Last June my boyfriend and I bought tickets to Taste of London, an annual open-air food festival in Regent’s Park that features top London restaurants selling miniature portions of their signature dishes. We couldn’t wait to go.
Taste of London
Unfortunately, a little something called the Face of Ascot competition forced us to change our plans.
Instead of heading to Regent’s Park that Saturday to eat good food and drink champagne, we headed to Royal Ascot for a second time. Thankfully it was worth the trip.
But we still wanted to taste London. This year we knew well in advance that we would attend Royal Ascot, so we bought our Taste of London tickets for the Sunday.
We headed to Regent’s Park at noon, met up with a friend, and surveyed the scene. It was huge.
White tents stretched out endlessly in front of us, and the amazing scents of grilled meat, hot chocolate, roasted vegetables, and other foods filled the air.
Taste of London Restaurants
Our first stop was the stall of a Mayfair restaurant that serves Asian fusion cuisine. We had the Wagu beef, which was served on top of steaming hot stones.
Our palates whetted, we made a beeline for Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester, where we tried some fresh Scottish salmon in a green olive emulsion.
After a third stop at L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon for tiny foie gras burgers, we were ready for a break.
Sponsor Tent
Enter our frequent flier status on British Airways. The airline is a big sponsor of Taste of London, and they had the requisite Executive Tent for their Silver and Gold members.
Bottomless champagne, Pimm’s, cheese plates, canapes, and wine tasting awaited us. We sat down on a cushy sofa to take a rest and enjoy some of the perks of having spent half our income on flights.
More Restaurants at Taste of London
Refreshed and ready for more food, we went back out into the fray. We were headed to Hereford Road, where we tasted seared sea trout with cucumber and braised wild rabbit with fennel and bacon.
From there we walked to another stand where we sampled chilled pea-and-broad-bean soup with prosciutto-wrapped breadsticks.
After another stop at the BA tent, we walked to Salt Yard to eat honey-drizzled courgette flowers brimming with goat cheese, then to another stand for French fries with crazy salt.
I’m not sure why the salt was crazy, but we were certainly crazy about it.
We sampled beignets from another stall and had rhubarb-and-custard ice cream crumble from Launceston Place.
We then popped back into the BA tent for a tipple before finishing off our multi-course lunch with a trip back to L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon for a rich chocolate sensation. It was heaven.
Taste of London: The Verdict
We left Taste of London five hours after we arrived. As we wandered around looking for the unmarked exit, we passed by restaurant booths we hadn’t had a chance to visit.
That was to say nothing of the food shop stalls, cooking demonstrations, and other elements of the festival we’d missed.
We decided that next year we’ll have to buy tickets for multiple days so we can get an even bigger taste of London. I’ll make sure to work up an appetite in the meantime.
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