Edible Encounters

The English are not known for their culinary expertise. Before coming here, many told me to beware the fried, tasteless, and potato-heavy cuisine. I've found, though, that like any big city, London offers a plethora of delicious food from every background at any time of day in a variety of price ranges. Thus far, I've tried out...

- Fish 'n' chips (finally!) at a pub called King's Arms. There are about 50 pubs called King's Arms in London, but still... just that name says it's gotta be a good place for fish 'n' chips, right? The British serve this signature dish with a lemon wedge, malt vinegar, tarter sauce, and mashed peas.

- Duck and hoisin sauce wrap at the student union... really delicious. It's much easier to find chicken, steak, duck, pork, or lamb here than it is to find turkey. This presents a sliiight problem for me, since my main protein sources at home consist of turkey hot dogs, turkey deli meat, and turkey breast. It's a nice change though, I suppose, and I'll be ready to jump back into my usual diet when I get back to school.

- HP sauce for fries (whoops... chips) and other salty, savory items. This British condiment tastes like a sweet BBQ sauce, or maybe like BBQ sauce mixed with extra vinegar and hoisin sauce. It's at pretty much any restaurant where ketchup would be served, but it's way better than ketchup... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_Sauce.



- Spaghetti Bolognese is delicious. Apparently, upon looking at recipes, it has bacon in it... whoops. So, I won't be eating it again, but it is quite tasty. It's like typical spaghetti with meat sauce, except more creamy and flavorful and garlicky and rich... http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/spaghettibolognese_67868.

- Sushi places are everywhere in all kinds of prices ranges. I went to one for lunch today and it was delish.

- Chinatown is big and has a bunch of restaurants, all seemingly with the word 'dragon' or 'golden', or both, somehow incorported into the name. Since the restuarants are so dense, the prices and menu offerings at everyone are almost identical. It's like a textbook example of perfect competition (that LSE education is doing something, eh?). Also, they all hang cooked pigs of various sizes in their windows.

- Pot pie is not healthy per say, but it is real yummy and it is quintessentially British. I like chicken and veggie pot pie, but I've seen varieties with kidney invovled that I refuse to try... my adventurousness ends with the duck. I've only had Pot Pie once, and will probably keep it that way given that butter, flour, and cream seem to be the main ingredients.



I still need to try Indian food, which is supposed to be very good here because of the substantial Indian population. I've also heard that ice cream is richer and creamier than it is in the States, so that's on the list of things to try too. But, until next time... bon appetit! (Or should I just say, 'good appetite!' since I'm in England and not France?)