Taste of London – Winter Edition

I was lucky enough to be given tickets for Taste of London again this year and the event couldn’t have come at a better time. I’d had a hell of a week with the toddler being up for 2 hrs every night and then throwing the most immense tantrums at least once an hour, so an evening off – thanks to mum and dad for babysitting – was the perfect antidote.

We arrived half an hour after opening and headed straight to the piano bar whilst it was still quiet: grabbed ourselves a comfy chair, ordered mulled wine to warm up and sat…and sat…and danced a little…chatted, decided on food and things to do…and after two mulled wines and theee g&ts, (and an hour and a half later) we managed to get ourselves out of the seats and go for a wander to see what was what! It was perfect.

First was a visit to the outdoor marshmallow pits to have a look, then we headed back inside to find some much-needed food. We went to Bao for a fried chicken bun with sechuan mayo, golden kimchi and hot sauce … it’s always excellent. Next was a Cornflake Chicken burger, served on a charcoal steamed bun (which was almost nicer than the burger!) and Guinness braised venison shoulder, flat bread, black garlic & mushroom ketchup with puffed rice. Good but not as good as the chicken!

All from Britten for Food. At Wild Rice we chose Miley’s Fried Chicken (hot and scrummy) and Angus Beef Green Curry with Jasmine Rice which was super super spicy.

And to top off the evening, a Korean slow cooked BBQ beef marinated in homemade bulgogi sauce (no idea, but tasted great) served with ssam salad (again, not a clue but was crunchy and delicious!) This was definitely the best dish from the festival, the edges of the beef were just so tasty where they’d had the flame from the fire.

This year, we also bought far more than usual! I always stop for a few jars of delicious curry sauce from Nonya Secrets, but we also, somehow, managed to buy a marshmallow ‘tree’ toaster , which F quite rightly pointed out when we showed her the next morning, is all very well for toasting them, but how do you go about all eating them from the same fork? No idea but I’m sure we’ll find out. We also found a delicious fudge stall…I called it clever fudge because it was just so clever. He uses floral, nutty and spicy flavours to create fudges where the taste changes as you eat it. For example, the lavender, lemon and treacle begins really florally, but by the end, the deep taste of treacle has come through….fig and white pepper is all sweetness and light to begin but leaves a gentle warming peppery taste at the end! As I said, #cleverfudge from Get Fudged…really clever and super delicious too. D also purchased a lovely thick hand cream for me for Christmas from Norse…it smells so good! Freebies included Actimel and a veggie chocolate and hazelnut ‘Mylk’ from Rebel Kitchen.

My highlight of the night, however, was the lady from BeeBee Wraps, from whom I had purchased wraps last year, who shouted ‘Berries’ at me as I approached for a chat. She literally made my night. If you know, you know! #lucyandyak

Although this venue is covered, it is essentially, open to the elements across the top level and down to the ground in some areas, so I’d definitely recommend wrapping up warm. We had such a lovely time this year, stalls seemed to be organised better in more sensible places, but it was a shame there was a lack of ‘open fire’ cooking on the top level as in previous years: the smoky aroma from these usually permeates the venue and gives an added winter feeling to the evening.

All in all, it was just what was needed…relaxed, fun and delicious food and drink! Now I’m looking forward to the Summer version!