England 2018: Eating Europe Food Tour (Part Two)

At this point on our tour, we were all getting a little thirsty, so it was time for a pint at a pub called, The Pride of Spitalfields.

We sampled both beer and cider. I’m a huge cider fan, so even though it was still mid-morning, there is always room for cider.

Take a look at the bar! So many beers and ciders to try!

Two of the prime suspects in the infamous “Jack the Ripper” murders, used to drink at this pub, however, the best part of The Pride of Spitalfields, is they have a pub cat named Lenny. Lenny is channeling his best “Grumpy Cat” in this photo, but he was very friendly.

Palates cleansed, we headed to the oldest curry house on Brick Lane, Aladin.

My husband is English and he always praises the curries in England. He claims that we can’t get the same quality in the United States. I’ve not really felt this during my trips to the UK (fighting words, I know), but I have to admit that Aladin was the best curry that I have ever eaten. I was craving it after and I’m desperate to get my husband to try it the next time we are in London. It was delicious! We sampled several curry dishes, but I was only able to snap one photo, because the food was gobbled up so quickly. And yes, it was spicy!

At all of the stops, it is clear that our guides have a personal relationship with the business owners and it is a situation of mutual support for both the businesses and Eating Europe Tours. Our tour guide Emily, gave the owner of Aladin a big hug and had a friendly conversation. I love this aspect of it, as it never felt like we were an annoyance to the establishments that we visited. I was left with a strong impression that Eating Europe has a great working relationships with the businesses that they include on their tour stops.

My absolute favorite stop was next…I’m still craving it. Beigel Bake, which is pronounced “Buy-gul” and not “Bay-guy,” (and apparently they will call you out if you mispronounce it), serves a bagel with salt beef and hot mustard that is amazing. I loved it so much, that I gobbled up a second portion when it was offered. Hands down, this was not only my favorite sample on the tour, but the best thing that I’ve eaten in London.

Our last food stop was for dessert at a trendy Shoreditch restaurant called Pizza East. I was full from samples, but the pizza looked delicious here! We came for a slice of their famous salted caramel tart and a cup of tea. I’m a big fan of salted caramel and highly recommend saving room for this treat, if you dine at Pizza East. On vacation, dessert is mandatory!

Our tour ended after Pizza East, but there is one more aspect of the experience that I want to share. Eating Europe does not simply focus on the food, but they also include the history of the neighborhoods and on this tour, it included a lot of street art! The East End is full of street art, even some by Banksy. Clearly this could be its own tour, but I appreciate the holistic approach of Eating Europe, making it a well-rounded experience.

Take a look at some of the art and neighborhood streets.

And finally, we had a celebrity house sighting. Guess which celebrity this cool door knocker belongs to?

None other than actor Jonathan Price!

No, we didn’t knock.

Eating Europe is an amazing tour company and I highly recommend their tours for your next European vacation! You will not leave hungry or disappointed!

England 2018: Eating Europe Food Tour (Part One)

I’m here to sing the praises of a tour company called Eating Europe Tours. In 2015, I took their Jordaan Food Tour in Amsterdam (click here for that blog post.) It was the best thing that I did on my Amsterdam holiday. The magic of Eating Europe Tours is how they seamlessly blend food and culture with the history of the neighborhoods. Instead of trying to encapsulate an entire country or city, they focus on a region of the city and take a four hour deep dive into a local neighborhood.

Since my last experience with the company, they have expanded, changing their name to Eating Europe Tours, rather than their previous Eating Amsterdam or Eating London. As my husband was busy working, I purchased a single ticket for the morning East End London tour. I also was a solo traveler on the Amsterdam tour and although I was the only person on the tour traveling alone, I easily made friends in the group. My London guide, Emily, was fantastic at making everyone feel included and I know that she took a little extra care to make sure that I was comfortable. It was appreciated.

The tour started at the Old Spitalfields Market, a covered outdoor mall with trendy restaurants and shops.

I am perpetually on-time or early, something that was ingrained into me by my punctual mom. However, I misjudged the distance from my hotel and got lost, sending me into an absolute panic and causing me to arrive about fifteen minutes late. I called the tour office and asked them for help, also asking them to convey to Emily that I would figure out how to catch up with the group. Luckily, they had not traveled far and I had not missed our first stop. I was sheepish though and out of breath as I joined the others. Emily couldn’t have been nicer about it. I was mortified.

Our first stop was St. John Bread and Wine for their famous bacon sandwich.

St. John Bread and Wine is multiple award-winning, including a coveted Michelin Star. The restaurant focuses on “tail to snout” eating, creating dishes that utilize the whole animal.

The sandwich was not oversold. It was a decadent blend of salt and fat, with bread that was crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. It was complete with a hearty slice of thick, quintessentially British, bacon. I love British bacon.

The trick I learned from my food tour in Amsterdam, was not to eat too much. The samples are more than samples, they are mini-meals and it is easy to fill-up. Instead of wolfing down the samples, I savored every bite and often did not finish the entire sample. I wanted to make sure that I had room to enjoy everything.

The second stop was a family owned business called The English Restaurant, where we sampled a British classic, Bread and Butter Pudding.

Bread and Butter pudding was originally a dessert (or as the British call dessert=pudding) for the working class, often made of stale bread.

