East London Indian Food Tour: 8+ Tastings on Brick Lane
Brick Lane's Curry Houses: How a Street Became London's Indian Heart
You walk Brick Lane and Whitechapel with a local guide, stopping at 8+ restaurants and stalls to taste tandoori, curries (veg and meat), naan, lassi, fried snacks, and Indian desserts. The guide explains how immigration built London's curry culture while you eat your way through the East End's actual food scene, ending with a surprise secret dish. Comfortable shoes matter because you're moving between stops the whole time.
Options for this experience
2 optionsStep-by-step itinerary
East London Indian Food and Culture Tour
- Visit Whitechapel Gallery
- Walk through Brick Lane
- Pass Liverpool Street Station
- Explore Old Spitalfields Market
- Taste 8+ authentic Indian dishes
- Enjoy refreshing lassi drink
- Try classic Indian desserts
- Discover the Secret Dish
What’s included
Your day includes tandoori chicken or lamb, a selection of rich curries in both vegetarian and meat options, freshly baked naan and fragrant basmati rice, a refreshing creamy lassi, unique fried snacks with spiced chickpeas, traditional Indian desserts including gulab jamun and rasgulla, and an exclusive secret dish. The tour walks you through Brick Lane, Whitechapel, Old Spitalfields Market, and the area around Liverpool Street Station with a local guide who explains how immigration shaped London's Indian food culture.
- Monday to Thursday 12:00 19:00
- Friday 18:00 19:00
- Saturday 17:00 18:00 19:00
- Sunday 17:00
Information
East London food tour with 8+ Indian tastings on Brick Lane, Whitechapel and Old Spitalfields Market. Includes curries, tandoori, naan, lassi and desserts with guide.
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The experience
You're walking down Brick Lane in the East End, and a restaurant owner leans out to call you over, not to hustle you in, but to point you toward the place where the tour starts. That's the feeling of this East London Indian food tour: you're not a tourist being herded through, you're someone who belongs here. The street itself is the guide at first. Brick Lane runs through what locals call Banglatown, and the smell of spiced meat and ghee hits you before you've walked a block. Your guide meets you near Liverpool Street Station and walks you straight into the neighborhood's rhythm, past storefronts with names in Bengali script, past the Whitechapel Gallery sitting quiet on the corner, past the layers of history that made this corner of London what it is.
Then the eating starts, and it doesn't stop. Eight tastings minimum, each one a different restaurant or stall, each one showing you something different about how Indian food took root here. You'll taste tandoori chicken or lamb: smoky, charred at the edges, the spice sitting on your tongue without burning it. Then curries, both vegetarian and meat, the kind that are rich enough to coat the roof of your mouth. Naan comes out warm and slightly blistered, basmati rice fragrant enough that you notice it. There's lassi, cold and creamy, cutting through the heat. Spiced chickpeas fried until they're crisp. A secret dish at the end. The guide won't tell you what it is until you're eating it, and it lands different because of that. And desserts: gulab jamun, those syrup-soaked balls that dissolve on your tongue, or rasgulla, which is softer, almost like eating clouds. The tour involves real walking (you're moving between stops, not sitting in one place), so wear shoes that won't punish you by the end.
What you're actually learning, though, is how immigration shaped London's food. Your guide talks about why this neighborhood became the center of Indian cuisine in the UK, how the restaurants here aren't trying to be fancy or Anglicized, they're just cooking the food they know. That context (the history, the people, the reason each dish matters) is what separates this from just eating your way down a street. You finish near Old Spitalfields Market, the Victorian market hall that's been standing since 1876, and by then you've walked through a piece of London that most tourists never see.
Top questions
Can children come?
Yes. Ticket types: Youth (13 to 17 years); Child (3 to 12 years); Infant (under 3): free.
What's included in the 8+ tastings?
Tandoori specialties, curries (vegetarian and meat), naan, basmati rice, lassi, fried snacks with spiced chickpeas, traditional sweets like gulab jamun and rasgulla, and an exclusive secret dish.
Where does the tour start?
The tour is based in East London, with stops at Brick Lane, Whitechapel Gallery, Old Spitalfields Market, and near Liverpool Street Station.
Can I do this tour if I have dietary requirements?
Yes, but you need to contact the tour operator in advance to discuss your dietary needs so they can arrange suitable options at the restaurants.
Are pets allowed on the food tour?
No, pets cannot be accommodated on this food tour.
What should I wear?
Comfortable walking shoes are recommended, as the tour involves a fair amount of walking between different stops.
Is this tour suitable for all fitness levels?
The tour is suitable for all physical fitness levels, though it does involve walking through the East End neighborhoods.
What is the "Secret Dish"?
The guide won't reveal it until you're eating it. It's a surprise finale to complete your food journey.
Operated by Secret Food Tours. Explorevia does not run this tour: we compare it with similar options, and you book it with our booking partner.
Prices and times updated today
East London Indian Food Tour: 8+ Tastings on Brick Lane
3h · EN
from £ 91.99 per person
≈ US$ 124 in your currency
Next, you choose your date and number of travelers and see the final price.