A Little Background
Hi!! In case you missed it, we are in London on a Study Abroad. It is a food and culture-based study abroad and we are talking all things food and empire and how food literally builds and shapes empires… actually, mind-blowing and amazing.
It has been eye-opening to consider the seriousness of feeding a population and how whole entire trade systems were built on feeding people. The British Empire is particularly vast and diverse. We have only scratched the surface and my understanding is shallow but woah hold your tongue the next time you say that British Food is bland and boring, because so many of the foods you know and love were either invented in England, traded by the British, or are now enjoyed in Britain as a part of their melting pot today!
Buckle up, we are going to share insights into what we eat, what we liked about it, and where you can find it. All things food and maybe some cultural tidbits too. We have seen the power of food in our lives, but to consider a global food trade and the conflicts that may ensue are worth talking about and considering.
The Breakdown
Where we ate, what we liked about it, and if it's worth your time.
Maggie Jones
To get us started off on our first day in London, we visited a restaurant with very classic English food. The ambiance is somewhat reminiscent of Cracker Barrel, with loads of random decorations hanging on the walls and from the ceilings. The lighting is low and it feels like you are in a small English Cottage. We each got a different three-course meal that we had chosen weeks before. Here’s what I ate at Maggie Jones:
Starter- Duck liver paté.
Pate is in fact not English, but French in origin. This was maybe the second time I have had pate, but the first time I really remember. If you don’t know, pate is essentially a luscious blend of liver and seasonings. It is extremely rich and traditionally served with… I enjoyed it, but it has a very bold and distinct flavor. It is very umami flavored, maybe a hint of Worcestershire or a unique flavor like it. I chose the pate because I wanted to try something new and different, but also because they say that liver is the
new health food. Animal Liver is the storage for loads of vitamins. Liver can be an excellent source of on, riboflavin, vitamin B12, vitamin A, and copper, pretty amazing!
Main Course- Roasted Rump of Lamb with Mint and Rosemary
Lamb has been raised in England for thousands of years. It thrives in the rich green hills and as such has become a staple in the English diet. I love the hearty, rich flavor of lamb, but generally only eat it on Easter. This lamb was cooked perfectly medium-rare (a must for lamb) and was seasoned with a fresh mint and rosemary, a lovely pairing. The mint adds a brightness to the rich flavor of lamb.
Dessert- Chocolate Pot
To finish off my rich and strong flavored meal, I finished it off with a very rich and dark chocolate chocolate pot o crème. It was pretty good, not the smoothest pot of crème I’ve ever had (texture is key to the success of this dessert) but overall it was a good treat to top it off.
Bens Cookies
You can leave it up to Olivia and I to waste no time to find some delicious cookies. We were exploring the city when I saw a little red shop Ben's Cookies. It had been given as a recommendation to me so we had to try it!
Every single cookie looked delicious. Maybe we will try them all by the time we are done haha but we've been twice our first week and have tried white chocolate cranberry, white chocolate macadamia, milk chocolate, chocolate praline (hazelnut) and coconut. They have all been cooked perfectly, just very slightly underdone. I think the coconut and white chocolate macadamia nut have been my favorite, but they have all been good! I wish they had a tad more salt, but besides that they are delicious!! (Much more enjoyable than Crumbl IMO, because there is a lot less sugar)
Poppies: Fish and Chips
We couldn’t wait long to get some fish and chips into our system. It sounded delicious and looked delicious. It was served as a large (probably 6-8 oz) piece of deep-fried cod, with thick-cut chips – which are essentially very thick-cut fries. They were quite starchy, leading me to think they use a different kind of potato than our traditional fry potato. Overall the breading was light and stuck to the fish nicely. They also served it with a small jar of tartar sauce. I would have loved a bit more salt and more tartar sauce. Certainly, we will encounter many more opportunities to eat fish and chips so we will have to try a few more and compare!
Nandos
Confession: I once was a raging One Direction fan. I maybe still would be if One Direction was still around. During the early-ish days of One Direction they would make YouTube videos of their life on the road and share just behind-the-scenes things about them. As a superfan, you live for these YouTube videos. Well in these videos Niall had certainly mentioned Nandos a time or two. I had to go to Nandos for Niall and for all the other people that had recommended it and said it was a British classic.
