526 Roman Road, Bow, London
Visited 23rd July 2009
Well I'm certainly having all the authentic London experiences aren't. A visit to Gordon’s Wine Bar and then I stumbled across G. Kelly while looking for fishing tackle near my brother’s place on the Roman Road. This joint is about as traditional as you can get. Apparently the Kelly family started selling eels and pies in 1915 and one of their sons Gordon opened this pie and eel shop at the market on Roman Road in the 1930s. Inside its white and shinny; all tiles and lino, and about as old school as you can get.
Ordering at G. Kelly is pretty simple as they sell the same traditional English delicious they’ve been selling for years: pies, sausages and eels, accompanied by mashed potato and either traditional parsley sauce or gravy. I went for a couple of Cumberland sausages with mash, parsley sauce and a sly little pie on the side. The thick sausages were really tasty; meaty and flavoursome. The stupidly big pile of mash was a tad dry, but went down OK when smothered in parsley sauce that was interestingly made with the dried herb rather than fresh. As a good Aussie boy I’ve eaten plenty of pies in my time and the crisp, flaky little package I got a G. Kelly was the best I’ve had in a while. Apart from the excellent pastry it was filled with good quality beef that was nicely seasoned with plenty of pepper. 
G. Kelly is about as far as you can get from fine dinning, yet there’s something pretty satisfying about a plate overflowing with simple, nourishing food. I really enjoyed both sausages and especially the delicious pie; I enjoyed the retro setting and I enjoyed the prices are seem to be from several generations ago. £2.80 for the sausages and mash and another £1.60 for a beef pie; £4.40 is a bit of a bargain for what was literally an overflowing pile of food. G. Kelly is London as it should be.
Visit restaurant website.
47 Villiers Street, London
Visited 21st July 2010
I arrived in London on a spectacular sunny afternoon, yet somehow found myself spending this beautiful, balmy evening sitting in a damp, old cellar. Sorry I’m making in sound worse than it is. Established on the present site in 1890, Gordon's is London’s oldest wine bar (and maybe the 
world's); it is one of the most atmospheric places around. Located between the river and Trafalgar Square, Gordon’s Wine Bar is better the deeper you go. We descended into the original cellar where trestle tables, old barrels and candles are the order of the day.
Booze not food is the priority here, yet amazingly for the UK no beer or spirits are served; it’s a wine only affair. Their selection is decent, and more about drinkability and value rather than rare, old or prestigious labels; which suits me just fine. They also have a good selection of Port, Sherry and Madeira, some even served from barrels. We got into the summer theme and enjoyed a couple of decent bottles of rose; one from Portugal, the other a pleasant Cotes de Provence, before trying the oh so fantastically named Fat Bastard Pinot Noir from the Languedoc. With all vino there’s a need for nourishment and foods not totally forgotten with a selection of cold cuts, cheese and antipasti. We gorged on a plate filled with generous hunks of cheddar, camembert and some tasty parma ham.
I had a fantastic evening at Gordon’s Wine Bar. The setting is one that’s so, so London; historic, old school and once inside difficult to determine what century you’re in. Yet modern wines, international snacks and friendly staff give the whole place an almost modern, vibrant feel. For London, which can very often be the city of big bills, Gordon’s offered pretty fair value; all the wines we drunk were under £20 and our massive plate of nibbles was only £11. I really loved Gordon's Wine Bar; my only complaint is that I didn’t bump into Sherlock Holmes.
Visit restaurant website.
Borough High St, Borough, London
Visited 15th August 2009
For an Aussie teacher living in Hong Kong I tend to visit London a fair bit. While Borough Market isn't my reason for rocking into town I always try and find time for a trip to this great market. It's situated just past the southern end of Tower Bridge, under the train lines next to Southwark Cathedral. It has been running on its current site since 1796, though there has apparently been a market in the area since Roman times.
The key to Borough Market is not shopping, but browsing; though a better term would probably be grazing. Before the commitment of actually buying anything it's always worth a stroll to see what tasty tit 
bits and samples are up for offer (my other favourite place for a graze is Sapporo Airport). I wondered the stalls and gazed starry eyed at a cornucopia of fruit, vegetables, mushrooms, herbs, fish, meat, game, cheese, bread, cakes, chocolate, beer, wine and a thousand other exciting things. When there was something to try I did. I managed to sample a delicious range of cured meats, cheese, a tasty little bit of chocolate or two and even a couple of sips of wine.
