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.