I honestly don’t know what I was expecting, but it was not what I thought haha. Nandos is actually a chicken restaurant, with South African inspiration. A fun part of the menu is the wide variety of Peri-peri sauces which is a traditional South African sauce made by Portuguese settlers to the area made with spicy African Bird's Eye chili peppers. Portuguese and South African in England! Now that's evidence of a global food exchange! I was not super hungry when we went, so I didn’t eat much, but what I had was fresh and flavorful. I plan to go back- hungrier- and try some other things. And Niall, if you're reading, I’d love to know what’s your favorite thing on the menu? 😉
Gelato
Gelato is a traditional English… er um Italian, yeah, not English at all but there is a gelato shop on almost every street… gelato + tourists = 🤑 some are chains throughout the city and others are individual locations. So far, I have tried Amorino and Badiani.
Amorino- is a chain throughout London. Their signature is a three-layered gelato rose. A very expensive rose, I might add (around 7 pounds!) The gelato is tasty, but it is not the creamiest and smoothest ever. If you are looking for a good treat it’s a solid move. If you are looking for a life-changing gelato- not the move.
Badiani- This gelato is also expensive, but that’s most things here. I tried the Buontalenti Pistacchio This was a super unique take on pistachio gelato. It was a creamy, neutral base with a pistachio sauce on top. I loved the contrast of the subtle cream with the hearty and sweet pistachio sauce. I am becoming a pistachio gelato superfan, it may be my very favorite. The nutty and the creamy is a combo I can’t seem to get enough of. This gelato shop also has a few locations throughout the city, but I think the gelato is creamier than Amorino.
Flat Iron
Flat Iron came to us as a recommendation from our cousins and wow are we glad we took the recommendation. This is my favorite meal we have had so far. The menu at Flat Iron is simple but perfectly executed. The meal is centered around a Flat Iron steak, (they have a few other steak specials on rotation) I got mine medium rare and that was perfectly cooked. The meat was simply seasoned, tender, and succulent. They focus on local sourcing and highlight the farms where their beef is raised, their dairy sourcing, and where their vegetables are grown. I love this-- consumer transparency and highlighting food producers-so important!
To accompany the meat, they have a few simple, but delicious, sides. Bone-marrow mashed potatoes, truffle mac and cheese, creamed spinach, side salad, and beef-dripping chips.
The Bone Marrow Mashed Potatoes were perfectly creamy and smooth. Had a delicious flavor and these little crisps on the top which added fun texture. Nothing compares to perfectly executed steak and mashed potatoes.
The Truffle Mac and Cheese had a subtle truffle flavor (I like a little but not too much), with a creamy sauce (more cream than cheese I would say), and the noodles were perfectly cooked. You guessed it… delicious.
It was a simply tasty Green Salad with a few peas and pea shoots with a light mayo-based dressing.
This place respects beef and I LOVE that. They use beef drippings to make Beef-Dripping Chips. Cooking the fries in beef-based fats makes these chips perfectly crispy and gives them a much better flavor than traditional oil-cooked fries.
Can’t forget the Tahitian Vanilla soft serve that is included in your meal. A creamy vanilla bean swirl atop a waffle cone was the perfect way to satisfy your sweet tooth after a meal. Plus, it makes you feel special cause technically it was free! Definitely will be returning!
Honest Burger
Honestly, it’s a delicious burger. ;) I need to come up with a different word besides delicious... but it really was. A nice thick beef burger with a rich onion marmalade, cheese, and lettuce. My only complaint is I would have loved different cheese options, they only have American and Swiss and I don’t eat American, so you do the math. ;)
The burger was served alongside rosemary chips. They were perfectly crisp and I LOVE rosemary with fries- a perfect pairing. Olivia tried the coleslaw. It was a mix of red cabbage, apple, and beetroot. She loved the unique take on the coleslaw but wished it would have been colder and had a bit less dressing.
Overall, we really enjoyed it and plan to take our mom back when she joins us!
Let's Wrap this Long Thing Up
This is only a week and a half of London food. We have had a lot of good food and will keep trying and eating it all for the sake of research and being good diligent students. ;)
Have you been to any of these places??
Shoutout to Savannah Olsen and The Baird’s for all the recommendations!
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