London eats. Not just in fancy restaurants or hidden curry houses, but in bus stops, street markets, and kitchen tables across 32 boroughs. If you want to know where the real food is - not the ones with five-star reviews from tourists who’ve never stepped off the Tube - you need to follow the locals. And the best locals? The food bloggers who’ve spent years eating their way through this city, one plate at a time.
Why Trust a London Food Blogger Over a Review Site?
Yelp and Google Reviews tell you what people think after one visit. Food bloggers tell you what they think after 20 visits. They notice when the chef changes, when the sourdough gets too dense, or when the staff stops remembering your name. They don’t just rate food - they track it over seasons, weather, and economic shifts.
Take Anna Jones. She’s been writing about London’s plant-based scene since 2018. In 2023, she called out a popular vegan café in Hackney for switching to pre-made frozen patties. A month later, the owner admitted it and switched back to house-made. That’s the kind of accountability you won’t find on TripAdvisor.
The Top 5 London Food Bloggers You Should Be Reading
- Anna Jones - Focus: Plant-based, seasonal cooking. Her blog One Green Planet London is a masterclass in how to make vegetables exciting. She visits farmers’ markets weekly and writes recipes using only what’s in season. Her Winter Root Veg Bowl recipe, published in December 2025, went viral after she posted a video of her picking parsnips at Broadway Market.
- James Higgs - Focus: High-end dining, hidden gems. A former chef at Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant, James left the kitchen in 2020 to start Behind the Pass. He doesn’t review Michelin stars - he reviews the tiny Italian place in Peckham that only takes 12 reservations a night. His 2025 list of 10 unlisted London restaurants became a cult hit among locals.
- Leila Rahman - Focus: South Asian street food. Her blog Spice Routes maps the evolution of London’s Bangladeshi, Pakistani, and Indian food scene. She doesn’t just review curry houses - she interviews the grandmothers who still make the spice blends by hand. Her 2024 post on the last remaining hand-ground garam masala maker in Brick Lane got featured in the London Evening Standard.
- Tommy Chen - Focus: Asian fusion, late-night eats. Tommy’s blog Midnight Munchies started as a side project while he worked as a barista. Now he’s known for his 2 a.m. reviews of Chinatown’s best dumpling stalls. He rates places on how fast the food comes, how much grease is on the napkins, and whether the owner smiles. His 2025 guide to the 7 best dumplings under £5 sold out in 48 hours as a downloadable PDF.
- Maya Bell - Focus: Baking, comfort food, and nostalgia. Maya’s blog London Dough is all about the food that reminds you of home. She resurrects old recipes from 1970s school dinners and recreates them with modern ingredients. Her 1983 School Pie - a buttery pastry filled with minced beef and peas - became so popular, a bakery in Croydon started selling it weekly.
What Makes a Great Food Blog in London Today?
It’s not just about pretty photos or fancy captions. The best London food bloggers do three things consistently:
- They show up again. They don’t just drop in for a one-off review. They return in summer, winter, after a staff change, during a heatwave. They know how food changes with the season.
- They talk to the people behind the counter. They ask how long the owner’s been here. Who makes the bread? Where do they source the fish? They don’t just eat - they listen.
- They give you the recipe. Not just a list of ingredients. A real one. With mistakes they made, adjustments they tried, and why the final version works. Anna Jones’s Roasted Beetroot and Walnut Salad includes a note: “Don’t skip the lemon zest. I learned that the hard way after burning three batches.”
Compare that to a generic “10 Best London Restaurants” list. Those are written by agencies. These bloggers are the ones who’ve been kicked out of a pub for asking if the lamb was free-range. They’ve been served cold soup and still left a tip because the waitress remembered their name.
How to Use These Blogs to Eat Better in London
Don’t just read - act. Here’s how:
- Follow their seasonal guides. Anna Jones releases a new “What’s in Season” post every first Monday of the month. Use it to plan your shopping.
- Bookmark their “Under the Radar” lists. James Higgs updates his 10 hidden spots every January. Bookmark it. Try one a month.
- Cook their recipes. Maya Bell’s recipes are written for home kitchens. No fancy gadgets. Just a knife, a pot, and patience. Try her Old-Fashioned Sausage Roll on a Sunday afternoon. You’ll taste 50 years of London in one bite.
- Engage with them. Comment. Ask questions. Send them photos of your version of their recipe. They reply. Most of them still use email, not Instagram DMs.
What These Bloggers Are Doing Differently in 2026
London’s food scene is changing fast. Rent’s up. Staff shortages are real. Many restaurants now close on Mondays just to survive.
The bloggers? They’re adapting.
- Leila Rahman started a podcast called Spice Lines, where she interviews immigrant women who run home kitchens. You can order their food directly through her site - no delivery apps, no markups.
- Tommy Chen now runs a “Late Night Food Map” app that only shows open spots between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m. It’s updated in real time by users who text him when a stall closes early.
- Maya Bell teamed up with a local community center to teach free baking classes to single parents. Her blog now includes a “Bake for Your Neighbour” section - with recipes that feed four for under £3.
These aren’t influencers chasing trends. They’re archivists of a city that eats with its heart.
Where to Start Today
If you’re new to London food blogs, here’s your 3-step plan:
- Go to London Dough and make Maya Bell’s 1983 School Pie. Eat it with a cup of tea. Notice how the pastry cracks just right.
- Next weekend, pick one spot from James Higgs’s “10 Unlisted” list. Go alone. Sit at the counter. Ask the chef what they’re proud of this week.
- Subscribe to Anna Jones’s newsletter. When her next seasonal guide drops, go to the nearest farmers’ market and buy only what’s listed. Cook it all. Taste the difference.
You don’t need to be a foodie. You just need to be curious. And hungry.
Are London food bloggers still relevant with so many Instagram accounts?
Yes - if they’re not just posting pretty pictures. The best bloggers write deep, long-form content with real experiences, recipes you can trust, and updates over time. Instagram is noise. Blogs are memory. One tells you what’s trending; the other tells you what’s lasting.
Can I trust food bloggers who get free meals?
Transparency matters. The top bloggers always disclose if a meal was comped. Anna Jones once wrote a 2,000-word post titled “I Got Free Food. Here’s Why I Still Hated It.” That’s the standard. If a blogger never mentions free meals, walk away.
Do these bloggers only cover expensive restaurants?
No. Tommy Chen’s entire site is built around meals under £10. Maya Bell’s recipes cost less than £5 to make. Leila Rahman highlights home kitchens where you pay cash and eat on plastic chairs. London’s best food isn’t priced by Michelin - it’s priced by love.
How do I find more food bloggers like these?
Check their “Links” or “Friends” pages. Most of them link to other bloggers they respect. Or search #LondonFoodBloggers on Twitter - not Instagram. The real conversations happen in threads, not feeds.
Can I submit my own recipe to these blogs?
Some do. Maya Bell has a “Reader’s Kitchen” section where she features home cooks. Send your recipe with a photo and a short story - why you made it, who you made it for. That’s what matters more than perfect plating.
Next Steps: Eat Like a Local
Don’t wait for the next big food trend. Start with what’s already here. Cook one recipe from a real blogger. Visit one unlisted spot. Talk to one chef who’s been there since 2015.
London’s food culture isn’t in the glossy magazines. It’s in the kitchen of a flat in Walthamstow, the back room of a kebab shop in Wembley, the steam rising off a pie at a market stall in Brixton. The bloggers are just the ones who noticed - and decided to write it down.