5 Things To Know Before Your First Time At Taste Of London
Monday, 26 June 2017
Taste of London happens twice a year and as a massive foodie, it's one of those things I have always wanted to go to. I've never had time in the past but now that I do, I couldn't turn down an invitation from Currys. It was the week of the London heatwave so we
seriously had the perfect weather for artisan ice cream and drinking
champagne on a deck chair. With two VIP tickets, Georgia and I spent the whole day
stuffing our faces.
As I had never been before, I didn't really know what to expect. I knew it was a food festival but I didn't understand buying a ticket to go in and then spending more money on food. Now however, I totally get it and would definitely go again. It's an awesome day out; and if you've never been before, I'm hoping that these little tips will make your first visit to taste of London the best it can be!
It's only open for 4 hours at a time
Sometimes my OCD comes in handy. I was adamant we were there for opening and lucky we were because by 4pm they were closing down for the day slot. They open again later on in the evening but there's a no re-entry policy so you have to pay £15 if you want to get back for that. Make the most of your time there because for Georgia and I, after factoring in half and hour champagne break and a 45 minute cooking class, it absolutely flew.
Taste cards don't buy products, just food
Our VIP tickets came with £20 Taste credit which is a great reason to get the more expensive ticket.
These
cards can be used to buy dishes which range roughly from £4 - £9,
from any of the restaurant stands. Perfect for your time there but there were also lots of
stands that were just selling food products to take home - Georgia wants to buy some
Pots & Co. & I wanted some cookie dough but neither of the
stands took Taste cards as payment so bring cash if you want to buy.
You don't need to spend any money
As I said, we went into to taste with £20 credit card each in our back
pockets and.. we came our with the same. We decided to look at every stall before we decided which one the buy from but by the time we had been around the whole festival
we were totally stuffed on free samples and couldn't even think about
buying a full sized dish.
Make Friends With Stand Holders
Turns out, people are happy to give things
away to people they like.
Georgia was the perfect person for this because she just talks and talks and makes friends
with anyone. Whilst it was pretty annoying when the lady from the cheese asked her 24 questions and she stood and gave an honest, thought out answer for each; Georgia redeemed herself when she made friends with both the Pots & Co (they gave use 4 pots when they weren't aloud to take our cards) and Hippea people who gave us loads of free products,
that people next in the line were paying for.
Go Hungry & Try Everything!
Seriously, don't eat before hand; there are so many new and
exciting foods to try that you'll be angry with yourself if you even have
breakfast. Make the most of the opportunity and try everything that you can! We got to try all sorts of new foods along the way and some were actually really delicious. We did a cooking class at the end of the day and both of use were a bit too tired but we ended up making my favourite dish of the day and leaving with a new signed cook book that we won!
Have you been to Taste Of London before?
*Huge thanks to Currys for providing me with tickets.
