So, it rains, rains and rains. This weather reminds me of my recent trip to London, the
land of trench coats and tea. I
had a few days there and was determined to get to know British food, even for a
glimpse.
Morning was the essential English breakfast-banger, bacon,
egg, beans and tomato. Hefty and hearty was how I felt, eating this meal.
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| London Breakfast |
I had my first dinner at a local gastro pub, Great Queen
Street at Covent Garden. A gastro
pub is a British watering hole with awesome food, similar to a French
bistro. I did not find typical pub
grub at this particular gastro pub, the food changes daily. The special of the day was lamb of all
parts, delicate sweet bread sauté with baby green, pate and rillette with fresh
spicy radish and a Moroccan lamb shank stew. The flavor is getting warmer and no fish and chip to be
found.
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| Lamb Shank Stew |
Located across from the Spitalfield market, East London, St.
John Bread and Wine was one of my best stops. The fresh bread aroma will greet you as you enter this operation. Cow heart with spicy dandelion greens
and roast pigeon on a bed of pea puree were on the menu. The meat tasted tender
and not gamey. Another sweet bread
dish appeared with barley and sweet onion. This time it was cow sweet bread and had more depth than the
lamp ones I had previously. The dessert
was pannacotta. I had to wheel
myself out of the restaurant. This
nose to tail dinning is filling me up.
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| Cow Sweetbread |
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| Cow Heart |
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| Roast Pigeon |
Borough Street Market was my favorite. To see and eat the local produce was a
treat. You can’t find food like
this at home; fresh, unpasteurized cheese, cured blood sausage, etc. You can get good fish and chips here,
but I gravitated toward a sandwich at a joint called Roast. The pork belly with crackling sandwich
won me over for the day. Crispy,
salty, on a piece of bread and a glass of wine from a local shop, what could be
simpler?
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| The roast pig sandwich |
English tea was a must and a perfect relief from walking and
eating. Harrods was fancy and popular
with the tourists. A stroll away
from the British Museum, I dropped into a bookstore, the tea there was just
simply perfect there. Harrods
department store has one of the oldest Edwardian food halls. Best to sit at the oyster bar and a
glass of sparkling wine, but you will pay for it.
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| Harrods Edwardian Food Hall |
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| Oyster and Sparkling at Harrods Food Hall |
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| Harrods High Tea |
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| Bookstore Tea time |
England colonized many countries in the world. Many came to live in London and
introduce a food scene beyond meat and cheese. Visiting Chinatown and sampling the food there was so much
fun. Indian, Chinese, Malaysian
were some of the food I had and it seems as authentic as one could ask for. The best dish for me was the razor clam
soup with mushroom at a Sichuan place.
The brought was sweet and the clam—made me want to curl up and hug
myself.
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| Sichuan Razor Clam in London |
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| Malaysian food in London Chinatown |
The very last meal I had was the Sunday Roast. Roast beef with Yorkshire pudding in
Chelsea, a neighborhood where one could hear children play.
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| English Sunday Roast |
London was great.
The food was rich and comforting, much more than I bargained for.
Until the next rainy day, Cheers!
Teera
