Visiting London England, any suggestions?

[G7PSK]

Foods imported from Britain that I enjoy in America:

• Tea (English tea blends are vastly better than what is available in America)
• Biscuits (dark chocolate HobNobs, Rich Tea, all butter shortbread)
• Pickled onions (believe it or not, pickled onions are not found in America)
• Marmite
• Butter (American butter is oh so bland and tasteless)
• Real cheddar cheese (West Country, Welsh, Irish, ...)

Some of them will be hard to get through customs as a personal import, but definitely put some dark chocolate HobNobs in your suitcase if you have any taste for crunchy, oaty, chocolatey snacks whatsoever...

Not good if you have a fructose intolerance, In fact the UK is not a good place to be if you have fructose intolerance, having been diagnosed with that problem I found out first hand that it is nearly impossible to eat out here and avoid sugars of any description,it's put in most things. I had to go 2 month's without sugar or fructose of an description just about the only thing I could eat was boiled cabbage and Brussel sprouts.

[KJDS]

I was going to put up a list of my favourite places to eat in London, but I live on a diet of meat and beer so it's not that helpful.

[AndyC_772]

Oh, please do... it's helpful to some of us!

[madires]

Oh, please do... it's helpful to some of us!

Kelly's, opposite of the Aldgate tube station. Tons of sandwiches and fair prices.

[KJDS]

Kings Kebab shop, across the way from Euston Rd from Kings Cross station. This isn't haute cuisine, but it clean, cheap and a chicken kebab is fairly healthy. It's also very convenient for Kings Cross and Euston.
China House on Marchmont St. Somewhat more authentic chinese than the norm
Arbutus, michelin starred but fairly easy to book
Meadah Grill on Fieldgate street. Excellent Turkish with good atmosphere.

[Stonent]

Apparently outside of North America, it's pronounced "choob".

And we could do with some more places that serve Indian food in the US.  Maybe 1 or 2 per city if you're lucky.

[SeanB]

then you should come to Durban, more curry places than any where else, along with the hottest curries around. Some mild, some wild, and some that make you burn 3 times.

[rolycat]

Apparently outside of North America, it's pronounced "choob".

Nope, it's pronounced 'tube'. Apparently in North America it's pronounced 'toob'.

[zapta]

And we could do with some more places that serve Indian food in the US.  Maybe 1 or 2 per city if you're lucky.

You will like the Bay Area then, more Indian restaurants than in Mumbai. ;-)

[electronics man]

spend some time in the east end, go to the old trumans brewery which now has a regular market with  great food, go to spitalfield market too which is also great. if you are into history white chappel is near by which is where jack the ripper operated.

[bwat]

You're Canadian. Nowhere in the UK is "a lot of travel" from London.

You obviously haven't travelled in the UK.

I'm UK born and bred.

Our roads are crap, our trains are crap, our airports are crap. Basically everything transport related is crap. Journeys that would take an hour or two in other countries take you a day in the UK.

No they don't. You're spouting nonsense.

[GK]

There was a nice deli around the corner from work where I used to get lunch. Double or single cut rolls, tuna, smoked turkey, ham, chicken you name it. Whole assortment or salads. Then there was the other stuff - cakes etc. The owner sold the business to an English couple right off the boat and over night the joint became a greasy spoon. Out with the salads, rolls and sandwiches. You could order chips with your pasty or a pasty with your chips or the dude could fry up something either brown or yellow looking on his hot plate of bubbling lard that stank the shop out. They went bust about 2 months later.
 

[KJDS]

Thirty years ago the worst food in Europe was in the UK and the best in France.

That situation has pretty much reversed.

There are still some parts of the UK where the food is poor. The worst town I've lived in was Basingstoke, where they poured gravy over the salad and didn't realise that was wrong, and the cod in spicy satay sauce was a Findus crispy cod burger.

Portsmouth, possibly England's least sophisticated town at least included a tiny Indian restaurant that never served quite what I ordered, but always gave me delicious food.

[electronics man]

There was a nice deli around the corner from work where I used to get lunch. Double or single cut rolls, tuna, smoked turkey, ham, chicken you name it. Whole assortment or salads. Then there was the other stuff - cakes etc. The owner sold the business to an English couple right off the boat and over night the joint became a greasy spoon. Out with the salads, rolls and sandwiches. You could order chips with your pasty or a pasty with your chips or the dude could fry up something either brown or yellow looking on his hot plate of bubbling lard that stank the shop out. They went bust about 2 months later.

dont take that as the norm for English food

[AndyC_772]

It's not that anomalous, though!

What we are generally pretty good at, is cooking food from other parts of the world. Our Indian and Chinese food, though in many cases far from authentic, is on the whole pretty tasty, and certainly better than equivalents I've had in other countries. There's some pretty good Italian food around too, provided you've not actually been to Italy yourself (in which case you might find the comparison less favourable).

