Food & Drink in London

Family owned for two years, Wisdom Teashop is committed to enriching the global tea community by providing Fair Trade and Ethical Tea Partnerships loose-leaf teas and products whenever possible. Savour the soothing taste of Japanese matcha ($6 for 50g), a rich, frothy green tea often used to make green tea ice cream, lattes, milkshakes, and bubble-bath beards. Or shake up your morning coffee routine with a steamy cup of Canadian breakfast tea ($4.95 for 50g), a specialty black tea blend whispering floral, oaky sweet nothings. Shoppers looking for gifts or a little something special to accompany their own tea-totalling will appreciate the selection of accessories and wares at Wisdom Teashop. Do your part to save the earth, one leaf at a time, by storing your lovely leaves in a round tea caddy ($2.75 for 50g container), a sleek, reusable tin good for long-term, air-tight storage. Once exposed to the freedom of the air, let leaves soak directly into your cup or pot with a stainless steel infuser ($5.95), or tea ball infuser ($3.75 for a 2" infuser).

Though The Gourmet Deli embodies the atmosphere and food of a traditional New York deli and bagel shop, most of the shop’s ingredients come from Canadian businesses. The Gourmet Deli sources smoked meats and corned beef from a deli in downtown Montreal, topping sandwiches with deli staples such as roast turkey and smoked salmon. With each soup, salad, or sandwich, the deli eschews preservatives and processed foods in favour of natural ingredients.

The deli menu showcases a range of internationally inspired cuisine. Staffers stir up hearty soups such as potato and cheddar or chicken and spinach and toss salads such as the classic greek, honey-dijon chicken, or spinach with egg and bacon in a cucumber dressing. The shop also stacks a range of traditional and unorthodox sandwiches, such as the turkey bistro topped with melted mozzarella and orange-cranberry sauce, and the Tex-Mex bacon-beef melt, which drips with cheddar and habanero-barbecue sauce.

True Taco facilitates gastro fiestas with an eclectic menu of family-style recipes. Tacos ($2.50 each), the specialty of the house, come with a protein choice of chorizo, pastor, beef barbacoa, or beef tongue with a selection of homemade sauces. Unlike the feat of knotting matchsticks with one's tongue, chili relleños ($7.95) combine fire-breathing with deliciousness in the form of two jalapenos stuffed with chicken and cheese. Early eye-openers can take on a sophisticated breakfast plate of huevos rancheros ($6.95) or Salvadorian tipico with refried beans and plantains. Close out a feasting fete with crumbly-sweet churro batons ($3 each) or indulge in pastel de tres leches ($4.95), a moist three-milk cake that wields its super powers of taste over inferior two-milk cakes.

Though many restaurants feature expansive wine lists, The Braywick Bistro’s is essentially infinite. That’s because its array of local and international wines is supplemented by a bring-your-own-wine policy—with a $20 corkage fee—that allows patrons to enjoy any varietal they desire. That flexibility is important, since the menu ranges from hearty, European-inspired dishes of chicken carbonara and gorgonzola-stuffed portobello mushrooms to the lighter tropical flavors of prawn-laced pad thai and mango-topped mahi-mahi. The cuisine’s global aromas suffuse the bistro’s dining room, where nature-themed photography and wheatgrass centerpieces evoke the same freshness that suffuses each dish’s ingredients and each waiter’s bonsai hairstyle.