Food is not only the source of our daily energy, but also the emotional and taste memories contained within it, which is part of our culture. London brings together people from all over the world, who have brought new habits and flavors to the city. These habits and flavors blend with their past cultural experiences and social backgrounds. When they came to the international metropolis of London, their cultural habits interacted with the Native Londoners and other outsiders, forming new cultural phenomena, as well as new personal habits and activity trajectories. For expatriates and Londoners, the community culture represented by food shapes their identity in London.

🔎 My Food-Finding Toolkit

📌 Xiaohongshu / 小红书

I searched “伦敦中餐” and got hundreds of posts from other Chinese students.

Photos, reviews, even chinese food base comparison charts.

It felt like a collective food memory journal.

📍 Google Maps

Useful for checking what’s actually nearby, but I still double-checked everything on Xiaohongshu.

Sometimes a 4.6-star place turned out to be… 🫠

 

📸 Instagram

Pretty but sometimes catfishing

Bonus✨:

Many London-based Chinese foodies are posting bilingual reviews.

 

My Quest for "Home" in London’s Digital Food Jungle 🥢

Searching for delicious food online is no longer just a convenience - it has become an emotional refuge. What I'm looking for is not just the food I want to eat. What I'm looking for is something that can make people feel the warmth of home, just like the pickled cabbage fish made by my grandma.🧡 

London’s digital food landscape promises a feast of "authentic" experiences—yet scrolling through endless neon-lit "Chinese" eateries and syrupy-sweet sauces often leaves a lingering question: Is this the smell of home？🕵️

After playing culinary detective across 5 apps 📱 + polling my squad’s taste buds 👯, my chopsticks pointed decisively to @TheEightLondon! Spoiler alert: It’s a flavor time machine to HONGKONG. Start this food adventure with me → ✨