London is a food lover's paradise, with restaurants of every worldly cuisine and cheap eats tastier than your grandma's signature one-pot dish. But what if you've been so spoilt for choice you're looking for something more novel than a great, reliable Italian restaurant or the latest buzzing burger joint?
Good news: this summer sees a bunch of new food and drink events, culinary collaborations and adventures in taste hitting the capital. Restaurants are teaming up with cultural venues, new markets are springing up and already-established food trends are getting bigger and better.
So, if you're short of something to do for a fun meal, look ahead for our pick of the six best foodie activities coming to London this summer...
Bottomless brunch with a twist
Bottomless brunches, arguably the food/drink trend of 2016, are now fairly ubiquitous. Drive through any part of London on a weekend at midday and you'd be hard pushed not to spot a few drunk but content late-twenty-somethings stumbling down the street. We don't want to give up a great thing just because everyone's doing it, so instead we're looking for bottomless brunches with a twist. Try out Flesh and Buns in Covent Garden – a fun, boozy alternative to lunch at a pub. Korean Food, endless glasses of wine, and all for £29.
Closer to the river, on Bankside, there's also OXBO's new three course bottomless brunch. On offer on Saturdays between 12pm and 3pm, for £40, OXBO chefs serve up waffles followed by a choice of veal or sea bass. Alternatively, there's Decatur kitchen based at the bar Pamela in East London, with cuisine from the Deep South alongside a choice of either bottomless Bloody Marys or Prosecco, for just £18. Brunch dishes include steak and eggs and Louisianan beignets – and you can even sit outside.
41 Earlham St, London WC2H 9LX
www.bonedaddies.com/restaurant/flesh-and-buns
OXBO
2-8 Great Suffolk Street, London SE1 0UG
Pamela
428 Kingsland Road London E8 4AA
Photo: Courtesy of Pamela
A boozy residency
It's an imposingly beautiful sight to behold; flowers from wall to ceiling, gondolas on the canal, a long, sleek, white bar. We're talking about the House of Peroni residency at Proud East in Haggerston, East London, which sees a romantic building right on the canal taken over by chef Francesco Mazzei, with a drinks menu that features – you guessed it – Peroni Nastro Azzurro infused cocktails.
The pop up, running until the 1st of July, is a great place to drop in for a casual drink or bite to eat. Or, if you're feeling more adventurous, they're offering a series of events, including mixology classes, Italian culinary masterclasses and private dining experiences for you and your friends.
Not disimilar to the House of Peroni is the Aperol Spritz Terrazza, situated on the rooftop at Bird of Smithfield in Farringdon through to August. It is free to pop by, and cocktails are reasonably priced. Inspired by the Terrazza Aperol in Milan, the rooftop has been transformed into a haven for Aperol fans, open Monday to Sunday. Let's hope the sun comes out so we can pretend we're in Italy, eh?
House of Peroni
Proud East, 2-10 Hertford Road, London, N1 5SH
Aperol Spritz Terrazza
26 Smithfield, London EC1A 9LB
http://www.aperolspritzsocials.com/
Photo: @dojo_robbie
The new 'dinner and a show'
If there was a time when a ticket to the cinema just meant a ticket to the cinema, all that has changed! A Curzon Chelsea ticket will now get you access to an exclusive cinema menu at Tom's Kitchen, Chelsea. (That's famous British chef Tom Aiken's restaurant, for the uninitiated.) All for a discounted price of £19 for two courses and £23 for three. Expect starters like chicken rillettes with fruit chutney and toast, main courses including fish pie and Chicken Schnitzel with confit cherry tomatoes, onion relish and pepper coulis, and desserts such as dark chocolate mousse profiteroles. Yum.
If that's not a posh enough cinema experience for you, try One Aldwych's new "Film and Fizz" nights. Open on Friday and Saturday evenings throughout summer, £55 will fetch you a screening of a newly released film in their private cinema room (which seats just 30 people), along with dinner in the hotel restaurant Indigo and a glass of champagne. You know that feeling, when you go to the cinema, and stuff your face with so much sweet popcorn that you leave feeling sick? Not gonna happen. You might leave a little drunk though.
Tom's Kitchen
27 Cale Street, Chelsea, London SW3 3QP
One Aldwych
One Aldwych, London, WC2B 4BZ
Photo: Courtesy of Tom's Kitchen
Guest chefs
A bit like a big-actor cameo appearance in a film, sometimes top restaurants invite guest chefs from around the world to drop in and spice things up a bit. This summer, there are lots of exciting visits taking place. Accomplished chef and restaurant owner Romy Gill will, alongside chef and author Oliver Rowe, host a dinner at beloved Islington pub The Drapers Arms on the 6th of July. What's on the menu? Curried pigeon breast, mustard seed yoghurt, beetroot and red onion salad. And that's just the main.
If that doesn't whet your appetite, head down to Carousel in Marylebone, a restaurant that specialises in hosting guest chefs all year round, the result being a revolving door of insanely good and specialised cuisine. The 50-cover space showcases a different chef every fortnight or so, ranging from rising talent to established names. Carl Ishizaki of SUSHI SHO in Stockholm is the chef to complete Carousel's Summer line up with his carefully crafted Japanese cooking, prepared with Nordic scallops and Swedish tuna. Talk about eclectic.
Carousel
71 Blandford Street, Marylebone, London, W1U 8AB
Photo: @sushisho
An off-the-beaten-path food festival
A mini-food festival can be a great excuse to travel to a part of London you weren't familiar with before. If you don't spend much time in Peckham, for example, what better excuse to hop on the overground than a food fest?
Our choice of underrated food fests is the Little Feast Festival that takes place in Shepherd's Bush Market from June through to August. Only in its second year, it boasts a modest six Street food kitchens, but they're an eclectic mix, from Cuban sandwiches to Hawaiian fish dishes.
Little Feast
Shepherd’s Bush Yard, Goldhawk Road, London, W12 8HA
Photo: @wefeastlondon
The tasting menu
Tasting menus are as old as time (OK, well not quite, but they've been around a while) however, there are some timely new ones on offer in London this summer. Kurobuta chef Scott Hallsworth has put together a tasting menu called "Tight Ass Tuesdays" – a roving £28 dining experience with 6 courses. Chuck a sake bomb in for £3 a pop and you'll be laughing your way home.
Elsewhere, to celebrate the British Museum’s Sicily: Culture and Conquest exhibition, a group of London restaurants that fall under the banner of the Salt Yard have created a series of menus inspired by Sicilian cuisine. From 21st April - 14th August, diners can get a 25% discount on entrance to the exhibition, and can also show their ticket or British Museum membership card to receive the complimentary Il Picciotto cocktail with Marsala Superiore dolce Curatolo, grapefruit, orange and prosecco when dining at the any of the Salt Yard restaurants. Expect tastes of ingredients including nduja and trompetta courgettes, and lamb cutlets with pepperonata, caperberries and cumin brown butter. We've tried it, and it's delicious.
Kurobuta
Various locations
http://www.kurobuta-london.com/tight-ass-tuesdays/
Salt Yard Group
Various locations
Photo: Courtesy of The Salt YardLike what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
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