Eventually however it was time for a solid lunch and we ended up at the barbecue out back of Brindisa. This supplier of Spanish produce fires up the barbecue and sells chewie rolls dossed with olive oil and then filled with roasted capsicum, rocket and a choice of one or two
spicy chorizo sausages; we of course went for the double. OK it was just a sandwich but it was a good sandwich and a sandwich which seemed to encapsulate Borough Market; tasty food, made with fresh local ingredients, but with a twist of international flavour. My only complaint was the element of danger eating these sandwiches; dripping chorizo fat, roasted capsicum juice and olive oil, is tasty, but does tend to stain your favourite t-shirt. For the sceptics Borough Market goes a long way to proving the quality of contemporary English food.
Visit market website.
Victoria Quay, Welsh Bridge, Shrewsbury
Visited 1st August 2009
I never went to uni in the UK, but occasionally it feels like it did. I had an extensive stint living in the Glasgow Uni Halls of Residence in 2001 and for a lot of 2003 - while teaching in a miserable South Shields school - I took great joy flatting with a group of Newcastle uni students. I was in Shrewsbury for the weekend for a reunion with the girls who I shared with while I 'attended' Newcastle Uni; the first time we'd all been together for six years. It was going to be a big weekend, but things started off rather civilised with lunch at The Armoury; a stylish pub on the banks of River Severn. Located in an 18th Century former armoury building (yep you guessed it) the pub has been well renovated and offers a comfortable light, airy setting. When I visited the pub had attracted a bit of hype as Prince William had been sighted having the odd pint on break from his posting at a nearby military base.
The menu at The Armoury is packed with traditional pub fare, though I'll admit it's very well done pub fare. My friends ordered fish n chips, sardines on toast and welsh rarebit all of which looked delicious, while I eventually decided upon pan-fried salmon atop pea and mussel risotto. The fish was beautifully cooked with a crisp outer and moist centre; while fresh herbs gave the tasty risotto a lovely summer feel. To drink (at this early, early stage of things) it was all about pots of bitter and I enjoyed a couple of local ales that included the very tasty Shropshire Lad.
I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to The Armoury. Sure special friends made a difference, but excellent food, a lovely riverside setting and great service all contributed to a very memorable lunch. If for some reason you're happen to find yourself in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England head down to the river for a feed at The Armoury; it's well worth it, even if you don't happen to see a Prince.
Visit restaurant website.
Dockacre Rd, Launceston, Cornwell, UK
Visited 21st July 2009
Sometimes you've just got to write a place up because of its postcard. Being a Yuen Long restaurant certainly helps your chances of getting a mention here but there's a couple of other places that are just as likely to get you the gig. The suburban paradise of North Balwyn's of course one of them, but there's also places like Launceston in England where my grandmother and cousin live. I was in Cornwall for a week and with my mother and brother about we gathered family and friends for dinner at La Bouche Creole an interesting sounding place in a town that normally 'specialises' in kebabs, burgers and chips.
Cajun styled dishes using local Cornish produce is the flavour of the day at La Bouche Creole. The menu only has a choice of six starters, mains and dessert that give the impression of fresh and local ingredients. To start there were Creole favourites like gumbo and crab cakes, but I went with roasted pork belly, followed by seafood thermidor and pecan pie. The tender pork was outstanding; the richness of the Cajun spice seasoning and a sticky chilli dressing was balanced by fresh, chunky pineapple salsa. The thermidor was, too be honest, a bit disappointing; it was thin and over cooked, though the quality of the local prawns, mussels, scallops, crab and fish was obvious. Despite not loving the thermidor the steaks, chicken, salmon and pork being eaten around me all looked great. I'm not a big one for dessert but I couldn't resist a slice of pecan pie; packed with chunky nuts and dressed with a rich caramel sauce it was a sweet finish to a sweet meal. As you'd expect we drunk wine, lots of wine; our hoard slurped a Bergerac Rose, Argentine Malbec and Rioja which all went down well and offered decent value at between £11.50 and £16 a bottle.
