CURRY: Food for High Flyers and the Jet Set

Authentic Cockney Grub in London




Now, you may have thought that you couldn't get pie'n'mash or jellied eels anymore. You could be forgiven for thinking it had all died out along with street parties and toasts to the Queen Mother. Strangely you'd be wrong.

The tradition of good East End grub is still alive and kicking (indeed, there are believed to be around 80 pie and mash shops still going, plus a good few jellied eels stalls - particularly around Brick Lane market). So, we'll give you the lowdown on a few of them.

For a start there's a particular type of décor associated with these establishments. Mostly they're decorated in blue, green or orange tiles. By and large you'll have to sit on wooden benches, the tables tend to be of white marble and so on - it's a throwback to the late Victorian era in case you were wondering.

The oldest surviving pie and mash shop is M Manze (87 Tower Bridge Road, SE1. (020) 7407 2985) on Tower Bridge Road (it has been there since 1891). As with most of its ilk the food is cheap, plentiful and definitely an acquired taste. Another branch of M Manze can be found at 105 Peckham High Street, SE15. (020 7277 6181) . (www.manze.co.uk)

Try G. Kelly (414 Bethnal Green road, E2. (020) 7739 3603) - a proper old-fashioned Cockney shop if ever there was one.

Then there's F Cooke (9 Broadway Market, London Fields, E8. (020) 7254 6458 & 150 Hoxton Road, N1. (020) 7729 7718) - you can tell these are old family businesses can't you?

Also try, BJ's Pie and Mash Shop (330 Barking Road, E13. (020) 7474 3389) it has a rather good reputation and is therefore probably a rather good bet!

Next up on our list is Goddards (45 Greenwich Church Street, SE10. (020) 8293 9313). The business was founded in 1890 and this branch opened in 1952. These days not only do they still provide an excellent restaurant, but they also have a takeaway service and can organise special functions (naturally based around a cockney theme!). Great stuff! (www.pieshop.co.uk)

Of course, if you fancy going on a real pie and mash mission then you could also head towards Bert's (3 Peckham Park Road, SE15. (020) 7639 4598) - possibly one of the cheapest pie and mash shops in town. And, even if it is only 60 years old, it still has original adverts for Bert's Jellied Eels on the walls - lovely and authentic!

Also worth visiting is the Cockney Pie And Mash Shop (314 Portobello Road, W11. (020) 8960 9409). Unsurprisingly the name gives this place away - it's a fairly new addition. That doesn't stop the food being good though!



When it comes to Jellied Eels (which are normally sold in the Pie shops anyway as a side dish) your best bets are to try wandering around the markets of a morning. The chances are you'll happen across an eel stall - particularly in the East End.

All in all, these places aren't too hard to find (just mostly forgotten) - all you have to do is get out and look! Have fun now.

Words: Eoin Sanders

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