me, I had to try one for myself. I got “The Best One” a sandwich stuffed with slow-cooked pork, honey truffle mayo, apple fennel slaw, salsa verde, and topped with a heaping amount of Parmesan cheese. This sandwich was flavorful. FLAVOR FULL. The meat was incredibly tender and juicy. Overall the sandwich is balanced the rich and fatty pork is cut by the slaw which was light and refreshing. Definitely a sandwich worth sharing- especially if you’re wanting to hit multiple stalls at the market.
Bread Ahead- Borough Market (Multiple Locations)
The CCC was perfectly baked or underbaked depending on how you look at it. The center had a texture similar to breaking a peppermint patty in half and a crisp outer layer. *Almost* my ideal CCC but it was in need of a little kick of salt. Other than that, this is exactly what I want out of a chocolate chip cookie.
I was really excited for the garlic twistie. It looks and smells unbelievable. But, it was incredibly hard to bite through, I almost had to gnaw on it to get a piece off. The flavor was I mean its garlicky and buttery, heavenly. But, I could not get past the texture. Would unfortunately skip this one in the future.
Hawksmoor- Southwark (Multiple locations)
Came for the sticky toffee pudding, sat through the steak. I did the 2 course lunch special with the steak, which I ordered medium and it came out well done RIP. I’m not someone to send a dish back unless it’s absolutely egregious and inedible, so I powered through, it’s literally not the end of the world. Little bit of a bummer to get an over cooked steak at a place that’s pretty known for it’s steak. But, biiiiitch the flavor on that steak? Immaculate. One of the most perfectly seasoned steaks I’ve ever had and I can only imagine how perfect it would have been with a lil pink on her.
What I actually came here for though was the sticky toffee pudding. My first ever!! Which, I see. I get it. The hype. It came with a quenelle of clotted cream (also a first timer here!!!) Which I think is perfect, that rich fatty cream cuts through the almost sickly sweet toffee. And I think I’m now in love with clotted cream and dreaming up ways to use it and really break it into the US- we really aren’t living right now without it. It’s like butter but sexier. I’m sure other sticky toffs are just as good so if you’re near a Hawksmoor location, it’s worth the try but not worth going out of your way for
shared with the one and only sophie bamford!! ngl was fangirling hard!! Spring Street Pizza- Southwark
All the pizzas I’ve had along this trip were Neopolitan style and at this point in my trip I’m craving a New York style slice of pizza. Which I found at Spring Street. Be warned, this is a place to go with a group, all the pizzas are massivo at 18”. A tad too much pizza for a lonesome gal. That being said, this is a pretty fair representation of a New York slice. The crust is impossibly thin and crisp which I love. I got well, the New Yorker: mozz, pepp, jalapenos and hot honey. The jalapenos were chopped up pretty fine which I LOVE and appreciate so much. It made it easier to eat- not that eating through a whole sliced jalapeno is anything difficult but you know what I’m saying. The amount of honey was also perf, some places wildly overdo it with the honey- this one wasn’t too sweet.
I will say though, they had an orange wine on the menu and you can absolutely hard skip that. Unless you like the taste of cherries soaked in rubbing alcohol <3333
DAY THREE
TOAD Bakery- Camberwell
I think? The best bakery of the trip btw. The staff was incredibly friendly here. It’s tiny and you probably will have to wait in line for a minute but I think it’s worth it.
The lamination here is insane. It’s perfect. Everything was light and flakey. I got the porchetta honey butter swirl. Nice and salt with a hint of sweetness coming through from the honey.
I also had the cornbread croissant. I normally do not fuck with a pan suisse style croissant. I find the brittle lines of pastry to eat a little almost stale? I can’t fully put into words what I mean- but yeah, usually I will stray away from a pan suisse. But, they got me with the cornbread. A little kick from the jalapenos. I do wish she had a little more corn but overall this bitch was banging.
Jolene’s- Islington (Multiple Locations)
The sausage roll here was impressively filled. I find that sometime times when you stuff puff or croissant dough with sausage it had a tendency to sort of almost fall from the pastry and leaves it looking a little empty or sparse but this baddie was filled to the brim with no signs of shrinkage. Stunning lam, nice and flavorful.
Also got the victoria sponge. Which is another first for me. Nicola tells me though this one wasn’t the greatest representation of what a victoria sponge could be. Without trying others I might agree. The cake layers were nice- a little dense. The buttercream filling though was very grainy and sweet.
Pophams- Islington (Multiple Locations)
If a place is apparently known for a maple bacon croissant, you know what I’m getting? Ya. The maple bacon croissant. There’s really no going wrong here. A thick cut of really good bacon wrapped up in literally the crispiest crunchiest croissant dough and slathered with a little maple? okay yeah perfect.
We also got the cocoa nib flan, which had a very nice set and texture to it. Which you know can be hard to achieve on a Parisiene flan. I do find them to be curdled 9/10 but this one was not that. A nice light cocoa nibby flavor with a bittersweet chocolate crust.
Fallow- St. James’s
THE STAR OF THE TRIP!! I literally came to London for Fallow- which is a lot of pressure to put on a restaurant. More so, I came for the Chelsea tart which is even omre pressure to put on a single dessert. Ya know what, don’t regret it. This was worth adding an extra stop to my trip!!
I started off with the fig miso cocktail. Let me tell you they pour a strong drink. I didn’t get much of that fig leaf flavor but the miso came through making the drink a little salty and lightly sweet.
For my main I got the dairy cow burger. A great burger. Not much else to say one it. Pretty classic build, nothing crazy. Simple food, done well. I also got a side of the Hispi cabbage and chorizo. Now that bitch was bumpin’. So salty. Maybe like a little too salty for the average person but momma loves her some salt (unless you’re my doctor then I def limit my sodium intake). And also like the first veg I had in a week! I LOVE VACATION.
Now for the actual main course- dessert. Thee Chelsea Tart. I’m starting off with- I do watch the making of this tart often. I feel a certain level of almost kinship with this tart… I am unhealthily obsessed with this tart is what I am trying to say. Like I said earlier, I came to London for this tart and she was worth it. It’s like a caramel custard tart on crack. The caramelized whey gives it a deep caramel flavor, slightly bitter, and with a little tangy from the whey. The texture? The texture is nuts, so creamy, dense and lush. So now, I think about her mmmm at least 3 times a day thinking of how to recreate her at home. worth worth worth it.
And thus concludes the recap of every bite I had on this vacation- hopefully this helps to inform you on where to eat if you ever find yourself in London or Copenhagen
I’ll be in New York City next month so be sure to drop your reccs in the comments and I’ll talk to you baddies soon ♡
I neeed that sticky toffee pudding and chelsea tart in my life! When are your recipes comingggg?! 🤭