Four generations of family and old friends always make for a special evening, yet there was more to our visit than the company. The atmosphere was welcoming and homely, while the tasty food was reasonable priced at £20 for two courses and £23 for three; perfect for a party like ours. La Bouche Creole is more than just a venue with a Launceston postcode, it's a great little restaurant that offers something rather different and just luckily happens to be in Launceston.
Visit restaurant website.
Visit to Padstow
20th July 2009
For me a trip to Europe always starts with a visit to my mother's family in Cornwall. Apart from sipping sherry with Granny and causing a bit of trouble with my cousin it's also a chance to reacquaint myself with the places and traditions that bind my mother's family. One of the things we tend to love dearly round my neck of the woods is a Cornish pasty. The Cornish are extremely serious about their pasties, so serious in fact they're in the process of getting it registered with the EU, as a 'Protected Geographical Indicator'.
Day One in Cornwall was pasty day. My brother and I were unceremoniously abandoned by our mother in Padstow, where we enjoyed a walk along the Camel Trail that finished with coffee and wine at BinTwo, a quality little place that survives amongst the fierce competition of Planet Rick Stein. But before any of this it was pasty day. Today there's a multitude of exotic pasty fillings available including things like pork, lamb and even curry, but we both kept things traditional and went for a classic filling of beef, onion, swede and potato. The pasty itself pretty decent with a tasty peppery seasoning, but the fact that we were sitting eating it on the water in Cornwall made it perfect.
Visit Cornish Pasty Association website.
Lake Sourton, Devon, UK
Visited 27th December 2008
An integral part of being in England is going to the pub. In winter it's all about roaring fires, piles of abandoned coats and hearty real ales. We spent a week in Devon for Christmas and somehow everyday managed to drop into the Bearslake Inn for a sly pint or two. Located near the cottage we rented on the edge of Dartmoor the Bearslake Inn is classic old school English country pub; think wood panelled public bar, separate dining room and a classic thatched roof. For our final family meal the whole hoard of us gathered in the pub's formal dining room.
There is nothing modern or fancy about the menu at the Bearslake Inn; it's all very old school, though regional produce is key and seasonal dishes abound. The people around me ordered things like
liver and bacon, honey glazed pork, plaice and sirloin steaks, while I went with a trio of local fish fillets. The tender pieces of monkfish, sea bass and sole came simply served with a wedge of lemon, lettuce and tartar sauce. We ordered sides of potatoes while the table was presented with shared vegies; the punters were all happy with the very English bowls of brussels sprouts, carrots and two kinds of cabbage. We finished off with a few shared serves of tasty sticky toffee pudding.
Big serves of honest food prepared with quality ingredients were the order of the day at the Bearslake Inn. Prices were probably fair for the UK; the mains ranged from £12 to £16, with a couple of quid for the side of spuds. The serves were decent and too be honest with today's exchange rates the wine was a lot better value than you get in Hong Kong; the Chianti we drunk at £16.50 a bottle was a tasty drop. The staff were efficient and courteous, though hyper formal and lacked all traces of personality (something that's rather common in the UK). The Bearslake Inn is not modern, stylish or excessively fancy but simply offers old style charm.
Visit restaurant website.
4 Hoxton Square, London
Visited 8th October 2008
A brief visit to the UK finished with a few spare hours in London. My brother was off work and before you could say "time for a beer in the sun" we found ourselves 
slapped out the front of the Hoxton Square Bar and Kitchen with a couple of cold pints. A cool corner of London tucked away in the north-east side of town, Hoxton Square is close to my brother's new home and an area I hadn't visited before. The pub is all modern, slick design and its open front allows punters to spew out in the square and make the most of London's rare sunny afternoons.
Looking at the past posts I seem to eat a lot of hamburgers in pubs and this little excursion was no exception. I ordered up a bacon and cheese burger and the resulting monstrosity was rather good. The bread roll was fresh and crunchy (oh how things have changed in London) and the thick, meaty patty was topped with tasty smoked bacon and melted cheddar. This big flavoursome burger came with tasty hand cut chips. To drink we sucked on pints of Red Strip an average Jamaican larger that seems to be all the rage in London.
