British Cuisine, 2023

What's this you say? You went out for breakfast and got UN-scrambled eggs, flimsy untoasted white bread with no butter, and sad lettuce and tomato, undressed? Typical British cuisine?

Well Dear Readers, you will be relieved to hear this disaster happened in ROME, not England! I can honestly tell you that if British cuisine was ever as bland as its reputation, it's come a long way! We have been eating very well this Fall, enjoying the pubs, restaurants, grocery stores, and "takeaways." The food has been a highlight of our sabbatical! (And the fruity waffle photo in the email you received for this blog post was from a very nice breakfast in London.)

There is no DoorDash nor meal delivery service available in our tiny village, conveniences we admittedly enjoyed back home during the Pandemic. Grocery delivery works great and is almost free, but I enjoy exploring the different supermarkets too. And we just discovered that every Tuesdsay at 6:45 PM, the Fish & Chip van pulls into town. They park across the street from our house and the food is fresh, hot, and crispy! This may become a Tuesday habit. Some Fortnum & Mason tartare sauce is a nice enhancement - while Robin enjoys vinegar on his fries (chips).

Did someone say "Fortnum & Mason?" I received a lovely holiday package from my favorite London department store, which was nice since I couldn't carry everything I wanted to buy when we visited. The "Hedgerow" preserve (made of damsons and blackberries) is out-of-this-world on a fresh scone, and we'll be trying the cranberry sauce and piccalilly on Christmas Day. Who was my benefactor you wonder? Well, perhaps I ordered it for myself! And maybe it also included a little box of glacé fruit as a gift to me?

maybe world's best condiments

chocolate trio at a pub lunch

Ubiquitous savory pies

5⭐️ meringue/lemon/cheesecake

Desserts and cocktails seem to be British specialties, even in the local pubs. Some are better than others, and we are keeping notes on our long list of places to try for "research." London cocktails aren't cheap, but they ARE tasty (and often pretty!). Check out a typical Mr. Fogg's drink menu! Saturday Farmers Markets are another great opportunity, which are year-round here. They have good produce as well as prepared treats, like Robin's favorite Cornish Pasties (a meat and vegetable turnover).

many ingredients at Mr. Fogg's

gin, grapefruit, cointreau

Gin, blackberry, foam

forgot ingredients but tasty!

The Singapore at Mr. Fogg's

We love that we can sample the cuisine of so many nations in London. We've enjoyed Malaysian, Mexican, Indian, and Lebanese restaurants so far. I also love the very English Sunday roast dinners served in country pubs. You'll get melt-in-your mouth chicken, crispy roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding (think popover), 4-5 different vegetables, and a pitcher of gravy. It's like Thanksgiving once a week, and always a bargain at under £20. Also, there are always appealing vegetarian options on restaurant and pub menus. I really like seeing that.

So good, ate half before photo

healthy home breakfast

perfect glacé plum

On a related note, I fortunately have lost a few pounds in 2023. My doctor suggested I quit eating after 5 PM, and I've been able to follow that advice. Along with plenty of walking and a second-hand exercise bike, it seems to be working. I hope to return to the US a little slimmer than I was, but I will NOT be able to blame it on "unappealing food in England." In fact, it has been part of the joy to try all there is to offer. It's a wonderful life!

Our son CJ will be visiting England for Christmas, and we're going to take a quick train trip to Paris for him to see the sights along the River Seine. Then I'll be traveling back to the US in January to visit my Mom for a few days. I wish you all joyous holidays and a Happy New Year. See you in 2024!

2 Robins at Kew Gardens

Plentiful holly down the road

Not my fave, but essential!

Charles, Claude, Henry, & Hugh

morning in Belgravia, London

Tower Bridge from the Shard

Christmas at Fortnum & Mason

Dearest Readers: Where to begin? We had SUCH a fabulous six days staying in the Belgravia section of London during Thanksgiving week, I want to tell you everything! However, that would take 10 pages, and you don't have that kind of time! So I will highlight four interesting gentlemen who played a role in our very enjoyable London holiday. (And next time, I will endeavor to focus on interesting London women!)

So the Charles of which I speak is not the King, but Charles Dickens! The author's house on Doughty Street is now a museum, and we enjoyed the glimpse into his life, both personal and literary. Dickens was, after all, a campaigner for social justice through his writing, and I enjoyed learning more about him.

rare portrait of young Dickens

Dickens' hall clock

amusing note about clock

On Thanksgiving itself, we indulged in a "traditional American Thanksgiving dinner" at a London pub - it was fine, but fell a bit short of our hopes. Before dinner we had a busy day of sight-seeing, including a visit to Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery (both featured in the twilight photo below). As you recall, I'm not a big museum fan, but I do love those Impressionists! The National Gallery has England's best collection from that school, including some nice ones by Claude Monet.

