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Our review of London’s tasty treasure hunt experience.
As a veteran of many foodie walking tours I’m a big fan of tours that combine fun and food. So when I discovered Gourmaze’s tasty treasure hunt, I knew I had to try it. This innovative concept Gourmaze has created, offers an exciting way to explore London while enjoying delicious treats at every turn.
In this blog post, I will take you through my journey with the ‘Time Traveller’s Space Bites’ maze in Mayfair. From booking the adventure to navigating the clues and savouring the culinary delights, I will share all the details to help you decide if this is the perfect activity for you.
Now, let me walk you through my experience of booking and completing the Gourmaze treasure hunt.
1 Booking
The first tick is the Gourmaze website. It is very easy to navigate and explains the tasty treasure hunt very well. To my knowledge, this is a unique experience in London.
Once you’ve decided to give it a go! The next big decision is which maze adventure to choose. For me, it was an easy choice: “The Time Traveller’s Space Bites,” which is based in Mayfair. I foolishly thought that my knowledge of the area would give me an advantage. The cost was £54.99 per person, and it included three stops for food and drink—more on that later. We were a team of two: me and Mrs.Mayfair Foodie. The booking procedure was easy, and once you have chosen the adventure, you will be given a lot of information on what you get for your money. Once booked, you will receive a booking confirmation email. Please keep this as you will need this to redeem your food and drink on the challenge.
It’s worth noting you can also buy gift vouchers for Gourmaze on the website, it makes special gift for the foodie in your life.
2 The Mazes
As I said, there are six mazes to choose from, ranging from £27.99 to £54.99, See options below.
3 The challenge-how did we get on?
As I mentioned earlier, we chose “The Time Traveller’s Space Bites” maze around Mayfair, which, according to the booking confirmation, was to meet at a pub near Bond Street tube station. The booking confirmation gives you safety info and, most importantly, details on downloading the Gourmaze WhatsApp chat; you will need this for clues and riddles as you progress through the maze.
It’s a good idea to set up the Whats App in advance; you will have to choose a team name. Our name was the Mayfair Foodie, ok I know it’s hardly original. Also, you can send the WhatsApp link to your other team members, as our team was only two members, I decided in my wisdom not to do this; it was a big mistake as this would have saved time if we both had the clues on our phone rather than one person having to read out each clue.
We arrived at the designated meeting point, the pub, ordered a drink and got ready to press the start button. Once we pressed start, we received a series of information about the journey we were going to undertake; after that, when the drinks were finished, we were ready to go and pressed the timer button. As soon as we did, the first clues arrived, and we hadlift off.
For obvious reasons, I won’t share the specific clues or locations of the places we visited. However, I will say that many clues are directional. When you reach the location indicated by a clue, you will need to answer a question about the landmark you’ve arrived at. If you answer any clue incorrectly, there is a 3-minute time penalty. To be honest, if you follow the clues correctly, you should be able to answer the question. Later in our journey, we got one question wrong, which was due to my misreading the clue. This cost us time as we spent time looking for clues on the wrong street, which was my bad. This highlights why it’s important for all team members to receive the clues.
The clues continued until we reached the first stopping point; we answered the final question in the venue and bingo, it was food time.
At this point, the timer stopped, and we were able to order our pizzas. It’s worth noting that Gourmaze team had arranged a 15% discount on drinks at this venue, which we took advantage of. The pizzas were excellent, with plenty of topping options available, including gluten-free choices. After a time to relax, we pressed the timer again and were off to our next challenge: finding our cocktails. Again, we followed the same process and after navigating the clues we were soon enjoying our cocktails in a very fancy bar.
Then, off again, until we reached our final destination for our pud, we both chose a gorgeous chocolate fondant and again, Gourmaze had arranged discounted drinks.
Ok, timewise, we finished in 106 minutes, including penalties, not great for somebody who spends his time in Mayfair, but we completed it. You do a fair bit of walking. The Gourmaze website states you will walk about 6000 steps. Having said that, my steps for the day were a healthy 15000, but that includes walking to the station, etc and any I had accumulated in the day. Including the pit stops, it took about 4 hours; there is no need to rush your pit stops, they are a big part of the experience.
4 Conclusion
Firstly, everything was organised so well, from booking to the communication once we booked; the WhatApp clues and the venues we visited were perfect.
Gourmaze is a clever, well-thought-out idea. We loved deciphering the clues, and it represents exceptional value for money.
Splitting into teams (a maximum of 6 per team) can add more competition to the day, which is ideal for larger groups.
In summary, whether you’re a local or visiting London, exploring some of the hidden gems of the city can offer a unique experience beyond the usual tourist hotspots.
I hope this has inspired you to give it a try. If you do, please let me know! I’ve included booking details below.
Gourmaze
