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The weather forecast is for a pretty glorious few days at Taste of London this year...
Sometimes it's a hard life running Hot Dinners. Take this week for example - we had to spend an onerous afternoon out in the sunshine in Regent's Park tasting dishes from some of London's most amazing restaurants. As judges for this year's Best of Taste, that's the kind of hard work we put in, to make sure you know exactly how to make the most of your trip to Taste of London this year.
Joining us judging this year's best dishes were TikTok sensation Lagom Chef, 2021's World Food Champion Preston Nguyen all the way from Texas and chefs from Nobu Shoreditch and Park Lane. Across two panels we tried more than 20 dishes from restaurants who were keen to win one of two awards - Best in Taste and Most Instagrammable Dish.
In the end of course there could be only one winner and that was a unanimous decision - the courgette flower with caviar from Dalston's Angelina, an ethereally-light creation that blew us all away. The runners-up were Cinder whose delicate sea bass ceviche was a particularly great choice for the punishing summer heat.
Angelina - Courgette flower tempura filled with miso mascarpone and finished with caviar
Cinder - seabass ceviche with burnt jalapeno and crispy quinoa
Jam Delish - one of our personal favourites of the night - vegan Saltfish” Tostones “Saltfish” peppers with twice-fried green plantain, samphire and scotch bonnet mayo.
Kahani - a beautiful dish of smoked octopus and shrimp salad, steamed with turmeric fennel and star anise, pomelo, grapefruit, pineapple and chilli jam
Macellaio RC - BBQ Rib Wrap with slow-cooked beef ribs, lettuce and a citrus and thyme gremolata
Bibo - Oxtail Brioche bun with beef oxtail, bull sauce, mushroom bottom and rocket.
Hoppers - Jaffna Goat Roti Taco - a pulled goat shoulder curry on a flaky roti, topped with gram crisps, herbs and pickled onions.
Cavita - Gordita de Cochinita Pibil made with slow-cooked pork shoulder, axiote, avocado purée, red onion and habanero pickle
There were two more awards to hand out on the night - the first was for Most Instagrammable Dish which went to Yopo for their beautiful ceviche.
And finally, we had the Best Dressed Stall award which went to West London's Paulette.
Paulette's home-style frontage won Best Dressed Stall
Taste of London is running all weekend until Sunday 18 June and the weather forecast is for an excellent few days of alfresco eating and drinking.
More about Taste of London
Where is it? Regent's Park, Ulster Terrace, London NW1 4LL
When does it run? 14-18 June 2023
How to get tickets: Book online
Find out more: Visit their website or follow them on Instagram @tasteoflondon
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