aditieats is back with another travel recap! I went to London at the end of November with friends and our agenda was full of eating and shopping!
in preparation for the trip, I compiled a….massive and unwieldy list of recommendations – which included a ton of food in London and Cambridge — bars, restaurants, bakeries, and more. you can find the full list here, and you know what, London is a massive city, so don’t be freaked out that this list has over 100 spots!
i’ll leave my usual disclaimer here – that no, i’m not a travel guide, this is just where I went and additional spots that looked good to me! trust a native Londoner for better recommendations for sure!
below is everything that we ate – separated out by category, plus recommendations from the list too. hope this is useful on your next visit!
bakeries
where we went:
pophams: my favorite bakery visit of the trip! there was a long line of locals so you know its on all the Top Bakeries lists for a reason. the marmite and onion pastry sounds odd but I loved it! there’s also a beautiful home goods store attached to it, a great shop for gifts.
quince: this was our first bakery and wow – so many great options! reminds me of Seylou here in DC – the fresh flour makes everything tasty but also feel healthy.
dusty knuckle: this is the bakery where all the cool kids go – there were some great outfits on the customers here. oh, and the baked goods rocked too, really lovely buns!
borough market: a cute spot to walk around – and there’s so many choices here. we had a donut from a bakery stand and a pie from a little pie shop. both were good options for the area – but they pale in comparison to the specialty bakeries.
chai guys: we were full when we got here so we didn’t try the baked goods, but they looked great. we did really enjoy our chai – and they have a lot of options for the adventurous (salty pink Kashmiri chai!)
maison clement (cambridge): this was a cute little bakery in Cambridge, we had a nice quiche here!
more ideas: TOAD Bakery, Tarn Bakery, Jolene Bakery, Arome Bakery, Kuro Bakery, Fortitude Bakehouse, Bageriet, Layla Bakery, Forno, Ginger + White, St. John’s Bakery
lunch/brunch/chill
where we went:
dishoom: there was truly so much hype around the place – with people saying it was their favorite Indian food of their London visits, and plenty saying it was an overpriced tourist trap. we went for lunch and we thought it was great – perfectly rated – popular clearly for a reason, nothing absolutely groundbreaking, but tasty and still worth a visit.
de beauvoir deli: this neighborhood spot was close to our Airbnb and gave us both a good takeout casual lunch, and a nice homey brunch environment the next day.
sweet thursday: this was another neighborhood spot – and it was just fine. it satisfied our pizza needs post-soccer game, but nothing to write home about.
garden house (cambridge): on our first day in Cambridge, we went to the Graduate’s restaurant called Garden House for afternoon tea. the pastries were fantastic, our server was really lovely, and we sat in gorgeous furniture with a view of the River Cam. highly recommend if this area is a part of your visit!
the greenhouse (richmond): this was a cute spot for a pre- or post- Kew Gardens visit in Richmond. nice little kitschy vibe for the area. can’t go wrong with a scone and clotted cream!
more ideas: Homeslice Neal’s Yard, Dark Sugars, Pavillion Cafe, Ararat Bread, Rochelle Canteen, Neal’s Yard Dairy, Les Filles, Ken’s Fish Bar, JUMA Kitchen, Hoxton Grill, Holy Cow
dinners/bars
where we went:
tamil prince: really lovely south indian food at this cozy spot. the dishware was lovely, the service was great – and we had such fantastic pakora and chloe batura too! they have some sister restaurants too I believe, and I’m sure they’re all great.
trullo: peak cozy Italian small plates wine bar vibe here. really nice cocktails and lovely pastas as well. the star of the show was the absolute hefty slab of tiramisu we got for dessert – i’m still thinking about it!
ottolenghi: the celebrity chef scores again! I’ve owned Ottolenghi’s cookbooks for a while and wow – this restaurant was fantastic. they love vegetables here and the eggplant, the peppers – everything was so tasty.
discount suit company: a real speakeasy! low ceilings, super dark – reminds me of The Mirror here in DC. fantastic bartenders, the menu’s drinks were really creative and the bartender we had was so skilled too – he made me the best off-menu pornstar martini i’ve ever had. highly recommend!
goodbye horses: if you didn’t know, pop star Dua Lipa runs a newsletter called Service95 (it’s actually good – def recommend) and this spot was on her London restaurants list. such a cute wine bar vibe – had some great glasses here as we waited for our dinner res.
the mitre (cambridge): we came to this pub and tried a traditional Sunday Roast meal which was actually lovely! the roasted veg and the Yorkshire pudding was really nice.
more ideas – dinners: Mambow, Cicchetti by San Carlo, Mercato, Manteca, BRAT Restaurant, ROVI, Ristorante Tiella, Western Laundry, Bambi, Berenjak Soho, Akub Restaurant, Roe, July, Kricket, Rambutan, Mangal 2, Fonda, The Barbary, The Devonshire, Cafe Cecelia, Morito, The Eagle, Gymkhana, Hoppers, Fatt Pundit, BiBi, Cinder, Darjeeling Express,
more ideas – bars: Tayer + Elementary, Queen of Hoxton, Seed Library, The Book Club, WC Wine + Charcuterie, The Little Yellow Door, The Old Blue Last, Trisha’s
and that’s four days in London (and two in Cambridge) for you! happy traveling!
aditi eats 