By far the best cooking day and class every. I attended the meat and poultry class and it was…read moreamazing! I've now done classes in Paris, Barcelona and London and the one at the Cookery School is by far the best!!!!! Ill Be taking more classes when I return to London

I attended a half day course 'The ultimate meat and poultry'. Surpassed expectations on all counts…read more The cookery school is centrally located, just off Regent St.Surprisingly compact inside but everything worked well due to great organisation of the space and activities. We were welcomed with freshly baked caraway seed cakes and cheese scones, still warm from the oven with tea or coffee. Our group of ten budding cooks was split into 3 groups. We had around ten dishes to make so each group did three / four dishes. The chef leading the class was excellent. Too many dishes to describe here but highlights included guinea fowl (a favourite of mine) braised in red wine and port, spatchcock poussin, lamb stew, duck with orange and roast beef with Yorkshire pud. We all worked on fully deboning a chicken which we then stuffed with a mushroom mixture, tied up like a burrito (I think ballotine is the correct term) and took home to eat. I can report it was delicious. On the side we also made two rice dishes and creme caramels. Finally, after a 10 am start and solid demo, concentrated prep and cooking, we reached 3pm. The table was set and the group sat down to eat what became a 10 course tasting menu. Tired and weak with hunger we ate and ate sampling each dish with a nice glass or two of wine to accompany. As well as being interesting and educational, it was enjoyable and learned lots of new tips and cookery techniques. It was busy and intense but not too much and pitched to the group who all had a reasonable level of cooking knowledge. I have the recipe cards and slowly working through some of the dishes we made...not too bad so far. Would definitely return for another class.

I was shopping for a unique cooking class experience as a birthday gift to my friends. After…read morebrowsing through many cookery school offerings nothing seemed to either match my friend's tastes or was promising to be a personal enough experience. I was quite relieved and excited when I found Old Town Cooks through a recommendation. A cooking class in your own home with no hassle, no shopping (and no cleaning), just enjoying preparing and eating incredibly tasty food - that's what I was looking for! The chef, Chris, is a real pro. We worked out a 3-course menu based on produce in season. On the day of the class Chris brought everything with him down to tissues and dishwasher soap. We learned a lot about knife technique, opening scallops, making your own brioche, baking egg yolks (delicious!), making apple salsa and coconut milk sauce, and much more. And, boy, was that one of the tastiest dinners I've ever had! True unique experience. My friends are still talking about this unforgettable evening.

I wholeheartedly recommend cooking lessons with Old Town Cooks. From being an absolute novice,…read moreafter just 4 lessons I now have a whole repertoire of dishes up my sleeve. Chris from Old Town Cooks is an excellent teacher and unbelievable cook (he works in some of the best restaurants and with the best chefs in London). The lessons are fun and are very good value (especially because my wife and I ended every lesson with a 3 course michelin starred quality meal!). I had previously thought about going for group cooking lessons, but it was so much better learning with my own equipment and having Chris come to the house. Overall, an excellent experience which has given me much more confidence in my cooking.

Not quite the same as when it opened. I asked where I could buy something that was on the display…read more The shop was empty and I clearly didn't look important enough so he waved his hand and said, 'downstairs'! Went in there to get some glassware. Everything was dusty and filthy and my palms were black with dirt from handling items. Told the shop assistant and he said something along the lines of, 'this isn't Harrods. Why do you think I wear these? (he was wearing latex gloves)'. He also mentioned they were on a main road and things get dusty. Why then is the neighbouring Skandium immaculate? I love this store but stick to the Marylebone High Street branch. It's much more lovelier and awesome and you don't leave wanting to take a shower! Yuk!

Pure kitchen romance. This is where love affairs with things like copper pots and French cooking…read moretechniques start. The store is *gorgeous.* If the store's warm wood-floored interior and enticing shelves filled with decadent kitchen appliances doesn't seduce you into joining the snobbish ranks of high-brow cooking and epicure - I don't know what will. I *love* this store. I can spend copious amounts of time browsing each and every corner... admiring the unique dishware... inspecting the waffle iron... contemplating the varieties of saffron. And unless you want to spend the entire afternoon in the shop, don't even let me go downstairs where they keep piles of the most fantastic cook books. This is also where they hold their classes - expert instruction on everything from Chinese cooking to Whiskey tasting... but if you want to sign up, don't procrastinate... they book up quickly... most of January's offerings are already sold out.

I've been baking breads for quite a long time now, but I haven't been able to be very consistent in…read moreterms of producing equal quality loaves: sometimes my dough fails to rise; sometimes it rises too much; sometimes it's underbaked when I cut into it and sometimes the flavour is off. I was looking at my favourite foodie-website here in London (Edible Experiences) and there I cam across Maria's Baking Lab. I spent some time browsing the website and then signed up for one of the bread baking classes: The fundamentals of bread baking. The class was lead by Emmanuel Hadjiandreou, an artisan baker from heart. I really enjoyed his teaching style, which is hands-on and very informative; each step in the baking process is explained and he tells you exactly why you do this and what the processes behind it are. The course lasted from about 6pm to 9:30pm and during that time we baked a wholemeal bread, some wholemeal bread rolls and a soda bread. For me, most of the stuff that we did wasn't anything new, but what I really enjoyed was learning some good (kneading) techniques that will make sure my future loaves will be of better consistency. I can recommend this class to anyone and I'm now also eyeballing with the upcoming sourdough classes...my sourdough bread baking attempts have been even less successful and I'd really love to get a handle on this technique. (I grew up in Germany and sourdough breads are just a fundamental way of living there.)

Anything that has food involved in it makes Shrim a very happy girl, although I am not too sure…read moreabout the lab bit (hated chemistry in school :p). The Baking Lab hosted a team building workshop for us where we had to bake our own bagels and pizza (woohoo). Located in a very mysterious building where you literally need to walk through an alley way and then walk up some old stairways, it almost made me feel like I am on the sets of a James Bond film! We went in and were greeted very warmly by the chef there who was teaching us how to BAKE! :) We were taught how to knead pizza dough and bagel dough which was something very new to me, there are so many things that we think we know but in reality we don't! For example I had no idea that if the dough starts sticking all you need to do is leave it for 15 minutes and then get back to it instead of adding extra flour to it. There are so many techniques of folding the dough as well which were very interesting. I also had absolutely no idea that Bagels need to be boiled in water before baking and that is what gives it the texture and guess what boiling the bagels was so therapeutic, could do that for hours! I am not giving out anymore secrets because you should try it out yourself -- go get down and dirty and covered in flour! Verdict : Absolutely loved it and can't wait to go back again to learn some new trade secrets!

If you need a copper preserving pan, a bean slicer, a macaroon mat or a dried chilli grinder, this…read moreis the place for you. It is literally kitchen porn. It's not huge, but it is packed with everything you could ever want in a kitchen, and a few implements that even I was unsure of what to do with! The staff are extremely friendly and helpful and it's almost impossible to escape without having bought anything. I wandered in with a (guy) friend who pooh-poohed all kitchenware, and yet even he walked out with a Japanese carving knife at £60... They even get stock in for you if you ask them to. I feel a bit bad, as I asked them to get in a bean slicer, only to immediately find one elsewhere. The 10 bean slicers sitting forlornly on their hook stare at me every time I go in...I don't feel too bad though, I have since bought a jam funnel, some olive wood spoons and a special cleaning brush for sweetcorn.

From the owner: Borough Kitchen provides everything the at-home chef needs from the kitchen to the table. We…read moreprovide what we believe are the Best of the Best and, where there is a high-quality value alternative, the Best of Value. Our selection includes cookware, bakeware, tableware and barware, as well as a selection of electricals. Brands we carry include: Mauviel, All-Clad, Staub, DeBuyer, Paderno, Lodge, Kai, Wusthof, Zwiesel, Peugeot, Serax, Leonardo, and Rosle. Looking around the world with a focus on quality, functionality and durability, we seek to find not just the best brands, but the products they are best at. From these, we rigorously test and select the best products in each category. In store and online, we then share with you the reasons why we love the products we've chosen. Our services include: gift cards, wedding & gift registry, personal shopping, click & collect from our website, and tax-free shopping.

