F. Cooke

These good old fashioned pie houses serve up plates of cockney cuisine at dirt cheap prices. Pop in for some pie, mash, jellied eel and a true taste of London. These flavours haven't changed much in the last hundred years, F. Cooke have kept the food true to its roots by not messing with the recipes and keeping their prices astonishingly low. OAPs can eat a full meal here for just a pound on weekdays and I would challenge anyone to spend more than a fiver on lunch. Their parsley liquor recipe is a closely guarded secret and accompanies the fresh pastry topped beef pies for a truly unique flavour. The decor is distinctly no-nonsense, marble top tables, wooden benches and tiled walls. You will find a real mix of people sat down to eat here, old regulars, young locals, hungry builders and wide-eyed tourists keen to get a glimpse into London's past. A second F. Cooke pie house is a welcome touch of tradition on the trendy Broadway Market a few miles east, a reminder of old East London in a sea of coffee shops.