What you need to know (before I dwell into my 'The Good vs Bad'), is that yesterday a few hours before I was offered to go to the Secret Cinema with some of the guys we share our office space with.
Secret Cinema is pretty f***ing amazing but being a Good Samaritan I offered my place to Paul instead, for multiple reasons** (explained at the end); of course with the main reason being that I’m a huge foodie(!) and really, I just wanted to check out Taste of London for the first time (even though it's been running for the last 4-5 years now).
What is it?
Foodies festival with a bit more class. Some of the best London restaurants offering taster dishes at a relatively cheaper price point over the course of 5 days. Plus there's a bunch of other food-related activities, drinks and music.
The Good:
- YOSMA*
- Sake tasting (for free)*
- Mozzarella sticks with chilli jam*
- Breaking Beer (the brand name alone but the beer is also pretty damn good)*
- Crashing a private party organised by the Embassy of Brazil + their (free) canapés and (free) wine*
- Pineapple pina coladas (though I’m not a fan of sweet cocktails but drinking one out of the pineapple makes up for it)*
- Good vibes and crowd
- Fire pit with a DJ (which I sadly missed but it looked bloody great!)
- A LOT of gin stalls (so if you love gin like me than you will be more than satisfado)*
- My colleague managed to get a hand on some free guest tickets!
The Bad:
- Entry queue and a few food stalls queues (I just hate queues full stop)
- Would have liked to see a few more high-end restaurants, or mainly Gymkhana (only because my colleague mentioned it and it’s been on my list for ages)
- The taster dishes are between £6-9 (not £4-5 as my colleague told me); so in a way as if you were having a starter at the restaurant
- There are A LOT of alcohol stalls (probably around 50%) which makes me wonder whether they’re just tryna milk you
- £10 for a glass of champagne (OK, fine. It’s my favourite Laurent-Perrier Cuvée Rosé champagne but still)*
- Not sure if it's worth even the £17, yet alone £27 on a weekend so try and milk a free guest pass if you can?
*See photos below for a reference
Some Tips:
- If you're going to go on a weekday (as in today or tomorrow), get down there early as you will need around 3 hours to check everything out without rushing.
- There are 40 restaurant stalls so I definitely recommend sharing and trying as many taster dishes as you possibly can!
- Don’t bring any alcohol or food with you, among other prohibited things such as explosives and guns.
The Boring Stuff
- When? Wed, 13th of June - Sun, 17th of June (i.e. THIS weekend)
- Where? Regent’s Park
- How much? Between £17 and £27 pp (depending on the day of the week)
- More info here
And even though Taste of London isn't necessarily a low key event - this was my first time so I wanted to review it either way!
Let me know (in the comments below) if you end up going this weekend? OR if you've been already and what is your take on it?
Love,
Inga x
And here's some visual proof...
YOSMA's lamb cooked over mangal - my favourite!
My favourite champagne...
Zillertal Kasspatzln taster (which I forgot to mention)
Free sake tasting from the Sake House
Tuxedo was my favourite one!
A very lonely mozzarella stick... Lol
Breaking Beer
Chefs preparing canapés at the Embassy of Brazil
Pina colada in a PINEAPPLE!
Tanqueray No. 10 gin bar
And me with a GINAT FORK
P.S. **Reasons for missing Secret Cinema:
- I’ve never seen the original Blade Runner (OR the new one)
- Paul loves secret cinema (and so do I but he REALLY loves it.)
- I didn’t want to lose out on a whole evening as I had to pack for Bath, do my nails (me? Nails? Yeah... I didn’t do them at the end. Lol) and catch up on ❤️🌴 (don’t judge)
- Paul is my boss. Haha