The Hunger Stage: Food you don’t want to miss at Taste of London 2023

Taste of London 2023 is here, and you’d better believe the food lineup is as smashing as ever.

Yup, there’s nothing wrong with consuming a greasy burger and chips at 2am when at a music festival, but it should come as a surprise to absolutely nobody that food festivals take things up a notch.

They take your bog standard cheesy chips and raise you kimchi waffle fries, swap your mac n cheese for a truffle fettuccine and switch your bog standard burrito for a Baja fish taco…

Whether you’re someone with distinguished tastebuds or you just wanna treat yourself to a rather special meal, we can guarantee Taste of London has the ultimate food headliners for you to choose from.

With a lineup of festival food selected from 36 of the Capital’s most loved eateries, you’re gonna want to get yourself down this weekend if it’s the last thing you do.

Not sure where to start? Here are some of team Twisted‘s faves from London’s biggest food fest this year…

Taste of London 2023 line-up

We know the conundrum of being faced with too many options when you go out for food. It’s one of life’s pleasures but also one of its biggest curses.

So, we’ve narrowed down our top picks from Taste of London 2023’s epic roster of restaurants. The list could go on, but hopefully this helps you narrow things down!

1. Roti King

Credit: RotI King

Who are they? 

Roti King is a Malaysian and Singaporean restaurant which regularly draws in rather hefty queues around the block, so you’re gonna want to take the opportunity to try what chef Sugen Gopal’s got to offer.

The eatery specialises in Roti Canai, which is a popular Southeast Asian flatbread, served with a variety of different curries and street food options.

And you’re not going to get much better than these – Sugen started making roti when he was a teenager, and has been training in the art ever since.

What to order

The Roti Dhal: Simply buttery, flaky roti with a warm and lightly spiced dhal. No frills, just comforting flavours.

2. Hoppers

Credit: Hoppers

Who are they? 

Hoppers is a Sri Lankan and South Indian restaurant chain from founder and friend of Twisted Karan Gokani, and it is unquestionably another one of Taste of London’s star bookings.

Despite growing up in Mumbai, on the west coast of India, Karan says some of his most formative culinary memories are of South Asian cookery, and after a visit to Sri Lanka, he became determined to bring bring all of these flavours to the UK (you can check out our interview with him here).

Named after a popular Sri Lankan breakfast dish, the restaurant’s usual menu is packed with packed with dosas, hoppers, kothus – but for Taste, they’ve concocted some new bite-sized delights.

What to order

Chicken 65: This south Indian style fried chicken offers a serious flavour kick to your festival favourite.

3. Angelina

Credit: Angelina

Who are they? 

If you haven’t been to east-London fusion spot Angelina, take this opportunity to try their food – seriously. 

The neighbourhood restaurant from Joshua Owens-Baigler and Amar Takhar blends Italian and Japanese cuisines in a way you may never have thought would work… but trust us, it does.

Dishes that have graced the fine dining menu in the past include risotto with tonkotsu, egg and keta caviar, served with burnt soy butter and a black sesame and milk chocolate panna cotta.

For Taste, they’ve made adapted some of their bangers so that punters can grab them on the go…

What to order

Surf and Turf Milk Bun: This sounds like it sums up Angelina in a few bites. Hokkaido milk bread filled with scallop, kakuni pork belly and barbeque mayo, with a garnish of pickled cucumber and shiso salsa verde.

4. Santo Remedio

Credit: Santo Remedio

Who are they? 

Central London Mexican restaurant, Santo Remedio is also another you don’t want to miss.

From Edson Diaz-Fuentes and his wife Natalie, the restaurant draws inspiration from the duo’s time spent in Oaxaca, Mexico City, the Yucatan Penninsula.

It typically serves street food favourites, like aguachiles and tostadas, and of course there are tacos aplenty, too.

What to order

Churros and Cajeta: Satisfy your sweet tooth with this traditional Mexcian dessert. Fried choux pastry with a cinnamon sugar and dulce de leche. What’s not to love?

5. Big Mamma Group

Credit: Big Mamma

Who are they? 

The Big Mamma Group’s ethos is ‘more is more’.

The eatery is the group behind Gloria (a Capri-style trattoria in Shoreditch), Circolo Popolare (a Sicilian trattoria in Fitzrovia) and Ave Mario (a Siena inspired eatery in Covent Garden), among two more restaurants celebrating regional Italian food, Jacuzzi (a Venitian inspired pleasure palace) and Carlotta (a celebration of Italian American culture), which have also opened this year.

It’s the latter two restaurants that are going under the spotlight at Taste of London this year, famed – like their predecessors – for burrata and parmesan in abundance.

What to order

6. Rhythm Kitchen

Who are they? 

Another friend of Twisted, Rhythm Kitchen offers up incredible Caribbean flavours, brought to you by chef, Delroy Dixon.

As a trained chef, with several years’ experience working in the industry, Delroy set up his Jamaican restaurant with hopes of sharing the flavours of his childhood with the masses (read more about that in our interview with him, here).

His restaurant serves the likes of salt fish fritters, chickpea doubles and fried dumplings, as well as modern iterations of Caribbean favourites, like a jerk chicken burger.

What to order

Plantain Kebabs: A Caribbean fusion hit that’s perfect for a festival. These kebabs are stuffed with plantain, onions, peppers and Caribbean spices that’ll blow your socks off.

7. Longboys

Who are they? 

What’s better than a doughnut? How about a long doughnut?!

London bakery Longboys specialises in brioche based finger doughnuts, which are rolled and cut lovingly by hand.

Founded by famed pastry chefs, Graham Hornigold and Heather Kaniuk, the food on offered here is a serious treat, and even the fillings and compotes that come in the doughnuts are made by hand.

Because they’re hand rolled, the doughnuts taste lighter than usual, and they challenge the perception of a doughnut as something stodgy. So, basically, if you’re wondering if you have room for pudding… you do.

What to order

Tiramisu Longboy: Exactly what it sounds like – a brioche doughnut stuffed with tiramisu. Sweet lord, we’ll take 10.

8. Dumplings Legend

Credit: Dumplings Legend

Who are they? 

Dumplings Legend is a Chinatown institution from restaurateur Goeffrey Leong (another of Twisted‘s pals).

Offering up dishes from every single Chinese province, Dumplings Legend is Leong’s tribute to the diversity of Chinese cuisine, and is his (very successful) attempt to bring this to the masses here in the UK.

The menu has everything from Peking duck to Kung Pao chicken to pork and crayfish Xiaolongbao, plus a whopping 47 variations of dim sum.

What to order

Dumplings Trio: A great way to try a few of the different options Geoffrey has on offer. The dumplings are Iberico pork with king prawn, Cordyceps Flower with chicken and gogi, mushroom & seabass.

How to get Taste of London tickets

Taking place from 14th June up until the 18th, the food festival still has tickets available if you are in the area and want to head down.

A taste pass (which grants you entrance) will set you back £24, whilst you can fork out £38 and order a tasting ticket, which also bags you two dishes to sample on site.

If you’re feeling fancy, you can buy yourself a VIP ticket which will entitle you to three dishes on site – pretty much a starter, main and pud – winner!

This will set you back £75. Head to the Taste of London website to book those tickets, here.