PlateDiary.
Menu
Get PlateDiary
  1. PlateDiary
  2. Guides
  3. London food bucket list

Guide · Food travel · London

The London food bucket list, from beigels to Sunday roast.

London’s food story is told in markets, pubs, caffs and late-night bakeries as much as in its dining rooms. This is a bucket list of dishes and experiences, not a ranking: fifteen things to eat, what each one is (yes, including liquor that isn’t alcohol), and a long-running place to try it.

Get PlateDiary Read on

Free on iPhone and Android. No account, and it works with no signal.

In short

A London food bucket list starts with a Sunday roast at a pub, fish and chips, pie and mash with parsley “liquor,” a salt beef beigel on Brick Lane (Beigel Bake is open 24 hours), a full English in a caff and a morning at Borough Market. Add lamb chops in Whitechapel, an ocakbaşı grill in Dalston, British cheese, a Scotch egg, sticky toffee pudding and a pint at a centuries-old inn.

Checked

The list

Fifteen things to eat in London.

Hours change around Christmas and bank holidays; check before you go.

A London food bucket list: the dish, what it is, and a long-running place to try it
What it isA classic place to start
1. Sunday roastRoast meat, roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, vegetables and gravy — on SundaysA proper pub; book ahead
2. Fish and chipsBattered fish, thick chips, mushy peas, salt and vinegarPoppies, Hanbury St, Spitalfields
3. Pie, mash and liquorA minced beef pie with mash and green parsley sauce called liquor, plus chilli vinegarM.Manze, Tower Bridge Road (since 1902)
4. Salt beef beigelHot salt beef in a beigel with mustard and a gherkinBeigel Bake, 159 Brick Lane — open 24 hours
5. Full EnglishEggs, bacon, sausage, beans, toast, tomato, mushroomsRegency Café, Pimlico (since 1946)
6. Bacon naan rollSmoked streaky bacon in a tandoor-baked naan with cream cheese and chilli jamDishoom, at breakfast
7. Borough MarketLondon’s historic food market, on its current site since 1756Southwark; closed Mondays
8. Maltby Street MarketStreet food under railway arches, the start of the Bermondsey Beer MileBermondsey, weekends
9. Lamb chopsCharred, spiced Punjabi lamb chops, sizzlingTayyabs, Whitechapel (since 1972)
10. Ocakbaşı grillTurkish meats grilled over charcoal right by your tableMangal 1, Dalston
11. British farmhouse cheeseCheddars and other cheeses from small British and Irish farmsNeal’s Yard Dairy (since 1979)
12. A pint at a galleried innBeer in London’s last remaining galleried coaching innThe George Inn, Borough High St
13. Afternoon teaSandwiches, scones with clotted cream and jam, and small cakes on a tiered standA hotel or tea room; book ahead
14. Scotch eggA boiled egg wrapped in sausage meat, crumbed and friedA pub or deli; Fortnum & Mason claims it invented it in 1738
15. Sticky toffee puddingMoist date sponge in hot toffee sauce, with custard, cream or ice creamAny pub with a pudding menu

Say it right

London food words, translated.

  • Liquor — the green parsley sauce at a pie and mash shop. No alcohol.
  • Caff — a no-frills café serving fry-ups and tea.
  • Beigel — the East End spelling of bagel.
  • Chips — thick-cut fries. Crisps are what Americans call chips.
  • Pudding — dessert in general, and also the sticky toffee kind.
  • Mushy peas — marrowfat peas cooked soft, served with fish and chips.

Two walks

Put it together.

Paying? Many London restaurants add a 12.5% discretionary service charge — read the bill before you tip. Our tipping guide explains.

  • The East End morning: a salt beef beigel at Beigel Bake, a walk down Brick Lane, fish and chips at Poppies in Spitalfields for lunch, and lamb chops at Tayyabs for dinner.
  • The South Bank weekend: Borough Market for breakfast and cheese, a pint at the George Inn round the corner, then Maltby Street Market and a pie and mash on Tower Bridge Road.
  • The Soho evening: dim sum and roast duck around Gerrard Street — see our London Chinatown food guide.

Copy this

Your London food passport.

  • ☐ Sunday roast — best Yorkshire pudding: ___
  • ☐ Pie and mash with liquor (and chilli vinegar)
  • ☐ Salt beef beigel at an hour I won’t admit to
  • ☐ A full English in a caff
  • ☐ Borough Market: the cheese I bought ___
  • ☐ Fish and chips with mushy peas
  • ☐ A pint somewhere older than my country’s capital
  • ☐ Scotch egg, eaten in a pub
  • ☐ Sticky toffee pudding with custard / cream / ice cream

Keep it

One trip, every plate.

Snap the table at each stop and PlateDiary cuts every plate into its own save on your phone — the roast, the pudding, the pint — filed under the place and the time, even on the Tube with no signal. Your stops pin themselves on the map, and prices stay in pounds as you paid them; PlateDiary never converts.

Give each pub and market stall a stamp in Stamps, the stamp book of places you’ve eaten, and the whole trip comes back later as a story in Served.

Sources

Where the facts come from

  1. Visit us — Borough Market
  2. Brick Lane Beigel Bake — Time Out London
  3. The 15 best bakeries in London in 2025, according to the Telegraph — Time Out London
  4. M.Manze, London’s oldest pie and mash shop — Supper
  5. Poppies Spitalfields
  6. Breakfast menu — Dishoom
  7. Tayyabs
  8. Où manger à Londres : le top des restaurants — Lonely Planet
  9. Mangal Ocakbasi — Time Out London
  10. Maltby Street Market — Bermondsey Beer Mile
  11. Neal’s Yard Dairy — Wikipedia
  12. The George — CAMRA
  13. The George Inn — National Trust

Questions

Questions people ask.

What food is London famous for?

Fish and chips, the Sunday roast, pie and mash, salt beef beigels, the full English breakfast, afternoon tea, Scotch eggs and its curry houses and markets.

What is liquor in pie and mash?

A green parsley sauce served over the pie and mash at traditional East End pie shops. Despite the name, it contains no alcohol. Chilli vinegar goes on the side.

Is Beigel Bake on Brick Lane open 24 hours?

Yes, Beigel Bake at 159 Brick Lane is open 24 hours, seven days a week. The classic order is a hot salt beef beigel with mustard and a gherkin.

When is Borough Market open?

Tuesday to Sunday; it is closed on Mondays. Hours are shorter on Sundays and change around Christmas and bank holidays, so check the market’s own site.

Where can I get a Sunday roast in London?

At most traditional pubs on Sundays. Book ahead — popular roasts sell out — and look for proper Yorkshire puddings and plenty of gravy.