Free Shoreditch tasting menu covers 125 years of British food

A free immersive dining event comes to Shoreditch next month, with sittings on three days: Wednesday 7, Thursday 8 and Friday 9 October 2026. Anyone who wants a seat has until 5pm on Sunday 27 September 2026 to put their name forward.

The event is a piece of publicity by Lurpak, which is marking 125 years of the brand, and the food costs nothing. Each sitting lasts two hours and works its way through the past 125 years of eating in the UK. Diners start with the plates of the 1900s. From there the menu moves to the bolder cooking Britain took up in the 1960s, then to the richer, showier food of the 1980s, before it ends on the sort of shareable dishes that went round the internet in the 2010s.

How to apply for tickets

There are 125 places in total. They are free, but they are not first come, first served: every name goes into a ballot. Applicants register on the event’s own website and can tick up to three sittings that suit them.

People who do not get a seat are not left out altogether. Their entries go into a prize draw for one of three Lurpak 125 anniversary hampers.

Free cupcakes on Old Street

There is a second giveaway the day before the dinners start. Lurpak will hand out 500 cupcakes at Kachette, the venue on Old Street across the road from Shoreditch Town Hall. The cake drop begins at 12.25pm on Tuesday 6 October 2026.