The Hoxton Square Bar and Kitchen is very cool and very London. I'm not sure how much I would have enjoyed the place on a busy Friday night, but on a weekday afternoon is was a great spot to stop for a feed and a couple of beers. The burgers were bloody good, but at £9.50 a pop expensive, but that's the nature of the beast that is London. After a hectic few days in Cornwall it was nice to be able to relax and it's amazing what you can squeeze into a few hours. Before I bordered CX254 to Hong Kong I'd visited three pubs, caught up with a two separate mates, drank a few pints and had lunch in the sun with my brother at Hoxton Square.
Visit restaurant website.
63 Abbey Rd, London
Visited 31st December 2007
New Year's Eve and we were flying home from London. I've always thought welcoming in the New Year on a plane would be fun, especially flying first or business class; we however were stuck in economy on a very average discount carrier. The £5 they charge for disgusting quality mini-bottles of wine meant lunch with my brother and his partner at The Salt House became our New Year's celebration. This rather nice pub in Abbey Road has a slick dinning room out the back where we enjoyed a slick meal.
The menu offers a selection of international dishes, the usual pub favourites and a houmourous thesis on the origin of their produce. To start we shared 'duck pancakes' and 'squid with chorizo'. The spicy Spanish style squid was lovely and tender, while the Peking duck was awesome; served as a whole crispy duck leg it was superior to any attempt I've had in Hong Kong. For a main I went with a more traditional British option; roast pheasant. The whole bird came served with parsnip chips, red cabbage and an intense, dark sauce; it was delicious and perfect for a winter's day. Naomi enjoyed her rack of lamb, my brother gleefully grappled with a huge serve of fish and chips and we washed it down with a pleasant bottle of B
rouilly. Oh yes and dessert; a couple of monstrous plates of apple crumble and sticky toffee pudding pushed the boundaries of satisfied into the land of stuffed.
It was New Years and despite the lack of party poppers and legless drunks, lunch at The Salt House was superb. The food was of the upmost quality and the whole experience one of polished efficiency. Bills in Pounds Stirling tend to be scary and while £100 isn't cheap, for such top-notch grub in London it's not totally unreasonable. Slamming English food is easy enough to do, but places like The Salt House make a positive impression, especially when they're able to do both traditional English dishes and a range of international ones with such precision.
Visit restaurant website.
Visit to London
July 2007 
London isn't a place where I've spent much time, despite having lived in the UK for three years. It's now my brother's home and I place I love to visit. I had a cracker of a time checking out the sites, catching up with friends and sneaking in a few sly pages of the final Harry Potter release. It is still basically true of London that "no matter how much money you have in your pocket at the start of the day it will all be gone by the end"; it can be very expensive (see here), but with a little local knowledge life can be reasonable. The sun was shinning, it was summer and I was on holidays.
Bakeries and Cafes
By the look 
of things Londoners are beginning to appreciate good bread and decent coffee. The Euphoria Bakery, Islington was one spot I stoped at pretty regularly. A decent coffee accompanied by a freshly baked treat was a great way to prepare for an intense sight-seeing schedule. Many of the cafes I wandered into did a fair job of putting together a cafe laite; but be warned if you're driving don't assume the same is true for motorway services!
Trendy Bars and Cool Restaurants
For a country in love with pubs London has its far share of ultra trendy, ultra cool, ultra hip 
bars. Friday night in the back lanes of Mayfair was where all the beautiful people seemed to be. As lost as I felt, I was hanging out on the most expensive Monopoly square paper money can buy and was generally feeling pretty cool. We moved our way through a selection of bars and finished with a meal at a restaurant called Rocket. Chosen by my brother's girlfriend the food was good and the service fantastic; a great night out.
