Travel diaries 4: Hidden treasures at Brick Lane London

Photo credit to thebislondon

I always had a hard time finding an answer to the question: "What sort of food do you recommend to people who are travelling to London?" I confess- I know absolutely nothing about what authentic British food is exactly. Yorkshire has its own Yorkshire pudding, but London? Fish and chips? Alcohol? (Yes the British drink like fish). London takes pride in being cosmopolitan so a lot of the food you get out there is very diverse and international (which is a good thing).

During my first week in London one of the biggest problems I had was finding a way to settle my lunch in between classes, since my hall did not cater for lunch. I remembered going to a Biryani restaurant with some coursemates for lunch after which my wallet tore itself out of spite, so I gave up eating out and started cooking my lunches instead. 

However, during the exam period takeouts are a very convenient way for me to get lunch. I just go into the stall, grab my lunch and I can walk back to the library to study. It is affordable and there is no VAT chargeable too.

Hence if you're travelling to London and would like to get a taste of heavenly finger food, what better place to head to than Brick Lane?

Brick Lane is like Singapore's Bugis street, except with much cheaper food and less eye-burning fashion. Although I'll prefer the building architecture at Bugis Street, Brick Lane is also a great place that warms the cockles of a cheapskate's heart (just like myself). If you're sick of the high dining prices in Central London, read on.

Main course: Beigel Bake 

Beigel Bake at Brick Lane. Photo credit to Elisabeth Blanchet at TimeOut

Beigel Bake is famous for its wide variety of bagels, its signature being the Beef with mustard and pickles. I got a Nutella bagel instead as I was craving something sweet at that time, and boy are they generous with the Nutella filling! It was only £1.50 for a decently sized bagel. The only con? The bread of the bagel is very hard, so it may not be suitable for people with false teeth or prefer more chewy pastries.

Paiseh, I forgot to take pictures on the day I went because I was too busy swallowing up the bagel.

If you're travelling on a budget, I highly recommend getting a quick bite at Beigel Bake. I guarantee you won't be yelling #returnmybagelmoney with a placard outside their stall.

Snack: Motherclucker

Pic credit to yelp.co.uk

Why restrict your meal choices at Brick Lane Tu-Tu (to two)? It is a pushcart stall selling fried chicken at a really affordable price too. If you go in spring or summer, you can enjoy the sunlight while getting your fried chicken fix because seating is outdoors. A word of caution though- it seems they do not adhere to their opening hours, and this goes doubly so if the weather is rainy. Do visit way past the first hour that they open to avoid having to wait.

I have not personally tried Mother Clucker, but I've been there with my friend and she gobbled up the fried chicken like it was her last meal on Earth. I trust her atas taste buds so I recommend giving Motherclucker a try. If it's good, drop me a comment "Thumbs up man!" If you decide that you hate it, I guess you can come back and leave me a hate comment later. Like, "BOO TO THE DELIA!" or "You clearly have shitty taste in food and you deserve to get food poisoning so I don't wanna hear any more complaints". HAHAHAHAHA!

Dessert: Dark Sugars

I know, nobody eats a bag of chocolates as a dessert. If you've got a sweet tooth, yet you want to ease up on the sugar overload, you can try getting a few squares of chocolate to keep for a period of a few days instead of getting instant diabetes from ice cream or cake.

Dark Sugars has an exotic selection of flavours for you to choose from: Prosecco, Mint, Coconut and Hazelnut Praline to name a few. And look at the intricate chocolate designs! Wow! Pattern more than badminton! I personally love the coconut ones the best.

A little warning however, the chocolates are pricey so please don't happily grab 150g worth of chocolates and end up paying £8 (which happened to me). Always ask for the rates, they charge by weight.

Coffee: Brick Lane Coffee

Picture credit to pennybloodsblackbook- full entry here!

Everyone knows that when they go out with me, I'll focus on nothing except looking out for the best coffee stalls. This is my weakness. Get your coffee fix at Brick Lane Coffee- especially if you need to get back to work after the heavy lunch and want to avoid that after lunch food coma.

You can see from the photo that the interior of the cafe is pretty cosy, a good place to chill and read a book (I'm not sure if they chase you out but based on my experience, Britons are generally very nice people and will allow you to chill at their cafes. UNLESS YOU GO TO CHINATOWN, the Chinese/Hong Kong restaurant owners serve you your bill and the F*** Off Orange WHILE you're still eating. Rude much?)

So this concludes my full meal recommendations at Brick Lane. Seriously, no point paying extra for expensive Duck and Waffle or Burger and Lobster more than once. If you've already been to those restaurants, Brick Lane offers your tastebuds a refreshing change.