When we traveled to London when I was in grade school, I remember being unimpressed with the food. My sisters and I were incredibly grossed out by the fish and chips we had (with the scales on! ew!). The highlight of our trip was the fruit basket that was left for us every night by the manager of the Cherry Court Hotel: we would stay up seemingly all night awaiting the delivery of the fruit basket, spending the majority of our awake time probably keeping everyone else in the tiny hotel awake thanks to our giggling.
Fortunately, the internet guided Nick and I to all the good foodie things in London this trip, and we ate like the Queen (well, almost).
Dominique Ansel Bakery. This was our first stop on the rainy afternoon on which we arrived, and we were stunned by the beautiful pastries. We tried a lemon curd cronut, which was amazing, and we made a lunch of out the croque monsieur. We got hot drinks, and I couldn't resist the blossoming hot chocolate. Had we had the time and belly space, you can bet we would have been back for more of the sweet treats.
Dishoom. To preface this commentary, I am generally not a fan of Indian food; however, clearly that is simply because I haven't had good Indian food previously. I loved this place! The naan and the black daal were the must-eats, but the cocktails we ordered were also good. And that butter buttah corn that they served could only be described with some heart-eyed emojis. Also, I accidentally lit my menu on fire here (because: why not?).
Shoryu Ramen. Ramen was on our list of big city must-eats because we definitely do not have availability of asian food here in MIlwuakee (at the very least, there is a paucity of ramen). We picked Shoryu after perusing the yelp reviews for the main ramen joints in London, and I loved it (Nick thought that it was not quite salty enough, though).
Churchill Arms. This place was AMAZING. I wish I had a photo of the floral wall cover because it is incredible. We had amazing Thai food, and then we walked out of the restaurant and into the pub, where we had a more traditional London public house experience.
Burger & Lobster. This had a little bit more of a chain restaurant feel (although I will say that both Dishoom and Shoryu ramen also have multiple locations in London, and Dominique Ansel has another spot in NY). Despite the TGI Friday's feel, the food was super good. Nick and I both got the lobster rolls, which hit the spot after a long day of walking. They may not have been quite as good as our Milwaukee favorites at the St Paul Fish Company, but they came pretty close.
The Victoria. We ended up at this busy pub after we decided to forgo early reservations at one of the Ottolenghi restuarants in favor of more touring on our last day. I love food, but seeing the sights always trumps a fancy dinner. This turned out to be perfect. We cozied into a corner table by sheer luck, and enjoyed good old-fashioned British food nestled in between the locals. Also, we finally ate a traditionally British confection--sticky toffee pudding.
Lamb & Flag. This little spot was our first pub experience. Rather unexciting British fare as compared with one of its sister pubs, the Victoria, but it was a quaint atmosphere, and the food was palatable.
Bottom line: we would come back for the food for sure.
For more posts on London: