Question for the Americans, rate our food...

Cynth · Post by **Cynth** » Sun Jun 11, 2006 6:59 pm

I was in London for about a day

many years ago and I thought the food was just fine. I didn't eat anywhere real nice, so the meals weren't especially memorable, but they were just fine. Actually, the gigantic Stilton cheese at the cold breakfast buffet was memorable. I'm afraid I ate more than my fair share. But the other tourists didn't eat any at all, so I reckon the hotel didn't suffer on my account.

Lambchop · Post by **Lambchop** » Sun Jun 11, 2006 7:25 pm

Cranberry wrote:Fake meat is something like this:

I like Morningstar.

As fake meat goes, Morningstar is pretty good. Doesn't have that pressed cardboard taste.

If you're thinking of trying them, though, I'd avoid the Tomato and Basil Pizza Burgers. Try anything but that. They're remarkably greasy (and it's orange), have more than a bit of aftertaste, and tend to be on the belchy side. I don't mean that in a delicate lamb-belch way, either.

The black bean burgers are excellent. Mash one into the center of a flour tortilla, apply a bit of shredded Mexican cheese, roll up, and microwave a few seconds for a really excellent meal. Or, if you're djm, heat the burger, heat the tortilla, and then assemble. Add shredded lettuce and tomato, if you like. It's the fastest way I know to make a burrito.

cowtime · Post by **cowtime** » Sun Jun 11, 2006 7:58 pm

Bridies-----ummmmmmmmmmm

Daggone, now I'm dying for one.

I've only eaten them at Highland Games- I can only imagine how good the real things are.

chas · Post by **chas** » Sun Jun 11, 2006 8:15 pm

Lambchop wrote:
Cranberry wrote:Fake meat is something like this:

I like Morningstar.
As fake meat goes, Morningstar is pretty good. Doesn't have that pressed cardboard taste.

If you're thinking of trying them, though, I'd avoid the Tomato and Basil Pizza Burgers. Try anything but that. They're remarkably greasy (and it's orange), have more than a bit of aftertaste, and tend to be on the belchy side. I don't mean that in a delicate lamb-belch way, either.

The black bean burgers are excellent. Mash one into the center of a flour tortilla, apply a bit of shredded Mexican cheese, roll up, and microwave a few seconds for a really excellent meal. Or, if you're djm, heat the burger, heat the tortilla, and then assemble. Add shredded lettuce and tomato, if you like. It's the fastest way I know to make a burrito.

My wife loves Grillers, but not any but the original. I do most of the grocery shopping and have gotten many subtle hints not to get any substitutes when they don't have the originals.

I don't do bean burgers, but bean burritos or tostadas are da bomb.

BigDavy · Post by **BigDavy** » Sun Jun 11, 2006 8:30 pm

cowtime wrote:Bridies-----ummmmmmmmmmm

Daggone, now I'm dying for one.

I've only eaten them at Highland Games- I can only imagine how good the real things are.

Cowtime

You can get some pretty awful bridies too, you need to find a good baker that makes thier own bridies to get a decent one. You need good pastry and a lightly spiced filling to suit my taste. Too many are just soggy stodge with a filling you wouldn't use to poison rats with.

David

The Weekenders · Post by **The Weekenders** » Sun Jun 11, 2006 8:33 pm

I haven't been there (England and Scotland) since 1985, but I enjoyed the food immensely by taking a few precautions. When checking in to the B-n-B, I always asked where the locals ate or just asked for a recommendation.

I had really good food at the pubs that had the attached restaurants, though we ate in the pub part to save on prices. I didn't do quite as well in Scotland because fewer places were open, like on Sundays. In the border areas (both sides), I particularly liked beef stewed in ale. Great strawberry tarts in Yorkshire, great cream teas in Devon. One of the best meals we ever had was at the Peace and Plenty pub near Rye, way down southeast. As I recall it was game pie and the next night I had venison bourginogne (sp.?). And I loved the cask-conditioned "real ale" as they called it. Probably the worst meal was in Stirling, because the only thing open was a franchised pizza place....

We didn't have quite as good luck in London, because I think its harder for tourists to query locals. We did find a great steak bistro, called Chez Louisette, on Baker Street, where we ate three times. Other places we tried included Indian food, which was just okay. And we did have the Yorkshire pudding and roast beef at that place near Fleet Street wi' all the sawdust on the floor. Damn good it was.

