A foodie’s walking tour of London

If you think you’ve been on the sauce too much this festive season, breathe a sigh of relief: it is unlikely you will have surpassed your 18th-century ancestors in the drinking stakes.

On an outing with Eating London Tours last week I learned that the average Londoner of the time imbibed a whopping 14 gallons of gin a year.

The new Twilight Soho Food Tour, which launched in June this year, serves up myriad revelations about the central district – even for a jaded Londoner like myself.

With our eminently affable guide Hannah we explore all corners of the capital’s heaving heart.

And as the tour’s name suggests there are plentiful culinary pit stops along the way (six, to be exact), which showcase London in both its modern and old guises: from the taco shells made of Jicama (a Mexican turnip) at a Mexican restaurant disguised as a sex shop, to the gin tasting at a neighbourhood gin joint that has been in the same family since 1933.

Tipples, and their role in London’s colourful history, feature prominently on our touring agenda.

Gin, Hannah explains, was a product of Dutch ingenuity, hence where the term “Dutch courage” derives from.

Later we hear how locals were saved from the horrors of the 1854 Broad Street cholera outbreak thanks to beer (the fermentation process necessary to produce the amber nectar kills cholera bacteria).

And in honour of the man who discovered that it is contaminated water, not air, that causes cholera, we admire the pub named after him – the John Snow.

But it is not just food and drink that steers our walk.

We also learn about the notorious history of the manor house turned brothel-turned-pickle factory; the district’s legacy as a hotbed for musical greats, such as Mozart, the Beatles and Jimi Hendrix, who performed, lived and produced music in the clubs and studios of these streets; as well the Seven Noses of Soho – an artistic installation where sculptures of noses are affixed on to certain buildings.

Soho might be simple to explore on your own two feet, but without Hannah’s local knowledge, and not to mention restaurant expertise, it would be also all too easy to overlook some of the most important sites; even when they’re sitting right under your nose.

Agents can email Jennifer Martino (jen@eatingeuropetours.com) to earn commission on any bookings made with Eating London Tours, or call 020 3289 6327.