The Hot Dinners' team spent eight long hours in the field this week - Regent's Park to be exact - to bring you a guide to the best of this year's Taste of London Festival. Here's our pick of the best festival dishes from the restaurants attending, and the food and wine stalls you shouldn't miss:
Dishes:
Top pick: Launceston Place’s Dish 2: Spit roast Old Spot suckling pig and black summer truffles
Piggy perfection served in a sweet brioche bun
Dish of the festival: Trinity’s Icon Dish: Pigs trotters on toasted pain polaine, with fried quail eggs, sauce gribiche and crackling
Voted Dish of Taste by a team of judges
Warm the cockles: Le Gavroche’s Dish 3: Daube de boeuf a la nicoise: braised beef with olives and soft polenta
Unctuously soft beef you could cut with a spoon.
Hot stuff: Satay House's Ayam Goreng Bawang Putjh - deep-fried chicken wings tossed in garlic and chopped chillies
Seriously more-ish
Sweet tooth: The Grill at The Dorchester’s Dish 3: Summer sherry trifle
Summery perfection topped with toasted biscuit crumble.
And also:
Action Against Hunger’s pop-up restaurant changes every day. We tried Valentine Warner’s grilled roe deer on toasted bread with tarragon dressing which was divine.
Food and drink stalls:
Beas of Bloomsbury
One of the prettiest displays at the festival with mountains of swirly strawberry meringues and towers of cupcakes. The lychee martini’s also worth trying.
Laverstoke Park Farm
Super-fresh mozzarella made from their own Buffalo herd at this Hampshire farm. Their organic ale’s pretty good too
Oddono’s Gelati
Don’t miss out on a chance to try the Mojito-flavoured ice-cream competition winner – but we really loved the cookies and cream gelato
Ancre Hill Vineyard
Who would have guessed Welsh wine could taste so good?
Sipsmith
They’re the first copper distillery to be operating in London for over 200 years – the vodka’s fantastic, but the best thing here is the G&T.
The Nyetimber Pavilion
The most beautiful looking stand at Taste this year, try a glass of chilled Nyetimber with a platter of Forman and Fields's smoked salmon. Take note of the lovely flower arrangements – the herbs in each display reflect the notes present in the wines.
Gastronomica Pimlico
Prosecco is so last year – make sure you take home a bottle of the gorgeous Erba Luce Di Caluso – a sparkling wine from Piemonte which is more refined.
First timer's guide to Taste of London
If this is your first trip to Taste, make sure you've read our guide to making the most of your visit.
