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Ms. Lemonjelly in the UK
updated: Jul 10, 2010, 9:49 AM
By Ms. Lemonjelly
I'm still recovering from jetlag and haven't had an opportunity to dive back into the local food scene, but I want to! Meanwhile, I'm processing heaps of photos from a recent trip to England.
Contrary to reputation, I didn't find the British food to be bad 10 years ago. And now, it's even better. The trick back then was simply to avoid the cheap fare on the high streets, which was the equivalent of walking into a McDonalds on State Street. Now there's good quality stuff everywhere, out in touristy areas and all the hidden gems tucked away in London or English villages.
It seemed to me that Britons were patriotic to begin with, now even the corner cafes and low-to-mid priced restaurants proudly tout free range eggs, locally made sausages, grassfed beef. The dollar was also relatively strong, which made a couple splurges easier on the wallet.
Cream Tea
I sent a camera phone picture of this to Edhat earlier in the trip, and here's the better version. I go cuckoo for cream teas and Devonshire clotted cream seems very readily available now, so you can have a good one in just about any town. This one's from Stratford-upon-Avon at the Henley Street Tea Rooms, about 50 feet away from the childhood home of William Shakespeare. This tea room specifically baked their scones on site, dressed with a little strawberry and powdered sugar. They're also very generous with the cream and jam. It's so good!
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Indian thali
Drummond Street in London (nearest Tube: Warren Street) is very good for vegetarian Indian food. It can also be cheap eats for a big city. The popular dishes to get are the thali - set meals of numerous dishes in small portions, and the dosa - a very thin pancake either filled with vegetables or with dipping sauces on the side. I had the thali with four vegetable curries, pakora, raita, pilau rice and a cardammon custard for dessert.
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Real cask ales! Pulled slowly and allowed to settle before drinking. This one came from the Old Bull Pub in Inkberrow in Worcestershire. The town consists mostly of two pubs and a church, all right next to each other. This pub in particular is known as the site for the fictional British radio series "the Archers."
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Pork pie ploughman's
This lunch is a hybrid of the traditional Ploughman's lunch, serving a small pork pie in place of rustic bread. It is a simple but filling lunch of thick wedges of cheddar cheese, branston pickle, salad, the pork pie and pickled onions. It can be had at just about any pub. This was a petite serving, the pubs will serve a version more substantial, and the price is good. Usually around $10.
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Madelines
Half a dozen madelines for less than $5! These came from St. John Restaurant and Bakery in Farringdon, London. St. John is a Michelin starred restaurant highlighting the "snout to tail" philosophy of food - using ALL parts of the animal! One of their popular dishes is roasted bone marrow, where the marrow is scooped out onto toast and topped with parsley salad and grey sea salt. And the special that day was pig spleen. I'll spare you all the gruesome details, and focus on my dessert. The madelines require 15 minutes wait, because they are baked fresh to order. Utterly delicious, eaten alone or alongside a coffee. A similar dining experience here in Santa Barbara is probably like going to Julienne, except a little cheaper (amazingly enough, considering its Michelin rating).
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