You Don't Go To Britain For the Food
For some reason, the British have a bad reputation when it comes to their culinary customs. “Oh,” people say, “British food. Well, you don’t go to Britain for that, do you?”
Perhaps not. But that’s not to say there isn’t great food to be eaten.
For those who like food that will fill you up that’s served hot and in decent quantity, you can’t beat British favorites like shepherd’s pie and bangers and mash. Or even fish and chips, though many places serve fish that’s too greasy for my taste. Many pubs have also expanded their selections to include chili con carne and lasagna and do a very good job with them.
Finding a pub serving food is the tricky part. Finding a pub with regular food-serving hours can be even harder. When asked about lunch, one bartender in Coventry replied that they weren’t serving food right then, “but we might later. I don’t know.” Get used to signs that say open all day, which you should not take to mean serving food all day. Sometimes, you can guess whether or not a place is serving food by whether or not other people are eating, or if there are menus on the tables. But sometimes it’s early for the regulars and the menus are at the bar. So learn to ask. And expect to be disappointed on occasion.
One word of warning: if you’re unfamiliar with what whitebait is, be clear on this — it really is bait. Order this and you’ll get a heaping pile of small whole fish. No, those fish aren’t even slit and gutted like kippers, they’re just tiny intact herrings, breaded and fried. So if you aren’t up to eating what amounts to fried anchovies, don’t order this dish.
But onward . . .
The British have enthusiastically adopted food from any location their Empire once occupied or rubbed shoulders with. For instance, many take away fish & chips shops also serve Chinese. And Indian, Bangladeshi, or Singaporean restaurants are legion. Quality varies widely, of course. If you’re going to be in Britain, here are a few recommendations.
Wetherspoon
A chain we ate at in Coventry, Oswestry, and Cardiff. As in most British pubs, you choose your own table and order at the bar. The menu is extensive and they have extra ethnic specials on certain nights. For instance, the chicken tikka masala is on the regular menu, but the lamb kashmiri is available Thursdays only. The beer selection is impressive. Everything we had at a Wetherspoon was excellent; I ordered the chicken tikka masala at least three times. And besides having tasty food, Wetherspoon serves food all day. This may be a chain, but in a land where hamburgers often taste like meatloaf or even breakfast sausage, a place that will serve you a really good burger until 10 p.m. should not be scoffed at.
Cafe Romna, Wells
This restaurant is near The Swan Hotel. Self-described as “fusion cuisine and traditional Bangladeshi,” the restaurant is decorated tastefully in orange (in my mind, always a hard color to work with) and has friendly, efficient staff. The other two people I was with enjoyed their meals very much, but I fell victim to something that happened to me several times in Britain this vacation — overly sweetened food. I have eaten in Indian restaurants in several countries, but I have never, until I began eating Indian food regularly in Britain, run across non-dessert food sweetened so much. The butter chicken at Cafe Romna was, for me, almost too sugary to choke down. Since this was the third or fourth restaurant where this had happened with different dishes (including an order of coconut chicken in Abergele and an order of chicken korma in Caerleon), my guess is that many Britons like their curry with a lot of sugar in it, or these restaurants would not serve the food like that. However, it didn’t appeal to me.
Rat & Parrot, Bath
Another pub chain, but this one with a unique decorating theme. Rat holes are painted on the baseboards while dancing rats scamper across the wallpaper. Meanwhile, an empty parrot cage hangs overhead. There’s one just a couple of blocks from the Roman Baths, so you can relax with a pint and some fish and chips while enjoying the decor and a respite from the ever-present British rain. I had the chicken tikka masala while others at our table had fish & chips, a club sandwich, and a steak. Everyone liked their lunch very much.
Spice Route, Red Dragon Centre, Cardiff
An Indian buffet restaurant that also serves a few Thai and Turkish dishes in its extensive line-up. Everything I tried here was excellent, and my dinner companions agreed. There was a bit more heat to the food than I normally enjoy, but the food was so good, I didn’t care. As a concession to a certain British obsession, you will find in this buffet line, that you can get, along with the rice and naan, piles of chips! If you’re at the Red Dragon Centre, stop in at Spice Route. If you like Indian food, you won’t be sorry. And you won’t end up with something that tastes like it can’t decide if it’s entree or dessert.
Copyright Martha Kneib. Published 1 August 2008 in What’s New.
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Scones with clotted cream and jam, mmmmmm..Fish and chips…
permalink — 2 August 2008, 17:52