I am writing about London’s pub life because A. In the 3 days I’ve been here, I’ve been to a new one every night and B. I haven’t eaten in anyone’s home, been eating in pubs instead- lunch and dinner. Pubs are a standard in England. It’s apart of everyday life, instead of being an event or a weekend night out on the town. To go for a pint and dinner after work is perfectly normal and widely popular. Gastro pubs are popular as well; they are basically pubs with more upscale food. There is usually no wait staff or tipping, everything is ordered at the bar and it’s up to you to find your seat. Pubs in the center of town tend to smaller, the further you go out the larger they tend to become. I ate at one pub today down by the Thames River. My friend Sebastian and I took a walk down by the river and watched the crew teams rowing their hearts out, I’m sure working up an appetite for the pub afterwards. We walked along the river, taking photos of the houseboats and looking for a good old-fashioned pub to eat at. Sebastian told me it was important to eat traditional English fare at least once while I’m here. I’ve never been a big fan of English food, all the mash and beef is quite heavy, but I relented this time and really got into the mood for a button busting lunch.
We stopped at a pub called Young’s the Old Ship W6. It was a larger pub and quite spacious. I had my usual Jameson straight and Sebastian had some kind of ale. I am not a fan of any ales or beers, they usually give me the spins and I end up worshiping the porcelain god if you know what I mean. Anyways, we ordered starter plate called the Best of British. It was a dieter’s nightmare, mini honey and mustard Cumberland sausages ( a bit spicy and very good, surprisingly not sweet), a very rich and sharp white cheddar, crusty bread (basically hard crusted bread), pork pie (breaded deep-fried pork sausage meat), scotch eggs (deep-fried hardboiled eggs wrapped with pork and breaded), piccalilli (a cauliflower chutney with mustard and turmeric), Branston pickle (a vegetable relish made with carrots, onions, cauliflower, tomato, vinegar, apple and dates). It was quite a starter and we did our best but alas the scotch eggs and pork pie defeated us. For mains we both ordered steak and ale pie with prime scotch beef with mashed potato, sautéed carrots, cabbage, broccoli, and a nice amount of dark gravy to drench our sorrows with. It was a full meal, the pastry of the pie was amazing, and the beef in a tangy ale sauce was tender and not really that fatty. The mashed potatoes were mashed potatoes, gravy was gravy and the vegetables over-cooked for my taste. It was all in all a fine meal and definitely a British experience. I did not finish my meal as the starter was more a main meal, but I did eat all the meat out of the pie leaving an empty shell of puff pastry…. Gotta fit into that bathing suit in Thailand!!
More on London coming...
Keep Eating!
*personal photos
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