Great selection of books and very friendly, helpful proprietor; it's a lovely spot a few steps off…read morethe main market road where you can find books on just about anything cooking related. I would definitely recommend allowing yourself some time there.

Ever scoured sites such as Amazon to find that perfect cookbook? Ever been disappointed when you…read morecan't find an out of stock cookbook that has the pumpkin pie recipe to end all pumpkin pie recipes? I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this store, it's a foodie's paradise. There are some 8,000 recipe books filling the shelves from floor to ceiling on all manner of topics related to food: history, nutrition, art, chemistry and so much more. But here's the real attention grabber - at the back there is a reasonably priced cafe dishing up different treats from the 'test kitchen' which is devoted to trying out the recipes from the books themselves. Upstairs, too, they run cooking classes. So if you want to be the next kitchen big shot, look no further.

This was an amazing afternoon Gastropub cooking class setup by my sister during my recent visit to…read moreLondon and how perfect it was on the national siblings day. The class is well organized, the size of the classes are small so makes for more hands on experience and individual attention. Our instructor was great and answered all questions in detail, provided great cooking tips and also tips on food presentation. We made the 3 course meal of seared scallops, lamb steaks with mashed potatoes and pane cotta dessert. It was a lovely combination. They clean the shop so well you wouldn't think they do 5 cooking classes a day there!! A nice way to spend an afternoon and have a great meal at the end.

Good job keeping us entertained and teaching us how to cook at the same time. We did the 1 hour…read moreAsian cooking class on a Friday and learned how to make crab cakes and baked cod on deep fried rice noodles. We paid £35 pp and thought it was worth it. They have drinks on premises which is great because yelp striked a free glass of drink deal with a check-in! Yay Yelp! Merchandise is also discounted after completion of a class.

My daughter and Is attended a sushi making class this past Monday, and overall we had a great time…read more The classroom was spotless and beautifully set up. Our stations were spacious and organized. The instructor was personable and helpful, and was quite thorough. The price was quite reasonable, especially as children were free with a paid adult. The few negatives were that the room was FREEZING and the class started 15 minutes late. Overall we'd definitely return and would recommend this school and class to others!

One of the best cookery school classes I've been to. Not unreasonably priced; helpful and thorough…read moretuition; plus I learned lots of new techniques I'd never come across before. The pea and mint risotto and arancini balls we learned to make were simple enough that you could make them at home with some ease and I was very proud of the finished result.

Cool place for corporate events or even a close get together. We had a corporate event here and…read moreeveryone making the cooking class happen we're on their A game. We felt super relaxed and welcomed, and definitely had a great time. There's a minimum for number of heads required, so be sure to enquire about all the details. The pasta was fantastic!

A brilliant cookery school near Old Street that's just been refurbished, there's a brilliant lively…read moreatmosphere at this school that really caters to its clients. Canapes to start with plenty of prosecco and drink to get you going, and then 3 fun, interactive and insightful classes into how to cook a 3 course meal. Ours included a tortellini dish with fresh pasta, a chicken butchering class and making ballantines out of the thigh, and then a quick lesson in tempering chocolate and making a fancy chocolate tear. Plenty of ideas to take away for home dinner parties, and the venue does a brilliant job of balancing both social aspects of these classes and the more informative and learning parts. Would highly recommend for parties, celebrations or corporate events! They also send you the recipes afterwards for you to keep! Note: you don't cook the full meal, you only learn how to prepare key parts of it and they tell you how they will cook it later. The focus here is on the preparation aspects of a meal, and letting you guys socialise and enjoying the night instead of slaving over a stove!!