Had a nice little trip into the English countryside for work today. It looked exactly like I'd always pictured the English countryside--nice rolling hills, lots of green fields that look like nobody would care if you walked across them, silly English town names like "Little Paxton" and "Heathwedgeboroughwoodshire," a Wal-Mart distribution center.... Speaking of the new Evil Empire, there's an article in this week's Time that paints Wal-Mart as the saviour of China and the mechanism by which the Chinese will all be Westernized and brought up to our fine living standards. That same issue of Time also has a glowing portrayal of Paul Wolfowitz in his new job as head of the World Bank. Liberal media my ass.
Also took a jog around Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens this evening; it was quite lovely. Because I've learned the only two adjectives the Brits apply to any positive experience are "lovely" and "brilliant." And it certainly wasn't a "brilliant" run. I haven't heard "smashing" used here; I think maybe it went out of vogue in the late 90s.
For anyone staying at the Thistle Marble Arch, I highly recommend the English breakfast buffet (which comes free when you get the executive package with your room). I highly dis-recommend (what's the opposite of "recommend"? "oppose"? "vilify"? "discourage you from nearing with a 20-foot pole"?) the dinner buffet, which is not free, and is pretty poor. The appetizers/salads were good, but all the main course crap was dry and had been sitting out under a heat lamp, and it was pretty flavorless (or "flavourless" if you're English). What was I doing having dinner in the hotel restaraunt when I'm at the doorstep of the entire West End? Yeah, I don't know either. I guess I'm just retarded. Now I know better. Although last night I went out with a couple of guys from the office here, and we had dinner at a French restaraunt, which I would have thought would have been pretty good. Nope. It was crap. The desserts were great, but the meals were crap. I had some sort of chicken dish with a little pastry something-or-other...it was so bland. It tasted almost exactly like the chicken pot pie the cooks used to make on the boat. Except I paid $3.20 for dinner on the boat, not $30.
Also took a jog around Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens this evening; it was quite lovely. Because I've learned the only two adjectives the Brits apply to any positive experience are "lovely" and "brilliant." And it certainly wasn't a "brilliant" run. I haven't heard "smashing" used here; I think maybe it went out of vogue in the late 90s.
For anyone staying at the Thistle Marble Arch, I highly recommend the English breakfast buffet (which comes free when you get the executive package with your room). I highly dis-recommend (what's the opposite of "recommend"? "oppose"? "vilify"? "discourage you from nearing with a 20-foot pole"?) the dinner buffet, which is not free, and is pretty poor. The appetizers/salads were good, but all the main course crap was dry and had been sitting out under a heat lamp, and it was pretty flavorless (or "flavourless" if you're English). What was I doing having dinner in the hotel restaraunt when I'm at the doorstep of the entire West End? Yeah, I don't know either. I guess I'm just retarded. Now I know better. Although last night I went out with a couple of guys from the office here, and we had dinner at a French restaraunt, which I would have thought would have been pretty good. Nope. It was crap. The desserts were great, but the meals were crap. I had some sort of chicken dish with a little pastry something-or-other...it was so bland. It tasted almost exactly like the chicken pot pie the cooks used to make on the boat. Except I paid $3.20 for dinner on the boat, not $30.
posted by Chris at 11:54 PM
1 Comments:
Yay, England! I love London. The names of the towns really are almost caricatures of Ye Olde English Townes, aren't they? It's actually kind of amusing to realize how much of it got transplanted to Boston. But onto more important matters: I will send you my list of London restaurants and gastropubs (pubs with edible food) to try. Very wrong to be eating bad food in London, when there's so much good food to be had.
In that vein, my first piece of advice: avoid all traditional sides associated with fish and chips: liquor, mushy peas, stewed eels, mash. Liquor: weird gruel of parsley, butter, water and flour resembling watered-down guacamole sludge. Liquor of the alcoholic sort may actually make this stuff redeemable, but I doubt it. Mushy peas: equally inedible Scottish dish of peas soaked in dishwater until rotten, then cooked beyond recognition. Mash: mashed potatoes, usually sorely lacking in texture, taste, or other food-like qualities. Stewed eels: just don't.
What England never screws up: the booze. You've got to try the Guinness Extra Cold (I think that's what it's called). It's Guinness, but the keg is kept extra cold. It tastes completely different -- better, I dare say. I detected hints of iced coffee. Also, you should try to find Leffe Blonde on tap. It's this amazing Belgian beer made with all these spices -- nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, etc -- that sound like they belong in pumpkin pie. Absolutely amazing, and it just doesn't taste the same in the US, even when you do find it on tap.
-Shirley
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