Decent Pubs
As good as a packet of dry-roasted peanuts and a pint of bitter is, London pubs seem to have made huge strides forward and have actually become eating destinations, rather than just somewhere to stuff down a fatty burger to help soak up the pints. I was impressed with the number of pubs serving up fantastic food within minutes walk of my brother's house. The introduction of a blissfully smoke-free environme
nt certainly helps, but there is also an obvious move away from swilling beer and double vodka-tonics to appreciating good food and decent wine. I spent a cracker of an afternoon in the Drapers Arms, Islington. The sun was out, the beer garden was full of friends and the big bottles of iced organic cider were just what the doctor ordered. It was one of those awesome lingering summer days that seem to go on for ever, where you have had lunch and dinner in the same pub and the sun shines the whole time. I happily munched my way through a good, thick steak sandwich and a lovely serve of calamari. The Drapers Arms was a fine example of a 'gastropub', a concept I like, especially as I prefer the relaxed pub atmosphere to the overly stiff, formal, fake and wanky service you receive in many English restaurants. Another pub within walking distance was the Islington Tap. A place with an open kitchen, friendly staff and a good menu of huge, home-made burgers, delicious looking pizza and tasty risotto. We enjoyed a variety of decently priced bottles of wine and I had a great night catching up with few close friends. There was however one questionable
moment that DM wasn't even there for.After a stroll around St James Park my last meal in the UK was a quick pub lunch with my brother. His choice was an 'Irish pub', but unlike the themed chains we have all learned to hate Mulligans was simply an Irish pub. It served Irish dishes, fresh Irish oysters and Irish whiskey. I couldn't help my self ordered fish 'n' chips; the large hunk of haddock and hand-made fat chips were delicious. A great note on which to leave the UK.
31 Camden Passage, Angel, London
Visited 23rd July
I love to go out for breakfast. In Hong Kong it's normally Yum Cha (unless I'm stuck in Lan Kwai Fong at 5am when it could be anything), in Australia I love to visit a cafe for fresh, tasty food, accompanied by a couple of good coffees. The UK is famous for its greasy spoon style cafes - and though it's probably controversial to say so - I'm not a fan. The normal food they serve up is fatty bacon, eggs fried in an inch of oil, tinned baked beans and cheap, thin white bread, accompanied by the worst possible coffee imaginable, sometimes even that beverage they call instant "coffee".Up the road from my brother's house in Islington is the revolutionary Breakfast Club Angel; a cafe so good it could be in Melbourne. Looking for an excuse to put off sightseeing and finish the last few chapters of Harry Potter I wandered up for a leisurely, late breakfast
. The setting is casual and relaxed; chunky wooden tables and a collection of 'arty' junk covering the walls. The service is great; friendly and efficient, yet casual. And the food? Well the food is fantastic. I got stuck into a huge serve of eggs Benedict, with a side order of awesome home-made sausages, all washed down with a couple of good coffees. Everything was perfect, a recommended cafe that really shows London how it should be done.
Visit restaurant website
Visit to Cornwell
16th to 22nd July 2007
The revival of the English food scene has been all about using fresh, local produce. My visit to family in the West Country, at the height of summer, was a great opportunity to check out some local regional fare I've listed a few highlights below.
English Berries
No one can deny that the English grow good berries. While I was staying at my Granny's every night we indulged in fresh local raspberries and strawberries; sometimes with Cornish ice-cream and sometimes with thick, artery-blocking Cornish clotted cream. When visiting Pencarrow House, an old manor house with lovely grounds, we indulged in a little 'pick-your-own' raspberries. I was stuffed from the traditional 'two for the bucket, one for me' setup, but Granny showed amazing will power and claimed "I never eat, while I pick" and she really didn't!
The Farm Shop
Up the lane from Granny's house in the tiny village of St Cleer is the Taste of the Westcountry Farm Shop. Displaying an amazing selection of local produce the store really highlighted what the West Country has to offer. It was awash with delicious fresh local vegetables and fruit. Their meat selection was fantastic: lamb, pork, beef, venison, boar, quail, pigeon, duck, chicken, guinea fowl, pheasant, ostrich and kangaroo (though that wasn't local), plus a great selection of fresh and frozen seafood, my favourites though were definitely the local pork sausages and bacon. Walking around the shop I was overwhelmed by the huge amount of locally produced food, much of it organic or bio-dynamic. The
ir were shelves full of chocolate, preserves, crisps, biscuits, cakes, bread, wine, herbs, milk, cream, ice-cream, cheese, beer, cider, wine and of course hot Cornish pasties. Taste of the Westcountry is a great shop that highlights the fantastic produce available from the region.
