New Covent Garden tour with Celia Brooks Brown

It takes more than a hearty interest in food, and decades of greedy eating out, to pull together an insightful and expansive tour that opens doors and minds to new experiences and, importantly, to parts of the London foodie scene that you have walked past repeatedly and snootily ignored – as Joanna Biddolph discovered on Celia Brooks Brown’s new Covent Garden gastrotour.

Summer ales with sparkle

John Oates tries an array of brand-new summer ales which are the product of collaboration between Nicholson’s – the nationwide chain of which the Walrus and Carpenter is a member – and eight UK breweries. The resulting ales, all light and fresh for summer drinking, are available only in Nicholson’s. They proved to be well worth seeking out.

Suda Thai goes mangotastic

June is the month to head down to Suda, the Thai cafe and restaurant in Covent Garden, for some delicious mango dishes. Until the 30th of June, Suda has a special mango menu to celebrate mango season in Thailand.

Star chefs in da house.Spaghetti House holds a great relaunch party

Look there’s Francesco Mazzei, Giancarlo Caldesi and even, rather surreally,Ken Hom, what are they doing in a Spaghetti House of all places? The answer is that this is a party for ‘the’ Spaghetti House, the original in Goodge Street and founded 55 years ago by Simone Lavarini and Lorenzo Fraquelli, immigrants from Italy who missed their food and were shocked by spaghetti in tins and on toast.

A Denhay Bacon Butty and a cup of Victory tea

One of life’s great pleasures, at least for a Brit, has to be a big old bacon sandwich and a big old mug of tea. The bread has to be thick cheap white, no ciabattas or focaccias thank you, and the tea has to be proper tea, not some designer nonsense or some soppy tisane. Luvverly.