KEY POINTS:
1) Join the Saturday crowds at Borough Market
Borough Market is an experience you can't miss. Okay, you'll never want to see another stroller again and queuing for an hour for a bag of carrots isn't funny with a hangover (not to mention paying handsomely for
the privilege - there's nothing budget about Borough). Yes it's busy and it ain't cheap but the variety of food on offer is huge, and its popularity has drawn stacks of foodie retailers and eating spots to open up around it. When you've had enough, flee to the river, a short stroll away.
Link: www.boroughmarket.org.uk
2) Eat foreign
If there's one thing London does well, it's foreign cuisine. Where to start? For curries, head to Brick Lane, a strip between Whitechapel and Liverpool St stations that's firmly engraved on the city's culinary map and chock-a-block with Indian restaurants. For Vietnamese, jump on a bus to Kingsland Rd (E2) or stroll up the Edgware Rd (W2) for cheap and cheerful Lebanese tucker. Then there's Tas, a superb chain of great value Turkish restaurants dotted around Waterloo, London Bridge and the City.
Links: www.visitbricklane.com, www.tasrestaurant.com
3) Enrol at a cookery school
Tie on an apron and glean some knowledge from London's culinary masters. Cookery classes are hands-on fun, and you'll pick up expert tips and local info. Some favourites are: Divertimenti, a great all-rounder, it's a cookery school in a kitchenware shop; Leith's School of Food and Wine, for everybody from serious domestic cooks to aspiring chefs; Caldesi, the best hands-on Italian cooking outside Tuscany.
Links: http://www.divertimenti.co.uk, www.leiths.com, www.caldesi.com
4) Bag a table in a gastro-pub
Yes, it's a pub but it's more than a smoky boozer. These days, London pubs have table service, wine lists and kitchens (run by personalities not microwaves) which turn out restaurant-style food without the fuss. Brits call them gastro-pubs. Forget pressed linen and silver cutlery; think styled shabby chic, chalkboard menus and comfy sofas to sink into. Service can vary from the nonchalant to the brilliant but at least you won't have to change out of your jeans and trainers to tuck into a first class steak paired with a Cotes du Rhone. Then you can roll off down the other boozer for a pint. Our pick: The Anchor & Hope (36 The Cut, SE1); The Princess (76 Paul Street, EC2); The Garrison.
Link: www.thegarrison.co.uk
5) Shop for lobsters and eels at Billingsgate Market
It's worth crawling out of bed on a dark morning to witness the largest selection of fish in the country. Billingsgate is not for the faint-hearted - doors open at the crack of dawn and there's lots of fishy water sloshing around the floor - but what an experience.
Link: www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/billingsgate
6) Tuck into fish and chips
Takeaways these days might not be wrapped in the day's copy of the Times but you can't beat a piece of freshly battered haddock and crunchy chips. And when it arrives on a plate with a good squirt of ketchup and a fanned-out gherkin on the side, it's unbeatable.
For a cosy spot which oozes character and is even BYO, book a table (or chance your luck and swing by) at the Golden Hind (73 Marylebone Lane, W1). Don't forget the side order of mushies.
7) Go for a coffee but avoid the chains
Finding a decent coffee in London is probably right up there on your to-do list but where to go when everywhere you turn a Starbucks is staring you in the face? So, to the rescue... there's Flat White, a Kiwi-owned cafe in Soho which focuses on proper artisan-style coffee.
There's also Monmouth coffee, an established roaster with cafes. And if you want to read about it as well as drink it, detour to the Bramah Tea and Coffee Museum, an unassuming spot near London Bridge that's crammed with cups and saucers.
Links: flat-white.co.uk, www.monmouth.co.uk, www.teaandcoffeemuseum.co.uk
8) Dine in a celebrity chefrestaurant
Jamie, Gary, Gordon, Anthony. The Brits are on first name terms with their celebrity chefs and there's certainly no shortage of them in the capital. So if you don't bump into Jamie at Borough Market, make a reservation to eat in his restaurant, instead.
Links: www.fifteenrestaurant.com (Jamie Oliver); www.rhodes24.co.uk; (Gary Rhodes);www.awtrestaurants.com (Anthony Worrall-Thompson); gordonramsay.com(Gordon Ramsay).
9) Be quintessentially English
Chink china teacups and nibble scones, pastries and dainty sandwiches to your heart's content: no one does afternoon tea quite like the Brits. Don your best frock or jacket and tie, then sit back and prepare for an afternoon of quiet indulgence. The Ritz's Palm Court isan institution.
Link: www.theritzlondon.com
10) Pack a picnic hamper and head to the park
You might need to take out a second mortgage but splashing out on a few well-chosen picnic goodies from one of London's best food halls is worth the expense for a one-off treat. Just ogling the luxurious loveliness of it all is mouth-watering. Food halls at Harrods, Selfridges and Fortnum & Mason are legendary, so put your quids in (pretend they're dollars), limit yourself to a basket, then find a patch of grass to roll out the rug. Pass the Pimms please, Henry.
- Detours, HoS
