#FestivalLife

Taste of London Festival
Regents Park
NW1 4NR

Festival season is well and truly upon us and with all the great acts performing across the country, our favourite headliner is without a doubt, always ‘FOOD’.

To start off our festival season, I headed to Taste of London festival, the ultimate restaurant festival where all the finest, original and great value restaurants of the city come together to showcase their best dishes in a street food format. There’s also live cookery classes, crockery for sale and some food friends from across the pond.

Hosted in Regents Park, I was welcomed in by a huge ‘Taste’ pillar which was an immediate photo opp; asked the security guard to take a picture of me and she kindly took a few for me to choose from (I like people who know how to do things properly). As I entered in the festival, it was honestly a foodie wonderland with Londoners passionately discussing endless food options with Pimms in hand. The weather was glorious and having not long returned from my Europe trip, I was feeling like I was still on holiday.

Despite eagerly searching for something to eat, the first stand that caught my eye of was this.  Liquid Gold – an Italian alcoholic beverage company specialising in beer, vodka and prosecco. As you can see, the branding makes a statement and looks expensive. The company is relatively new, they harvest and produce all their beverages in Italy then ship to France and England. As the prosecco element titles itself, the beverage is bubbly and light, with a crisp fruity aftertaste. #NewProductAlert #Youhearditherefirst.

Still on a mission to find FOOD, again I was distracted and drawn towards a busy vibrant stand - T2 Tea.  As an absolute lover of tea in all forms, black tea, lady grey, herbal, and iced, T2 provided all of these in their natural form. Based on the 24-degree weather, iced tea was the only option and after sampling a few flavours, I was sold on Southern Sunrise. A refreshing blend of white hibiscus, grapefruit and lemongrass and to top it all off, the company is owned by one of my favourite natives – Aussies!!!

So the food journey continues and I’m presented with another what I thought was a hurdle. A lovely woman offered a tester cup of what looked like apple juice, and based on my absolute love for apples, I gladly accepted. You know when you drink or eat something without really taking the time to understand the product, you sample it and then everything stops? You start looking at the cup or container for ingredients information, origin, and asking questions? Yeah that happened!

I was soon introduced to the founder of Newtons – an apple juice made with pure apple and sparkling water entitled 'Appl Fizzics'. Fizzy drinks really are a thing of the past for me but this apple and sparkling water was such a breath of fresh air. Newtons Apple Juice is so light on the pallet, natural tasting and incredibly moreish and comes in beer bottle or wine bottle packaging so fit for any occasion. Humbly, the founder kindly offered me 2 bottles to take home and sample and it didn’t take long for them to be finished. These drinks would make for great additions to the BBQ drinks table or a fizzy alternatively at a dinner party.

As you may have noticed, I still haven’t eaten but directly opposite, was a world seasonings company who were offering chicken korma and rice samples. As I took one and started eating, with the mentality of this being a starter, a loud voice spilled over the park “The lunch sitting of the Taste of London Festival has finished, please make your way to the exit”. FURY.

On my lonely walk back to the exit, I passed Oliver’s Bakery, The Phene and an all time favourite Meat Liquor. Now have I let myself down or what?! Strolling out of Regents Park feeling very demoralised and cheated (based on my own decisions), I was mentally scanning the surrounding area for something to eat! 

Taste of London Festival was a good representation of some of the great dining options the capital has to offer but was a little heavy on the beverage contribution, so no doubt other festival goers experienced the same struggle in actually finding food. Would I return? Maybe.

Overall WOM Rating: 3 kisses out of 5

Verdict? Indifferent


Can. x