British Cuisine You’ll Actually Enjoy

britishfoodPhoto credit: CC license by Kelowna09

 

You’ve got your ticket and you are headed to London. One good thing about traveling to Britain is that you can step a little outside of your comfort zone without having to worry about the language. OK, some dialects are difficult to understand, but at least all the signs are in plain English. Hotels are going to be pretty similar, as well. It’s when you get to the dinner table that you realize you are in a foreign country. Food in Britain is very, very different. And let’s be frank, when you go to these islands, you are probably not going there for the food. But there is good news. You can find decent eats all over Britain, if you simply know where to look.

The first thing you must do is abandon all sense of what food should look or taste like. Unless you are headed to Tesco to stock up on produce, it may taste very different than what you expect. Like other places in Europe, Britain likes to do pastry. And if you play your cards right, they do it very well. Try a Cornish pasty, if you like. It will be a lot like a buttery, flaky Hot Pocket. The dessert pastries will remarkably resemble traditional treats you find in Paris. But rest assured, they will not remind you of your days spent near Gare du Nord.

While you are on your trip, find out what and how the locals eat, and then eat that way. You may be dying to drink a Guinness in every pub you can find in Dublin. But that’s going to limit you to greasy, unsatisfying pub food. You are much better off finding a small place that serves a soup or stew with the ubiquitous Irish soda bread. When you are in London, grab a prepackaged sandwich at Marks & Spencer, on your way to the Underground. That’s what everyone else does, and the sandwiches are surprisingly fresh and tasty.

The sun never set on the British Empire. And thank goodness for that, because the old colonies introduced a lot of interesting flavors to the British Isles. It is more than just snarky to imply that the real national fare of England is, in fact, Indian food. Any major metropolitan area will have some fine restaurants serving foreign cuisine. You just have to locate them. At the hotel, ask the concierge for recommendations to good restaurants in the area featuring the type of food you want. Indian food in Britain is actually outstanding. But you can also find delicious Italian, Mediterranean and even American food there, as well.

Don’t head to Britain and then complain that you do not like the food. Not a lot of people do, so you’ll be in good company. But you have a great opportunity to make the experience wonderful, including what you eat. Just open your mind a little, enjoy the local culture and ask around. The payoff is excellent.

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