Day 5 - 7/5
We knew we wanted to take some type of food tour in each city. On Trip Advisor I found Eating London Tours & decided on the East End Food Tour. The meeting point was Old Spitalfields Market. We took the Tube to the Liverpool Street Station & found the market easily with the directions provided by the tour. Our tour guide, Emily, was a lot of fun! Great sense of humor & she really made the history of the market & East End neighborhood come alive. Our group was small - 11 total. A mix of people from all over, 6 from the US (including us), 2 from Switzerland, 1 from Australia & 2 from London (who had never been to this area before). The tour went from 10:00 to 1:30, but I think we finished chatting & eating at our last stop after 2:00. There were stops at 8 restaurants. We tried: bacon sandwich, bread & butter pudding, English cheeses, fish & chips, beer & cider, 3 types of curries, bagel w/salt beef & salted caramel tart. Water was provided to us at each stop, with tea at the last place.
All the things we tried were so good. I tried fish & chips for the 1st time (Poppies Fish & Chips). I'm not a fish eater, but I would have this again. My husband's favorite was the bread & butter pudding, mine the caramel tart & son's the bagel w/salt beef. I was happy that our son, who is not an adventurous eater at all, tried everything. I wish he'd do that when I cook!
Seeing the East End neighborhood & the wonderful street art were a bonus! Without taking this tour, I doubt we would have come to the East End on our 1st visit to London. Our only regret was that we found out about these great places at the end of our trip & had no time to come back. I've kept the map & list of restaurants we were given for next time!