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!