Food · London · United Kingdom
What to eat in London
The dishes, drinks and food experiences that define London, and where locals actually eat them.
Updated By the AMZBooking editorial team
Photo: Ilya Grigorik, CC BY-SA 3.0
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Quick answer
Start with Full English breakfast, Fish and chips and Sunday roast. Borough Market by London Bridge, the weekend stalls of Maltby Street under the railway arches and Old Spitalfields Market are the places to taste your way through British cheese, bread and street food at lunchtime. A discretionary service charge of about 12.5% is often added to restaurant bills; check the bill before tipping again.
Key facts
- Signature dish
- Full English breakfast
- Vegetarian-friendly picks
- 3
- Tipping
- Tipping about 10–12.5% is normal in sit-down restaurants when no service charge has been…
- Food experiences
- 4
10 foods to try
Breakfast
1.Full English breakfast
Fried eggs, bacon, sausages, baked beans, grilled tomato, mushrooms, toast and often black pudding: the full English is a weekend institution and a filling start to a long day of sightseeing.
Where: Traditional cafés ('caffs') and pubs across the city; vegetarian versions with meat-free sausages are easy to find.
Dish
2.Fish and chips
Cod or haddock in crisp batter with thick-cut chips, mushy peas and tartare sauce, usually sprinkled with salt and malt vinegar. It is best eaten fresh from a chippy, wrapped to take away.
Where: Fish-and-chip shops ('chippies') across London and many pubs; Friday is the traditional fish day.
Dish
3.Sunday roast
Roast beef, lamb, pork or chicken with roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, seasonal vegetables and gravy, served from Sunday lunchtime onwards. Most pubs offer a vegetarian roast too.
Where: Pubs all over the city; popular ones fill up, so book a table for Sunday lunch.
Dish
4.Pie and mash
The old East End working lunch: a minced-beef pie with mashed potato and 'liquor', a green parsley sauce, sometimes with jellied eels on the side. A handful of family-run pie-and-mash shops keep the tradition going.
Where: Historic shops such as M. Manze on Tower Bridge Road in Bermondsey.
Snack · Vegetarian
5.Afternoon tea
Finger sandwiches, warm scones with clotted cream and jam, and small cakes on tiered stands with pots of tea. It ranges from a modest café version to elaborate sittings in grand hotels.
Where: Hotels in Mayfair and Piccadilly, department stores such as Fortnum & Mason, and museum cafés for lower-priced versions.
Dish
6.Curry
South Asian cooking is part of everyday London eating. Chicken tikka masala and balti are British-Asian classics, but regional food from Bangladesh, Punjab, Gujarat, Kerala and Sri Lanka is just as easy to find, with plenty of vegetarian dals and curries.
Where: Brick Lane for Bangladeshi curry houses, Tooting and Southall for South Asian neighbourhood cooking, and Drummond Street near Euston for South Indian vegetarian food.
Street food
7.Salt beef beigel
Thick slices of hot salt beef with sharp mustard in a chewy bagel ('beigel' in the East End spelling), sold around the clock by long-established Brick Lane bakeries.
Where: The 24-hour beigel bakeries at the northern end of Brick Lane in Shoreditch.
Snack
8.Scotch egg
A boiled egg wrapped in sausage meat, coated in breadcrumbs and fried. The best London versions have a soft, runny yolk and are served warm with mustard.
Where: Gastropubs and stalls at Borough Market.
Dessert · Vegetarian
9.Sticky toffee pudding
A moist date sponge soaked in toffee sauce and served with custard, cream or vanilla ice cream — the pub dessert of choice on a cold evening.
Where: Pub and British restaurant menus all over London.
Drink · Vegetarian
10.Cask ale (Real ale)
Traditional British beer conditioned in the cask and pulled by hand pump at cellar temperature, so it is less fizzy and less cold than lager. Bitter, mild, porter and stout are the classic styles.
Where: Historic pubs around Fleet Street and the City, and the brewery taprooms in railway arches along Bermondsey's 'Beer Mile'.
Food experiences
Market grazing
Borough Market by London Bridge, the weekend stalls of Maltby Street under the railway arches and Old Spitalfields Market are the places to taste your way through British cheese, bread and street food at lunchtime.
Sunday roast in a pub
A long Sunday lunch in a historic pub, ideally one with a fire in winter or a garden in summer, is a London ritual; book ahead, as the best fill up by early afternoon.
Afternoon tea
Booking a hotel or department-store afternoon tea is a classic London treat; museum cafés and tea rooms serve simpler versions with the same scones and clotted cream for much less.
Chinatown and Soho eating
The streets around Gerrard Street and Wardour Street pack in dim sum, hand-pulled noodles, Hong Kong bakeries and small-plates restaurants, making them easy for a quick, good-value dinner before the theatre.
Quick bites and street food
- Full English breakfast — Traditional cafés ('caffs') and pubs across the city; vegetarian versions with meat-free sausages are easy to find.
- Afternoon tea — Hotels in Mayfair and Piccadilly, department stores such as Fortnum & Mason, and museum cafés for lower-priced versions.
- Salt beef beigel — The 24-hour beigel bakeries at the northern end of Brick Lane in Shoreditch.
- Scotch egg — Gastropubs and stalls at Borough Market.
Vegetarian options
Of the 10 foods in this guide, 3 are usually vegetarian: Afternoon tea, Sticky toffee pudding and Cask ale. Check preparation with staff, as stocks and fats vary.
Eating out: tips and etiquette
- A discretionary service charge of about 12.5% is often added to restaurant bills; check the bill before tipping again.
- In most pubs you order and pay at the bar; there is no table service and no tipping for drinks.
- Licensed restaurants and pubs must provide free tap water on request.
- Supermarket 'meal deals' — a sandwich, snack and drink — are the standard budget lunch for office workers.
- Book popular restaurants a week or more ahead for Friday and Saturday dinners; many keep bar seats for walk-ins.
- Pub kitchens often stop serving food around 9pm, and earlier on Sundays.
Tipping
Tipping about 10–12.5% is normal in sit-down restaurants when no service charge has been added. It is not expected for drinks bought at a pub bar, and taxi fares are commonly rounded up.
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Cheers | Thanks (also a toast) |
| Mind the gap | Watch the space between train and platform |
| Loo | Toilet |
| Quid | One pound sterling |
| Queue | A line of people waiting |
| Top up | Add credit to a travel card or phone |
Questions travellers ask
+What food is London famous for?
Full English breakfast, Fish and chips, Sunday roast and Pie and mash. Fried eggs, bacon, sausages, baked beans, grilled tomato, mushrooms, toast and often black pudding: the full English is a weekend institution and a filling start to a long day of sightseeing.
+Is London good for vegetarians?
Several local staples are meat-free, including Afternoon tea, Sticky toffee pudding and Cask ale.
+Do you tip in restaurants in London?
Tipping about 10–12.5% is normal in sit-down restaurants when no service charge has been added. It is not expected for drinks bought at a pub bar, and taxi fares are commonly rounded up.