EATING IN LONDON, PART I

I spent the last 6 days with friends and loved ones visiting London.  This is a city that, until this trip, was far from my favorite in Europe.

My first trip, in college, was a disaster.  There was the hostel near the train station, lots of Heinz baked beans and disgusting bland sausages, greasy fish 'n chips, and smelly pubs that closed early.  A second trip a few years ago was better, but still focused around stale, beer soaked venues and pubs.  This time we did it right.  The weather was great, the parks beautiful, the hotel comfortable and well located, there was a nearby coffee place with the best espresso I have ever had, and every meal contained either pork or snails or steak tartare.  Yum.

Dinner the first night was at Bistrotheque in Cambridge Heath.  I had the steak tartate (above) followed by the pork belly (below).  That skin/fat was so sweet and crispy it was like eating candy.  I finished up with a glass of chilled tawny port.

The following night we ate at St. John's Bread and Wine, in Shoredich.  This meal was secretly the impeuts for the trip, and deserves it's own entry, coming soon.

For fun one afternoon, we had high tea at Claridge's Hotel in Mayfair.  I realized that sometimes ritzy in London makes ritzy in New York seem like ritzy in Erie, Indiana.  

London has a wildly large selection of ancient, traditional shops focusing on the finest quality goods available anywhere.  Shops like George F. Trumper, James Lock and Co., Fortnum & Mason, Paxton & Whitfield, and, of course, Harrod's have been selling the best of their respective bests for as long as the US has been a country.  When you come accross a sundries shop that is older than your nation, it really can make you feel you are in the most civilized city in the world.  I won't be moving any time soon, but I officially like London.

Scone, clotted cream, stawberry preserves and Marco Polo tea.  Fan-cy!