Sunny day at Buckingham Palace

Monet's garden Giverny

Monet at Argenteuil

My fave - Trafalgar Square

As for Henry, that's the infamous King Henry VIII, noted for his six marriages, separating from Catholicism, and founding the Church of England. I'd heard good things about the musical featuring his wives, "Six" so we went to see it in London. It is not in the same class as musicals like "Phantom" or "Les Miserables," but I thought it was an entertaining 80 minutes.

Six (the Musical)

Robin's boyhood London home

Young Chelsea bridge club

London Wetlands Centre

Trishna Indian Restaurant

Every morsel delicious!

A few additional highlights of our London stay included a walk down the street where Robin grew up, Nella Road. I had never seen his original family home. From there we went to a wonderful urban wildlife preserve, the London Wetland Center. To complete the day we played bridge at one of the London clubs, Young Chelsea. We had several delicious meals during the week (yes that food-centered blog IS coming!). Meanwhile, our most memorable meal was the tasting menu at Trishna, where even the pappadam and chutneys were stellar, and ranked with the best Indian food we've ever had.

Did I mention cocktails? Oh yes there were a few 😁. A couple places we tried were very loud and over-hyped. One evening we ended up at Mr. Fogg's Gin Parlour (now our 3rd of 12 Mr. Fogg's) and once again had delicious drinks in fun surroundings. We also had drinks at the top of the Shard building, which were OK but we were mostly paying for the view.

72-story Shard skyscraper

drinks atop the Shard

enjoying the view

enjoyed this view more

On our final day in London, we did a little more sight-seeing, including breakfast high up in the "Sky Garden" for more views, a walk to the "City," London's financial center, and eavesdropping on a really good choral rehearsal in a small church. But now it was rainy after several days of decent weather. Damp and hungry, we were riding the Tube back to our flat when it occurred to me that the well-dressed passenger sitting across from us bore a striking resemblance to Hugh Grant. I'm a bit slow - or maybe these things dawn on you gradually - BUT YES WE WERE RIDING THE SUBWAY WITH HUGH GRANT! (Above is a stock image.) But check "major celebrity sighting" off the bucket list! He left his seat soon thereafter, and we went our separate ways. Robin was unimpressed, but I thought it was a fabulous conclusion to our 10/10 London holiday.

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Tower of London + Tea + Fortnum's!

Several of you, dear correspondents, have prescribed for us an upscale Afternoon Tea in London - a treat to experience at least once during our England sabbatical. So we set out to book at the renowned Fortnum and Mason department store. According to their website: "Since 1707, Fortnum & Mason has been home to extraordinary hampers, delicious food, joy-giving gifts and unforgettable experiences."

This was hard to resist! But ultimately we found ourselves too faint-hearted to pay the per-person price tag (£80 = $98) for this albeit posh afternoon refreshment. Instead, we contented ourselves with a somewhat lower-priced Tea at the nearby Fleming's Mayfair. And we're so glad we did! The food, coffee, and tea were all excellent, the service wonderful, and the setting was intimate, serene, and very charming with its murals depicting scenes of India. It was a truly wonderful respite from another rainy day of London sightseeing.

rainy Tower Bridge

Charming Tea Room at Fleming's

Happy!

Thus fortified, onward to Fortnum's we went - and OH MY I had no idea! I'm not an enthusiastic shopper, but I'd love to look in every corner of this amazing store. Since the day was getting late, we only had time to browse the impressive selections in the gourmet food hall on the ground floor. I wanted to buy sooooooo many items! We restrained ourselves, but I can tell you that our little sample box of chocolates are most delicious 😋.

Glacé fruit - on bucket list!

part of the chocolate case

part of the marmalade wall (!)

The scene on the ground floor

Earlier in the day we had taken the train from Bicester to London; spent an hour at the Covent Garden Apple store fruitlessly trying to bring my MacBook back to life; joined a sparse crowd of tourists to see the Tower of London; and walked across Tower Bridge.

The Tower of London in the center of the city is one of the nation's oldest castles. Lots of bad things happened there in centuries past, while today it houses the crown jewels which we saw up close. (No photography of the crown jewels is allowed - below is a stock image.) I wonder when the Royal Family will replace that cruelly-produced ermine lining on all their crowns?

Tower of London behind walls

one of several crowns

The White Tower inside castle

red buses everywhere!

See a red bus on Tower Bridge?

a bit of cityscape from castle

I want to thank Robin, the photographer for most of these photos. During this London visit, my iPhone (i.e. my camera) stayed at the Apple store getting its battery replaced. I thought I might as well take advantage of our trip to London - there aren't any Apple stores near Oxford!

A day of London sightseeing takes us 11-12 hours with commuting time; but we've enjoyed each of our visits so much! As I've been writing this, Robin and I finally reached a decision on where to spend our Thanksgiving break. We'd discussed various options from Botswana to Greece. But lucky us, we've decided to spend six whole days in...London! Thanks for reading.

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