Street Food, Steak and The Shard: One Weekend in London

In April we had the chance to return to London for the 2nd annual Chowzter Tastiest Fast Feast Awards, where 50 food bloggers from around the world helped count down some of the best sandwiches, burgers, noodles, pizza, pastries and more. Check out the winners from as near as Di Fara pizza in Brooklyn (had it!) to a roast goose in far away Hong Kong, and all our photos of the awards on Facebook.

Next time you travel, take a look at www.chowzter.com for where to get the best local dishes and fast feasts at affordable prices. About 100 cities are currently populated with short, easy-to-digest lists of recommendations from a local blogger. We are the Philly contributors and can vouch that the other city representatives we've met are both awesome and legit sources of what to eat in their hometowns.

As for the London trip... no surprise, we spent just about all our time eating. So what's good to eat in London these days? Wow. A lot. 

Street Food. Last year, we spent an afternoon each strolling the Borough Market, the oldest market in London, and the Sunday Up Market, an endless maze of crafts, vintage vendors and food from every culture imaginable. This year we did the 100+ year old Broadway Market. It's smaller than Borough but less crowded and just as plentiful with amazing food. Some of the best below, with lots more pics posted to our Facebook page. These markets might be our favorite thing about London. They are everywhere, offering tons of delicious things to buy and eat on the spot, ingredients to take home and cook with, and a showcase for the global food city the London really is.

Buttermilk fried chicken, scotch eggs, pho, meringue, salmon toasts... this isn't even a fraction of what we ate that day. Plus there was an albino dog chilling in a suitcase.

Steak. Chowzter took our group to Flat Iron, the hottest steakhouse in London today, for a blind taste test of 6 premium steaks from around the world. Sure enough, the steak from a local Yorkshire farmer (#5 below) beat out Australia, New Zealand, a Japanese Waygu, Scotland and even the good ol' USA by a long shot. Nice to see the local guy win! By the time we were done, there was line down the block of people waiting to get into the no-reservations hotspot, which only charges about US $17 per top quality steak. 

Steak taste test at Flat Iron in London

Tayyabs. London is known for having incredible Indian and Pakistani food, both along Brick Lane and in other parts of the city. In a Pat's and Geno's-eque rivalry (they are literally at opposite ends of one little street), two places called Tayyabs and Lahore Kebob House compete for the unofficial title of best Pakistani kebob house.

Last year we tried Lahore so this year we hit up Tayyabs. Which was better? Who knows. It's been a year. Both are fantastic but have dramatically different atmospheres. Choose Tayyabs if you want a nicer restaurant. Head to Lahore for low frills but an open kitchen to watch the magical cooking unfurl.

Chicken tikka, lamb chops, naan from Tayyabs

The Shard. During the short amount of time we weren't eating, we headed to the top of The Shard for an incredible bird's eye view of one of the coolest cities in the world. The Shard is the tallest building in the European Union at 1,004 ft. high. From 72 stories up, you get this killer view. One thing to know before you go: it's crazy expensive at around US $50 each to go up The Shard, so consider that when planning a London itinerary.

Many thanks to Chowzter for another fantastic trip! Stay tuned for a post with list of all the food blogs around the world that you should check it before you travel there.