Eating and drinking your private Tower of London tour: A Guide

After a whirlwind ride through over 900 years of history, you’re going to be hungry. Here are our 6 top tips on what to eat and drink around Tower Hill. 

As tour guides, one of the most frequent questions we get after any tour is ‘where should I eat?’ And we totally get it… adventuring through London’s history is hungry work!

With that in mind, welcome to the first in a series of handy pocket guides helping you discover the tastiest morsels around each of the Urban Saunters tour locations.

First up: Tower Hill

After your private tour of the Tower of London, you’re going to find yourself seeking out places to grab a bite in an area that, historically, wasn’t exactly the best for memorable meals.

Fear not explorers and history seekers, the winds of change have blown around the Tower of London, up over Tower Bridge and now, you don’t have to go too far to find the perfect sustenance.

1. The Dickens Inn

If you’ve just finished a private tour of the Tower of London, we’re guessing you may well like a bit of historical local history. Let’s start with the traditional British boozer (aka the pub).

You wouldn’t guess it now but in its heyday, the river Thames was one of the most important ports in the world with ships full of all sorts of imports and exports. This original warehouse in the nearby St Katharine Docks is thought to have once housed tea but now serves as a stunning galleried pub with a wonderful atmosphere, a great selection of beer and of course, some proper pub classics like bangers and mash. 

2. Emilia’s

We’re already mentally in St Katharine Docks so let’s just stay there. If you like your private Tower of London tour served with a healthy dose of hand crafted pasta then we have just the place. Emilia’s is the culmination of the founder’s travels around Italy and as our company is one founded by people who know that sunny peninsula intimately, we can concur that he’s done a rather good job.

Particular highlights are the 4 hour slow cooked béchamel bolognese with pappardelle and the casarecce embraced by truffled cacio e pepe. 

3. Maltby Street 

We’re going to assume that you have heard of the iconic 1000 year old Borough market down by London Bridge and leave it at the fact that you really should visit whilst you’re on your London vacation.

But have you heard of Maltby Street? If you’re done with your private Tower of London tour at the weekend and you’re a fan of unique food markets, then take a walk over the iconic Tower Bridge to the back streets of Bermondsey where you’ll find Maltby Street.

This is Artisan Central. Cheese being produced in railway arches (Britain produces over 750 different types), the Beer Mile where craft brews are produced, greengrocers, iconic sourdoughs, wonderful restaurants with gourmet takeaway sandwiches like 40 Maltby Street and at the weekends, a full blown street food market with dishes from around the world.

This entry was well worth using up the word count for.

4. Gunpowder

Born in Kolkata and raised in London, Hareneet Baweja has built a mini-empire of Grandma-inspired cooking from the Indian subcontinent. Located just over Tower Bridge, enjoy a taste of London’s favourite food.

Highly recommended is the Mixed Grilled platter for two with tandoori chicken, broccoli and grilled Goan style prawns – it’s a yes from us.

5. St-Dunstan-in-the-East

Ok so this entry is maybe less about the food and more about the location but bear with us, it’s worth it.

If the weather is good (it is in the summer, we promise), just ask your private tour guide to help you give this a go:

Step 1 – Grab some takeaway or picnic food. Bread & Truffle is perfect for this.

Step 3 – Enjoy it in St Dunstans-in-the-East, the ruins of a church bombed in WW2 and now peaceful oasis of calm amongst the plants. A quintessential local experience that we Londoners usually keep to ourselves.

You may well be thinking ‘but hang on a minute Urban Saunters, call yourself a London tour company. You haven’t even mentioned fish and chips?’

Well that, our friends, deserves a blog post all of its own. Hold the line caller, the history of fish and chips and where to find the best ones, coming soon.

If this article has whet your appetite for a private Tower of London tour and the delights of what to eat afterwards, come saunter with us. 

We also run a rather fabulous Ultimate Royal London tour that sees you enjoy admission to the Tower of London, a boat ride of the Thames and a Westminster walking tour but as that tour ends in a whole ‘different city’, we’ll save that for another time.