Good Country Pubs
England has lots of pubs. Many are average, a few are terrible, but some are absolutely fantastic. The Racecourse Inn in North Hill is one of my favourites and for me is a true English country pub. The drive there is half the fun as you tumble down winding, one-car-wide lanes were you can't see more than two metres ahead because of the huge hedges. We enjoyed a great family lunch and I was impressed with the quality of local seafood; the scallop salad was an absolute winner.
Late Night Kebabs
My older cousin tends to lead me astray when ever I visit her. After exploring the pubs of Launceston an emergency kebab or burger is often in order. In Australia the kebab, is one of the most gourmet of all fast-food, in the UK it's not. For some reason (I assume it was probably the beer I'd been drinking) I decided a burger made with kebab meat and stuffed with fries was the order of the day ... I'm still not sure if it was a good idea.
Old wine left under Granny's stairs
A few years ago I unexpectedly moved from England back to Australia. One result of the sudden move was I didn't quite get to finish all the boxes of €2 wine I'd bought earlier the
year in France, (despite a couple of huge attempts). A Saturday night with my cousin, brother, aunt and assorted partners was a great opportunity to sweep the cellar and get stuck into these old bottles. For the price I paid for these wines I was happy with how good they were at seven to eleven years of age. The Chateau Girarde Bordeaux 1996 was beginning to show its age, but was still drinkable and well-structured. The Chateau Mesmard Minervois 1999 (bottle no. 12569) was OK, though the fruit had fallen away and left it a little dry and unbalanced. The definite favourite though was the Chateau Labadie Minervois 2000, a fantastic, delightfully drinkable drop. I was impressed with how well these cheap old wines held up, though it was disappointing that two out of six were corked.
Granny's home-cooking
Home-cooked roasts, pies and bakes pork at my Granny's; what could be better? 
Middle St, Padstow, Cornwell, UK
Visited 18th July 2007
Despite popular rumour the odd lovely English summer's day does exist and I'd stumbled across one. To make the most of this once in a century chance I decided to cycle the Camel Trail from Padstow, through Wade Bridge to Bodmin and back. The trail is an old railway line with spectacular views of the Padstow Estuary and Camal River. The ride was great, the sunshine magnificent, the views fantastic and back in Padstow I was in need of a coffee.
Over winter Padstow is a small sleepy, fishing village. In summer it’s a thriving mass of “holiday makers” drip
ping with half melted ice-creams, buckets, spades, socks over sandals, fish and chips and all the other paraphernalia required for a day at the English seaside. Central to circus Padstow is the Empire of TV chef Rick Stein. Apart from his famous Seafood Restaurant, Stein also rules over St Petroc's Bistro, Stein’s Fish and Chip Shop, Stein’s Deli, Stein’s Pattisserie, Stein’s Cooking School, Stain’s Gift Shop and Stein’s Café. For a humble bloke like me, a coffee at Stein’s Café seemed an easy place to jump on the bandwagon and experience a bit of TV chef magic, without the hefty price tag of anything grander.
For a "café", the menu was quite formal and obviously aimed towards the lunch and dinner crowd rather than the casual snack I was looking for. I ended up with a coffee and a slice of 'sunken chocolate cake'. T
he coffee was fine and the cake was actually a lot better then it looked; moist, rich and heavy it was all you could hope for in a slab of rich chocolate goo. Though good, service was boarding on over formal; just like the menu. What Stein's Café really lacked was a sea view; it's tucked away in a back lane hidden from both the action and scenery. Though not a bad place for a quite coffee away from the crowds, the fact Stein's Café really didn't resemble my perception of a café annoyed me a little - I wanted a coffee and a snack, not a £10 main and a £20 bottle of wine. If you want to jump on the bandwagon of Rick Stein World go and eat fish 'n' chips by the harbour or just buy a fridge magnet from his gift shop.
Visit the Rick Stein website
Posts