I know it's a long time ago, but I have very fond culinary memories from there, not at all what I was conditioned to expect. Nothing boiled to death. The one thing I remember vividly was that few dishes had garlic. Garlic is huge out here in Calaforny. I eat it in something every day. If not in the entree or side dish, it's in the vinaigrette on the salad.

Our restaurants and dining habits have been very dynamic in the last 20 years, so its hard to compare there and here. Even though you hear just about fast food in America, our restaurant expectations have grown very much of late and restaurants really do change with the public moods. There is so much variety now, that I am hard-pressed to say that there is a typical anything restaurant anymore. Even the Italian restaurants, for example, tend to have great variances by serving regional cuisine, or specializing in seafood for example. When I was a kid there was much less variety. Italian places were kind of stereotypical. Steak joints were big, and there were very few Mexican restaurants. It's incredible how much variety you can get now. If I were to draw a mile-circle around my house, I could eat at Mexican, El Salvadorean, Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indian, and American places, and I live in a semi-suburban area. It's pretty common for that much variety in the part of California that I live.

Redwolf · Post by **Redwolf** » Sun Jun 11, 2006 11:18 pm

It's the same here in Santa Cruz. Without going more than 20 minutes from my house, I can get good Mexican (including some astoundingly good taquerias), a couple of different genres of Italian, Thai, Vietnamese, Sri Lankan, really good vegetarian diner-style food, raw food, you name it. About the only thing we can't get here is Indian food...there's only one Indian restaurant in Santa Cruz, and it really bites (and is hideously expensive besides).

We did find a really good Indian place in London, near our flat in the Docklands. It was just a pub, really, with the unlikely name of "The Rogue Trader," but the food (all Indian) was to die for, and they had free delivery too! I prefered to pick up, however, so I could indulge my fondness for cask-conditioned ale while I waited.

Redwolf

Alcona · Post by **Alcona** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 4:57 am

MMMMmmmm.... Steak and ale pie, sausage rolls, just about any food from a take-away, I think it's all very good. One of the things I miss most from my trip to Scotland last summer is the food. Good thing I'll be returning in just a month.

SteveShaw · Post by **SteveShaw** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 5:00 am

If you go to Scotland all you need do is eat McSween's haggis and wash it down with tumblers of Talisker. England too, come to think of it.

avanutria · Post by **avanutria** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 5:15 am

I'm not a huge fan of Mexican food but I hear from other expats that there is a serious lack of quality Mexican restaurants in London.

I'll never get used to British baked beans. I make visitors bring me cans of Bush's beans

I do, however, love Maryland Cookies and Thai sweet chilli sauce (haven't tried them together though!), and haven't seen either of those in America. And J2O juices are good as most pubs will carry them and it means I can get something other than water.

Flyingcursor · Post by **Flyingcursor** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 7:23 am

avanutria wrote:I'm not a huge fan of Mexican food but I hear from other expats that there is a serious lack of quality Mexican restaurants in London.

I'll never get used to British baked beans. I make visitors bring me cans of Bush's beans

I do, however, love Maryland Cookies and Thai sweet chilli sauce (haven't tried them together though!), and haven't seen either of those in America. And J2O juices are good as most pubs will carry them and it means I can get something other than water.

That reminds me, I have a can of Bush's beans I got way back when you first asked someone to send you some and I've obviously never sent them. I originally bought three but the first two have been consumed.

Martin Milner · Post by **Martin Milner** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 7:55 am

avanutria wrote:I'm not a huge fan of Mexican food but I hear from other expats that there is a serious lack of quality Mexican restaurants in London.

Probably due the lack of quality Mexicans.

Seriously, why SHOULD there be Mexican restaurants in London?

We have French, Italian, Greek, Persian, Iranian, Indian, Chinese, Thai, American, Portuguese, Singaporean, and that's just the ones off the top of my head, based in Ealing.

GaryKelly · Post by **GaryKelly** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 8:00 am

We need Taco Bell. At American prices and portions too.

We seriously missed out on all those cute talking doggy TV commercials

fearfaoin · Post by **fearfaoin** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 8:16 am

Martin Milner wrote:We have French, Italian,... American

What exactly is an American resteraunt in the UK? Please don't say Burger King.

avanutria · Post by **avanutria** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 8:17 am

Flyingcursor wrote:That reminds me, I have a can of Bush's beans I got way back when you first asked someone to send you some and I've obviously never sent them. I originally bought three but the first two have been consumed.

Consume the last with my blessing, and thanks for thinking of me!

I'm OK for now, my brother restocked me last month, but now that Martin's developed a taste for them too I'll have to ration them to last till our next trip Stateside (November).