I got suck-up points for being the only person in the group who had eaten this before. My mother-in-law actually made it for me the previous week! I’m not quite sure what makes it different from “Bread Pudding",” which my American aunt used to make.

The English Restaurant is a picture perfect English pub, something ripped straight out of a Hugh Grant rom-com. Our group was the only one inside, so we had plenty of opportunity to take pictures. A few people even bought pints. It was ten am.

The tours are as much about history and art, as they are about food. As we walked through the streets of the East End, Emily pointed out landmarks, explaining how the neighborhood has changed over the decades.

Our third stop was for cheese samples at The House of Androuet. This cute shop is run by a pair of brothers, who explained several samples of English cheeses. On a previous vacation in England, we actually visited the place where cheddar cheese comes from: The Cheddar Gorge.

The samples were getting increasingly substantial, as we hit our mid-way point: Poppie’s Fish and Chips. Poppies is a chain-restaurant that has been around since the 50’s and it has a retro vibe. The owner, Poppie, can often be found greeting customers. We were served a sample of the fish and chips with a side of mushy peas. Poppies has the best fish and chips that I have ever eaten. My husband, who is English and very familiar with London, had never been and based on this experience, I talked it up, so he tried it on his most recent business trip. He approved and this is high-praise from a connoisseur of the dish.

I’m going to stop here and keep you in suspense for the second half of my Eating Europe Tours: London East End food review! Mouth-watering pictures coming up. Don’t read unless you have a full belly!

England 2018: Jack the Ripper Tour with Ripper Vision

Since high school, I’ve enjoyed reading true crime books and in particular, anything involving the mystery of Jack the Ripper. In the late 1800’s five prostitutes were brutally murdered in London’s Whitechapel neighborhood. A serial killer, whose identity has never been solved, taunted the police with cryptic letters signed “Jack the Ripper.” Not only is the identity of the murderer still a mystery, but he may have killed more than five people.

One of my London tourist goals was to take a Jack the Ripper crime tour. Even though his crimes occurred nearly a hundred and fifty years ago, the Ripper lore still captures the public’s imagination. To this end, there were many different Ripper tours to choose from. So many different tour companies in fact, that we shared space with other tours for a majority of the evening.

Naturally, a Ripper tour takes place at dusk for maximum effect.

I took the tour with my niece, Pippa, who lives in England. Pippa has been a great sport, joining me for various London outings. She was coming from class, so we met at the Whitechapel tube station. The Whitechapel tube station has several entrances/exits, on opposite sides of the street, so we had some confusion with meeting each other. If you’re taking the tube to a Ripper tour, I recommend allowing for extra time.

We planned to meet early enough for dinner and decided on sushi. I adore sushi and I have to say, we have awesome sushi in California. Even cheap sushi, is usually top-notch. I’ve not experienced good sushi in Europe or even within the US, when traveling outside of California.

Dinner was at a quick-serve chain restaurant called Wasabi Bento & Sushi. My visit was just two weeks after the royal wedding and I couldn’t resist trying the When Harry Met Meghan box. I have no idea what spicy tuna had to do with the royal couple, but it was a fun tie-in. That said, this was very much “not yummy California sushi,” but to be fair, it was also not freshly made.

For dessert, we had lattes and cakes at the ExMouth Coffee Company. I highly recommend this cute cafe, plus for a bonus, head to the bathroom where they have fun art on the wall and a nod to Jack.

Our guide was Ripper expert M.P. Priestley, who is also author of the book, Jack the Ripper: One Autumn in Whitechapel. As you might expect, he was selling copies of his book at the end of the tour. I like to always support authors, so I bought a copy, although I’ve not had the chance to read it. Throughout the tour, Priestley gave plenty of background information regarding the leading suspects, but when he gave the pitch to buy his book, he basically teased that the book would give his real, expert opinion on the true identity of the killer.

Here is Priestley in action, the guy in the grey cap.

I was pumped for this tour and after decades of interest, how could I not be? I’m not sure what I was actually expecting, but it definitely wasn’t even in the top twenty of favorite things that I’ve done in London. Priestley was a good tour guide: energetic, enthusiastic, and knowledgable. The walking tour lasted about 90 minutes and he was a good storyteller, setting the stage for the events as he took us to crime scene locations. In addition, he pointed out other London landmarks, like the Gherkin Building.

The Whitechapel area is certainly worth a visit. It has historic buildings and cobblestone streets that mix with modern businesses. Here are a few pictures.

As odd as it sounds to say this, I enjoyed seeing the crime scene sites and walking around Whitechapel. It brought to life everything that I had previously read. However, the tour didn’t add any new information to what I already knew. If anything, the information felt basic, like Wikipedia level and was perhaps best-suited for those with limited knowledge of the case.

Everyone on our tour was intrigued by the promise of “Ripper Vision.” We didn’t know what to expect, but it felt like it would give added value when compared to other tour operators. We were taken under a bridge and Priestley cast pictures from the Ripper case on to a wall. This was “Ripper Vision.” I guess it was nice, but they hype made me think it would be more impressive. It really wasn’t much better than if he had passed around a few laminated photos.

Behold! Ripper Vision!

The tour wasn’t very expensive. I think about twenty pounds each. I’m glad that I took it, otherwise it would have always been on my London bucket list. That said, I’m not sure that I would recommend it. There are so many amazing things to do in London, including great tours, that the Ripper Tour didn’t come close to matching with regarding to the quality or being memorable.