London food & shopping guide: where to eat the classics and buy the best British things, with prices
Every pick here is somewhere our drivers are asked for week after week. Prices are from the venues’ own menus and booking sites (checked October 2026); tap the Google Maps links for photos, today’s menu and star ratings. Tell us when you book and the driver will stop on the way, wait, and carry the bags.
Eat and shop like a Londoner: fish & chips, Sunday roast, full English, afternoon tea, pies, pale ale, vegan & the best British brands
Our drivers get asked for these every day, so here is the shortlist we give in the car. Prices are from the venues’ own menus and booking sites (seen October 2026); tap the Google Maps link for photos, today’s menu and star ratings. Want a stop on the way? Say so when you book and the driver will wait.
Fish & chips
- Poppies Fish & Chips
Spitalfields E1, Soho W1, Camden NW1, Portobello W11
1950s East End chippy, haddock and cod fried to order, mushy peas
cod & chips £21.99, haddock £20.99 (menu)
website · photos, menu & ratings on Google Maps - Golden Union
Poland St, Soho W1
Proper chippy with a sit-down room, gluten-free batter on request
about £15–£19 for fish and chips
website · photos, menu & ratings on Google Maps
Sunday roast
- Hawksmoor
Seven Dials WC2, Borough SE1, Air Street W1, Wood Wharf E14, Knightsbridge
The roast most Londoners name first: dry-aged rump, beef-dripping roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding
Sunday roast rump £29.50 (menu); book ahead
website · photos, menu & ratings on Google Maps - Blacklock
Soho W1, Shoreditch EC2, Covent Garden WC2, Canary Wharf E14
Chop-house roasts with all the trimmings and bottomless gravy
roast about £24–£28 (menu)
website · photos, menu & ratings on Google Maps
English breakfast
- E Pellicci
332 Bethnal Green Rd E2
Family caff since 1900, Art Deco interior, fry-ups and Italian specials; cash-friendly, Mon–Sat mornings
full English about £10–£13
website · photos, menu & ratings on Google Maps - The Wolseley
160 Piccadilly W1
Grand café breakfast under chandeliers: the full English, kedgeree, eggs Benedict
full English about £20–£24 (menu)
website · photos, menu & ratings on Google Maps
Afternoon tea
- The Ritz, Palm Court
150 Piccadilly W1
The classic: finger sandwiches, scones, pastries and a pianist; jacket and tie for men, book weeks ahead
£85 a head, £105 with Champagne (2026); 12.5% service added
website · photos, menu & ratings on Google Maps - Fortnum & Mason, Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon
181 Piccadilly W1
Fortnum’s own teas, a trolley of cakes and the famous scones
from £75 a head (2026)
website · photos, menu & ratings on Google Maps - Claridge’s / The Savoy
Mayfair W1 / Strand WC2
Grand-hotel teas under Art Deco ceilings; the Savoy’s Thames Foyer has a glass dome and a pianist
Claridge’s £95, Savoy £90 a head (2026)
website · photos, menu & ratings on Google Maps - Bea’s of Bloomsbury / Brigit’s afternoon-tea bus
Bloomsbury WC1 / Victoria SW1
Cheaper and more fun: cupcakes and scones in a bakery, or tea on a vintage Routemaster bus past the sights
Bea’s about £40; bus tour from about £50–£75
website · photos, menu & ratings on Google Maps
Pies
- Mother Mash
Carnaby St, Soho W1
Pie, mash and gravy or sausage and mash, choose your mash and your gravy
pie, mash & gravy from about £15
website · photos, menu & ratings on Google Maps - Pieminister
Leather Lane EC1 and across London
Award-winning British pies incl. vegan and veggie; takeaway or sit in
pie & mash about £12–£15
website · photos, menu & ratings on Google Maps
British pale ale
- The Churchill Arms
Kensington Church St W8
Flower-covered Fuller’s pub, London Pride on cask, Thai kitchen at the back
pint about £6–£7
website · photos, menu & ratings on Google Maps - Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese
Fleet St EC4
Rebuilt 1667, Dickens drank here; Samuel Smith’s ales, cellar bars
pint about £5–£6 (no cards in some Sam Smith’s pubs – carry cash)
website · photos, menu & ratings on Google Maps - Fuller’s Griffin Brewery tour
Chiswick W4
Tour and tasting at the home of London Pride (book ahead)
tours from about £25
website · photos, menu & ratings on Google Maps
Vegan & vegetarian
- Mildreds
Lexington St, Soho W1 (also Camden, King’s Cross, Dalston, Covent Garden)
London’s best-known vegetarian restaurant since 1988, now fully plant-based
about £38 a head (TheFork); mains £15–£20
rated 9.3/10 on TheFork, 2,800+ Tripadvisor reviews
website · photos, menu & ratings on Google Maps - Gauthier Soho
Romilly St, Soho W1
Michelin-trained French fine dining, 100% vegan tasting menus
tasting menus from about £75
website · photos, menu & ratings on Google Maps
Souvenirs & British brands
- Fortnum & Mason
181 Piccadilly W1
Tea, biscuits, marmalade and hampers in the famous eau-de-nil tins since 1707
tea caddies from about £10; hampers £50+
website · photos, menu & ratings on Google Maps - Liberty London
Regent St W1
Tudor-fronted store for Liberty print scarves, Barbour, Burberry, Mulberry and British designers
scarves from about £45
website · photos, menu & ratings on Google Maps - Harrods
Knightsbridge SW1
Food halls, the Harrods teddy and tea tins; Burberry, Barbour, Smythson, Paul Smith under one roof
souvenir tea tins from about £10
website · photos, menu & ratings on Google Maps - London Transport Museum shop
Covent Garden WC2
The best Tube-map and roundel gifts in London, moquette cushions, posters
gifts £5–£50
website · photos, menu & ratings on Google Maps - Borough Market
London Bridge SE1
Cheese, chutneys, Bread Ahead doughnuts, cider and British produce to take home (Tue–Sun)
free to visit; lunch £8–£15
website · photos, menu & ratings on Google Maps - Marks & Spencer / Waitrose food halls
everywhere (Marble Arch W1 flagship)
Where Londoners buy biscuits, Percy Pigs, Colman’s mustard and tea to carry home – a fraction of airport prices
biscuits and tea £2–£6
website · photos, menu & ratings on Google Maps - Burberry Regent Street & Barbour
Regent St W1 / Piccadilly
The two most-asked-for British labels; tax-free shopping is no longer available in the UK for visitors
trench coats £1,500+; Barbour jackets £200+
website · photos, menu & ratings on Google Maps
Tipping: 10–12.5%% service is often added in restaurants, never in pubs or chippies. Most places take cards; a few old caffs and Sam Smith’s pubs are cash-only. Vegan and gluten-free options are marked on almost every London menu – just ask. The airport shops sell the same tea tins and biscuits at 2–3 times the supermarket price, so buy souvenirs in town.
Full list with prices: London food & shopping guide.