English Food

Overall, I had an "interesting" gastronomic experience while in the UK. Generally speaking, "English" food is quite bland and brown (I found that they use very little seasoning or herbs in their dishes). On the other hand, many international flavours and restaurants have made it in the country, creating more variety and choice. 

I'm not one to take pictures of my food, but I did get a few shots of some dishes for the sake of this blog. Buon appetito!

Traditional Pub Grub

They are the equivalent to Tim Hortons in Canada - they're everywhere! Some offer extensive menus alongside an equally intimidating drinks menu; while others stop serving dinner at 7pm. Pub grub can be hit and miss, I've noticed; but then again, you wouldn't go to a pub to specifically eat. 

Pub food is typically high in carbs and protein, with a side of potatoes and gravy. The English love their meat pies for their convenience, and historical and cultural significance, so I wanted to join in and see what all the hype was about. The dish below was a 'taster menu' of three types of beer and pies: steak, lamb and beef. 

Fish and Chips

Of course, any trip to England isn't complete without treating yourself to its fish and chips, whether it's from a pub, restaurant or fish and chip shop. You can find this meal practically on every English menu. They've even gotten 'fancy' with extras to add to your meal: traditional mushy peas (sometimes with mint); a sausage; or even curry sauce on your chips. Some places will add the tartar sauce and a lemon for your fish (typically cod or haddock). 

If you like vinegar on your chips like I do, make sure to ask for white vinegar as the instinctual one is malt vinegar. Many places also do not salt your chips, so if you like a bit of salt on them, there's always some nearby.    

"A Wetherspoon Pub" 

Wetherspoon operates a chain of pubs and other hospitality businesses within the UK, so everything is standardized and maintained to Wetherspoon quality. Drink are cheap, and so is the food; however, there isn't much going on with the flavour. In my experience, go to a Wetherspoon pub for drinks and not food. Look out for (an often small) sentence outside of the pub to see if it's a Wetherspoon pub.

Sunday Roasts

A HUGE part of pub culture is the highly sought-after roast meat, including all the fixings, served every Sunday. I was in Liverpool and decided to eat a nice meal at the Italian restaurant, Gusto. As it was Sunday, they offered their own Sunday roast beef meal. It came with Yorkshire pudding, traditional sides of potatoes, carrots and greens and your own gravy boat.

Food & Entertainment

The restaurant choices are endless, but I wanted to focus on a few highlights from my visit. 

Franco Manca

A Neapolitan pizzeria that advertises low prices for a big fire-roasted handmade sourdough pie, and ingredients from Spain, Italy or locally in England, Franco Manca was a real treat! They also provide chilli- or garlic-infused olive oil that you can pour on your pizza. 

I would also suggest trying their in-house lemonade, and tiramisu for dessert. 

Banquet of Hoshena

London is no stranger to theatre and extravagance, and dinner theatre is also found within the city. I was able to grab a seat at a table to watch the Banquet of Hoshena, which was a 5-course dining experience. Using your table and a few other props as the stage, the play is shown from projectors onto the set. The story itself was easy to follow, and each course was well-integrated with the themes. 

Cheddar Gorge 

Literally the only cave-matured cheese, Cheddar Gorge's cheddar was a delicious strong and mild, firm treat. The caves offer the perfect temperature and humidity to age the cheese made from unpasteurized cow's milk. 

Scottish Fair

The first meal I had in Scotland (aside from breakfast), was haggis (sheep's stomach and innards), neeps (mashed turnips) and tatties (mashed sweet potato). The haggis itself was surprisingly different in flavour, it did taste a bit like lamb, with herby/green notes. I'd actually eat it again.  

Afternoon Tea

Although very common in the Edwardian era, Afternoon Tea has become reserved for tourists. Depending where you go, the price per person can start from £15 to upwards of £50. Some offer an alcoholic accompaniment to your setting. 

The selection of tea is always light flavours, so as not to overpower the palate when eating. After exploring St Paul's Cathedral, I decided to sit and enjoy some of my own lemon-ginger tea with assorted finger sandwiches, scones and dessert. 

The tiers are meant to be eaten from the bottom up, with sandwich selections usually being salmon, egg, cucumber and beef. Your scones would be plan and fruit or chocolate chip with clotted cream and jam. The top tier was mango parfait, molten chocolate cake and Victoria sponge cake. 

Victoria sponge cake, or a Victoria sandwich, is a very light and sweet cake (using only icing sugar as a sweetener) with buttercream and strawberry jam sandwiched between two cake layers. Like many cakes in the UK, it's slightly dry and pairs perfectly with a spot of tea. 

British Desserts & Sweets 

If you haven't, I very much highly recommend trying a Sticky Toffee Pudding (except at a Wetherspoon's pub). This rich, toffee and cream/ice cream-covered sweet date cake is just so fantastic and a huge favourite of mine. 

Another tasty treat is Welsh Cakes from Wales. These are a cross between a cookie and a scone because of them being dense, but soft and sweet in flavour. They are made on a griddle like a pancake, and like many cakes and desserts in the UK, include dried fruits like currants.   

Sally Lunn Buns

While visiting the stunning city of Bath, I was recommended this quaint cafe, which is housed in the oldest buildings in the city (circa 1482). Sally Lunn was settled in Bath from France and used her baking prowess to create the brioche-like 'bun' that is served with either savoury (meat and cheese) or sweet fillings (butter and jam). 

There's always a line waiting to grab a table inside this cafe, but if you walk right in, go down the hall and turn left to go down the stairs, you can grab a plain takeaway Sally Lunn bun for under £5 and see the original kitchen where the bread was made. 

American-Style Desserts

While it is common knowledge that the chocolate is so much better than in North America, America has had its hand in influencing desserts. 

Fudge

When visiting Greenwich, I wound my way into the Greenwich Market (one of so many in London), and decided to check out The Fudge Patch which sells mainly vegan-style fudge. They make the fudge right in front of you, and let you sample many of their tasty flavours. I personally liked the Vanilla Coconut fudge. 

Donuts

Originating in Australia, Doughnut Time actually has found its way into the UK and create over-the-top doughnut delights and the doughnuts' names are anything but ordinary, as well. Offering vegan options in vanilla, red velvet or chocolate donut base, these bad boys are topped with a variety of different chocolate bars, candy and filled with even more ooey-gooey goodness. 

They even had a 'mega doughnut', which they named the Chris Hemsworthy: a 7-inch wide red velvet cake donut topped with cookies and cream icing, Oreo cookie crumble and a vegan chocolate drizzle.  

Miscellaneous 

The Wild Parakeets of London 

If you're not terrified of birds and enjoy feeding them, then take an hour out of your day to feed the wild green Indian Ringnecks that can be seen throughout the city. You can do this in Kensington Gardens' west-side by the Peter Pan statue. 

They will eat many things, but the most nutritious being fruit (nuts and seeds are like candy to them). They will fly on you and land on your arm or hand to eat your offering. 

One actually landed and sat on my shoulder for a few minutes, and we even locked eyes! 

The UK at War

I got the chance to visit the Chislehurst Caves in southeast London. While I will provide more details about the caves in a future post,  one of the uses of these series of winding manmade caves was as shelter during the air raids of WWII (yes, people lived in the caves). There was a small museum of the war before you entered the caves, and I spotted this shocking display during my visit. It's seeing things like this that really make you grateful for your freedom and livelihood.