When we go away there is always one thing on top of the agenda. Food. We love it – cooking it, eating it and even shopping for it. Running a business selling fresh truffles means that we’ve really got to know and love the foodie scene in London and finding people all over the world who love their foodie scenes as much as their house just gets my mouth watering. Whenever we have guests visiting London one of our pleasures is showing them the best food and drinks London has to offer… and hopefully finding some new gems myself! While the London Olympics are on, there’s no doubt there will be plenty of poor food on offer, the trick will be knowing how and where to find the best stuff.I have several food and drink recommendation for anyone visiting London:

1) Borough Market – this foodies’ paradise next to London Bridge sells all sorts of delicious treats such as cheeses, olives, truffles, fresh fruits, meats and fish. There’s also a huge variety of stalls selling ready-made goodies for your lunchtime treat. Best days to visit are Thursdays – Saturdays.

2) Spitalfields & Brick Lane – Spitalfields is a lovely Victorian Market next to Liverpool Street Station. This area, once infamous for being the haunt of Jack the Ripper, is now one of the bohemian centres of London. With a lovely mix of boutique stalls, cafes and restaurants – you’re sure to find something for you. Just next to Spitalfields is Brick Lane with it’s exciting mix of Indian restaurants, trendy cafes, bars and eateries. Anytime is good to visit but on Sundays the place really comes alive!

3) Riverside pubs – when the sun is shining there is nothing like relaxing in an old English pub along the river. A couple of my favourites are The Captain Kidd in Wapping (108 Wapping High Street, Wapping, London, E1W 2NE) and The Trafalgar Tavern in Greenwich (Park Row, Greenwich, London, SE10 9NW). At both you can enjoy nice hearty reasonably priced pub food.

4) Coffee shops – Go to Leather Lane where you will find Prufrock and Department of Social Affairs, two coffee shops both alike in dignity and serving up London’s best coffee and great lunchtime eats. Prufrock is my morning coffee stop and something I miss while I’m away.

5) Gastronomic delight – Treat yourself to a gastronomic delight at Roganic, a pop-up restaurant in Marylebone headed up by Ben Spalding, a 24 year old Chef who you can expect to have a Michelin star very soon. It’s very reasonably priced at £80 for a 10 course taster menu and is where I’ve eaten my favourite dish ever (that is a high accolade).

6) Something different? Try to meet the locals by going to a Supper Club. There is a movement in London for foodies to turn their front rooms into restaurants. It’s an underground movement, so search around on Google for “London Supper Clubs” and you’ll see there are a lot of options there.We love to travel and so if any of you foodies out there have any gastronomic recommendations where you live – just let me know!

This is a guest post by Hugo Pickford-Wardle. For holiday home exchange offers in over 70 countries worldwide visit Home Base Holidays: www.homebase-hols.com.