Taste of London returns to Regents Park to showcase yet again what the capital has from it’s best restaurants, top chefs and leading food and drink brands.
Taste of London occurs just twice a year (June and December). The Summer one is held in June and is their flagship event that is always held in the beautiful grounds of Regents Park. At the event the most latest, greatest and most exciting restaurants will serve taster size signature dishes, world class chefs will appear in live cooking demos and as always there will be many opportunities to get a hands on with interactive master classes, and shop from a range of food and drink purveyors.
Taste of London – Summer 2017
Wednesday
I went along on the opening night Wednesday but I also returned on Thursday night.
On Wednesday I went around with my husband Jason and tasted various dishes from the restaurant stands as London truly does have some brilliant restaurants to dine in. Here is a list of the restaurants that I purchased some tastings from:
The Taste Makers of London
Laura Jackson: Deep fried the Courgette flower with ricotta, honey & mint’ which was devine.
Senor Ceviche
Nikkei Cordero: Charcoal grilled lamb rump with miso and crispy potatoes. Served along with a Sour lemonade. I loved the taste of moist bbq lamb along with the crispy thick sliced potato and the lemonade was extremely sharp but oh I so wanted more but then I am addicted to lemons.
Café Spice Namaste
Isle of Mull scallop, soft chilli risotto, soy and ginger drizzle. I loved the moist scallop with its roe along with the hint of chilli that gets your tongue tingling.
Dumplings Legend & Leongs Legend
Duo of thinly sliced roast Peking duck pancakes served with plum sauce and cucumber. I was not that keen on this one as was cold and not hot so I gave them all to Jason to eat.
Duck & Waffle Local
Duck & Waffle: Confit duck leg, fried duck egg, mustard maple syrup. I did not eat any of this as Jason ordered this as he loves eggs. I however can’t eat eggs. It looked lovely and he said it tasted great and such a unique combination and the sweetness of the maple syrup really gave the egg a unique taste.
Aryzta Food Solutions
Afternoon tea. All the cakes were displayed beautifully on the cake stand. There was such an array of desserts/cakes to be had from a chocolate cake to lemon meringue which was to die for so sharp, one of the best lemon meringue I have ever tasted.
Tom Kerridge
Also that evening I went to watch Tom Kerridge at the Taste Theatre as he is such as a lovely man and amazing to watch. It was great listening to him in about how he lost so much weight and seeing him cook a salmon dish and a Seabass dish. I was lucky enough to try a piece of the Seabass dish at the end and it was cooked to perfection with a crisp skin and a very moist flaky flesh I wish I could of had it all especially considering Seabass is my favourit fish to eat.
My favourite food during the event
From all the restaurant tastings I must admit for me the best was the Aryzta stand but then I have got a sweet tooth. If they return next year I would definitely visit again and pay for the afternoon tea which only cost £10 was such a truly relaxing entertaining experience.
However even though practically each dish I bought was amazing I did end up spending a bit too much as each dish costs around £8 each to £15.
Verdict
I was quite disappointed this year with the restaurants that were there and the food as most of the food was not my cup of tea like the kangaroo meat offering. Plus Theo Randalls Intercontinental was not at Taste this year and I always love visiting Theo and enjoying one of his great dishes.
Thursday
On Thursday night I returned along with my friend Steve (read his blog here neverfearnew) and this was his first time ever at Taste of London and he thoroughly enjoyed it. Due to fact this was his first time and I went on Wednesday I let him do all the guiding and exploring.
Food tastings
We came across many stalls which we could taste so many bits of food and drink for free from the most freshest mozzarella cheese, fluffy marshmallow cubes, various cheeses, cookie dough, Turkish delight etc. The Turkish stand ‘Taste of Turkey’ was one of the best stands to visit as there was quite a lot of tastings to be had and the most wonderful way of having a Turkish icecream served unlike any other way and it was free. He would churn the icecream until it is stringy like a melting cheese and place it in the cone then he would hand it to you with it being attached to a long metal poll if you are too slow he would hit it on your arm, against the bell, literally everywhere that he possibly can so grab it quick. I was way to slow so my icecream was going everywhere but my friend Steve caught his really quickly. It was very highly entertaining and we most certainly needed this ice-cream on this hot day.
Drinks
We also had various drinks alcoholic and non alcoholic. One of the best free alcoholic drinks I had at the event has to be the gin from the Gin Mare stand. Firstly we was given a shot of gin straight and oh my it was so strong but so fresh. She then poured us out a glass along with tonic water, some marmalade jam and a orange slice it was so heavenly not strong at all now. I will definitely be trying to recreate this at home. I also got to pull a pint of Pilsner Urquell whilst at the show which was fun however I got all beer on my hand. I also beat my friend as I pulled abetter pint than him but then again the barmen did help me.
Cooking along with Jeremy Pang
Also that night we went along to the AEG Take Taste Further stand in which we cooked along whilst watching the host Jeremy Pang of the School of Wok perform. We learned how to make Bao using prepared ingredients such as slow cooked pork and a delicious sweet sauce made from dark soy sauce. It was all explained in such a easy way and was so quick to make. The whole show lasted 45 minutes and then got to eat our own Bao in the end that we made. Mine was quite small and roundish and Steve’s was quite long I think his though looked much better than mine and I am an advanced cook so I was a bit jealous. We both enjoyed it though very much and I loved learning more about the amazing induction hobbs and steam oven. It was also lovely getting my picture w Jeremy as he is such a lovely man (even though I have many photos with him).
Verdict
Everytime I have visited this great foodie event I have always just really focused on the restaurant stands and getting my photo with chefs however this time around on Thursday with my friend he really did open up my eyes and showed me that you can have a fantastic time at Taste of London without having to spend a dime. I had so much tastings that I literally was full afterwards and slightly tipsy from all the different drink tastings I never knew there was so much free stuff to be had and I tasted things I usually would not.
Final verdict
Everyone at Taste is extremely friendly and there is so much entertainment to be had. So if you love food, drink, entertainment and chefs go along you won’t be disappointed and as I learnt you don’t need to spend a fortune as there is so much free food & drink that can be had.
Roll on Taste of Christmas which is like Taste of London but held at Tobacco Docks instead in winter/December. Click here for more information on Taste and their upcoming festivals.
Thank you to Taste for letting me and Steve of Love Pop Ups London come down for a gastronomic experience. The tickets were complimentary but all views are my own honest opinion.
Click below to read Steve’s blog. All his views are of their own honest opinion.
“I love going out discovering new and existing restaurants, theatres, immersive experiences and so much more but I also love staying in and discovering new gadgets, gaming and cooking.