It's best to avoid the big chain restaurants IMHO, and any food product that looks as though it might contain ground-up anus, probably does.

Re: transport, for getting around in London the tube really isn't that bad provided you're travelling outside of rush hour. (Strong hint... travel outside of rush hour!!).

The real problem is that our politicians all live and work in London, and seem to have the perception that everywhere else in the country is equally well served by public transport.

This isn't true, of course, so in practice there's a good chance you'll need a car to get around. Fuel is priced in pence per litre, and - just to pre-empt - yes, you have done your conversion to US$ per US Gal correctly, it really is that expensive. And when you get where you're going, you won't be able to find anywhere to park; don't worry, it's not you, we all find the same, and it's one reason why your rental car is so small it would fit in the overhead locker on your flight home.

[bwat]

You obviously haven't travelled in the UK. Our roads are crap, our trains are crap, our airports are crap. Basically everything transport related is crap. Journeys that would take an hour or two in other countries take you a day in the UK.

I don't know what the US is like, but the other thing to be prepared for is how filthy the place is. Grime and dirt are everywhere. The air is pretty bad too. It really hits me every time I come back from Japan.

Not trying to be funny but since you're able to travel (i.e. not detained at her majesty's pleasure) why not leave the country for good? Life's too short and you don't seem like a particularly happy camper. 

[dannyf]

Not trying to be funny but since you're able to travel (i.e. not detained at her majesty's pleasure) why not leave the country for good?

Great question, :0

On roads, I have had more than my fair share of 7-8hr NYC<->DC trips now (both I95 and through PA/NJ) that I actually prefer the train - however slow Acela is, it does get you there in style,

I wish we do more country building in America.

No they don't. You're spouting nonsense.

Agreed.

[Yago]

Can't offer advice other than have a great trip.
I am "oop norf" outside Manchester, and things are more countryside and animals here, better than all that old masonry and tat

The KB gig and story is sweet and is no surprise I have heard similar things of her on other fora.

Again have fun Light
If you get very lost and find yourself in Manchester one night, remember, beware the moon, stay on the path :p

[zapta]

Not trying to be funny but since you're able to travel (i.e. not detained at her majesty's pleasure) why not leave the country for good? Life's too short and you don't seem like a particularly happy camper.

Mojo Chan, you are invited to the Bay Area. You will love it here. Wide roads, 110V mains (you will not need that transformer) and great Japanese food. We even have a large Urasenke chapter.

[_Sin]

To be fair, if you spend any amount of time in Japan, everywhere else looks a bit dirty.

As for the other criticisms - if you're eating bad food in any City in the UK (and especially London) then you're just eating in the wrong places - so don't do that. And travel really isn't that bad. Trains not an order of magnitude slower than (for example) the bullet trains in Japan. Just an order of magnitude more expensive

[dannyf]

if you're eating bad food in any City in the UK ...

Agreed. While one may not be able to have great food in any city, one can always find horrible food in any city anywhere.

[BloodyCactus]

i so lived for wagamamas oh man.. working in soho at HMV head office, I was at the Green Man pub and off to wagamamas all the time.

beer for lunch and a meeting in the pub? that was a great way to work and network. such different coporate culture than where I am now in the usa.

[zapta]

To be fair, if you spend any amount of time in Japan, everywhere else looks a bit dirty.

Saw once in a busy Tokyo metro station a woman cleaning the hand rail of a people conveyer  with a feather duster. Nothing surprised in Japan me after that day.

[SeanB]

My father was in Japan visiting a Toyoda factory, making Toyota's. The only people in the automated plant were there to drive the cars off the end of the line to the yard to park them for shipping, and a group of sweepers who went through the plant all day and night sweeping the floor under the machinery, sweeping the invisible dust into the demarcated lines the automated sweeper ran along. He remarked that the entire plant was cleaner than any place he had been to, even the garbage bins were clean inside and out, with the garbage inside wrapped in plastic bags. he came back with a design for a trailer that is still in use today, though it has been modified over the years as the delivery methods changed from crates and returns to shrinks and non returnable bottles. There still is a lot of returnable bottles, but the crates have changed from wood to plastic. I still have a wooden crate around, the giant 3 storey pile in the back yard was burnt by us as firewood in the 1980's, though the termites were doing a sterling job eating them from the bottom.

[G0HZU]

Of course, the real UK food and diet problem isn't really in the restaurants/takeaways, it's on the TV (advertising) and in the supermarkets where the freezers are stuffed full of 'buy in bulk' chips, pies, burgers, double choccy ice cream and the shelves are stuffed with savoury/fatty/salty stuff and fizzy/sugary drinks.

If I had any say in the matter I would heavily tax unhealthy foods and make it clear on the packaging that the food is unhealthy and show how much tax is being added. I'd also find a way to tax/limit the advertising of such food on the TV.