The best spooky Halloween food in London

With just 11 days to go until fright fans’ favourite day of the year rolls around, you should have sorted your petrifying party plans and your creepy costume. But what about the fearsome food? Forget candy corn and chocolate eyeballs, these London eateries are serving up much more spinetingling dishes this Halloween.

Ardbeg’s Monster Ice Scream 

As Halloween approaches, Ardbeg whisky will be stopping by Covent Garden with an ice-cream – sorry, ice-scream – truck full of boozy scoops and sandwiches to promote its different malts. Grab a Cookies & Scream ice-cream sandwich – Ardbeg Wee Beastie ice cream sandwiched between charcoal cookies, coated in crunchy mealworms – or pick up an Ahhh, No! Bar for a taste of lapsang souchong ice cream with an Ardbeg An Oa caramel centre, all coated in white chocolate. For cone lovers, there’s the charcoal Ice Cream Groan, filled with Ardbeg Ten smoky blackcurrant ice cream and topped with sour cherries and a brittle insect-flecked shard. Enjoy the scary treats alongside a range of cocktails at Ardbeg’s special Monsters of Smoke pop-up parlour, or join the Ardbeg Committee before October 21 to get a voucher for a free ice cream. 

Covent Garden Piazza, WC2H 7AR. Oct 26-27.

Bloody Brunch at To Home From London

London’s first pancake art café is truly getting in the Halloween spirit, with a whole Bloody Brunch menu that turns standard mid-morning fare into something gorier. Quench your thirst for blood with a crimson cappuccino, complete with cream, ‘blood’ spatters and gummy fangs, a ‘bloody’ chai latte or hibiscus juice, and sate your appetite with a cheese toast filled with bright red melted goodness and a stack of bloody pancakes. If you turn up in your Halloween costume any day this month, you’ll get £5 off the price, and there’s also some less blood-soaked options for kids (above) too.  

Arch S16, Hawley Wharf, NW1 8NZ.

Haunted Halloween afternoon tea at Mariage Frères 

Halloween-themed brunch might be all the rage this month but if you want to keep things a little classier – but still with that scare factor – head to Mariage Frères. For £35 per person, you can indulge in a classic afternoon tea with a frightful (but cute) twist. Expect black bao burgers, pumpkin, ginger and polenta-infused green tea, pumpkin and orange cheesecake and black macarons filled with tea-infused ganache and a gianduja gooey centre. Our personal favourite, though, is the little spooky fella pictured above: a Fantome de L’Opera yuzu sponge cake coated in Italian meringue. Ghoulish, yummy and adorable.

38 King St, WC2E 8JS. Oct 25-31. 

Death by chocolate at Escocesa 

Sure, your standard death by chocolate cake might be full of near-fatal levels of cocoa, but Stoke Newington tapas restaurant Esocesa’s twist on the dessert is even more fitting for spooky season. Instead of a slice of regular cake, you’ll get a coffin-shaped chocolatey treat accompanied by a crunchy scythe to hammer into it with. 

67 Stoke Newington Church St, N16 0AR.

Death Metal Burger at Tommi’s Burger Joint

Who said Halloween food all had to be sweet? At Tommi’s Burger Joint, embrace the spooky and the savoury with the Death Metal Burger: a black Angus patty, smothered in blow-torched blue cheese, shredded lettuce, Tommi’s Volcano sauce and jalapeños. The horror-tastic edge, though, comes in two forms: a delightfully spooky charcoal bun and the slab of grilled black pudding that’s sandwiched between it and the patty. 

30 Thayer St, W1U 2QP and 37 Berwick St, W1F 8RS.

The best Halloween events in London.

The most haunted places in London.