city Essentials · 8 foods
London Essentials
A considered first route through London: the foods that carry its everyday habits, celebrations, ingredients, and memory.
Explore all United Kingdom foods →THE
ESSENTIALS
The complete shortlist
8 foods to know.
Each selection includes the reason it belongs here—so this is a guide, not just a pile of names.
London, United Kingdom
Pie and Mash
Pie and Mash — London’s working-class pie-shop plate, traditionally served with mashed potato and parsley liquor.
London, United Kingdom
Jellied Eels
Jellied Eels — a historic East End preparation of chopped eel set in its seasoned cooking liquor.
London, United Kingdom
London Particular
London Particular — the city’s thick split-pea and ham soup, named for the old pea-souper fogs.
London, United Kingdom
Chelsea Bun
Chelsea Bun — a coiled, currant-filled bun created in eighteenth-century Chelsea.
London, United Kingdom
Black Velvet
Black Velvet — stout and sparkling wine combined in the London-born mourning cocktail.
London, United Kingdom
Espresso Martini
Espresso Martini — London’s vodka, espresso, and coffee-liqueur cocktail with a foamy crema.
London, United Kingdom
London cure smoked salmon
London Cure Smoked Salmon — the protected London method producing lightly salted, delicately smoked salmon.
London, United Kingdom
Omelette Arnold Bennett
Omelette Arnold Bennett — smoked haddock, eggs, cream, and cheese in the Savoy-born hotel classic named for the novelist.