Eating and drinking in London

I just realized that it's been a while since this has been updated.


I will say that part of the reason is that I've been laying low for a while as far as major expenditures. I was saving money for the trip I had to take in November to India and England.


Now that is over, and I can get back to writing this. Because I have a few new things to share.


I've been writing about India at my regular blog. I'm going to write about the London part of my trip here. Because it was London where I did more hearty eating and drinking worthy of this blog.


That isn't to say I didn't enjoy the food of India. I certainly did. But I can't say that I hit as many of the major restaurants there for various reasons. I did most of my eating at the various hotels and resorts we stayed at in India, or at my father in law's house. One restaurant we did hit was called Vindhyas, and I will speak about that later.


But my guess is that most of you who read this blog would most likely find yourself travelling to a place like London over a place like Mumbai, so I will give you a few places and items I recommend in London over the next few posts.


I'll start with beer.


I did get to try several of England's finest ales in London. I'm here to say now that I am definitely a fan of English Ale. The flavor is so much more interesting than anything made in the major breweries of America.


I'm reminded of what the great Eric Idle said in one of Monty Python's live sketches in their movie from the Hollywood Bowl. He described American beer as kind of like making love in a canoe... it's fucking close to water!


Now I'm not really a beer snob. I've drank my share of Coors Light and Budweiser in my day, and I will continue to do so. But let's just say that I won't be dedicating any blog postings to their flavor.

The first beer I had in London was an ale called Old Speckled Hen. And that had the distinction of being my first ever pint in London.I enjoyed this tremendously. It wasn't too bitter, though you could faintly taste the hops in the background. It's just a good full-bodied mildly fruity ale. I expected this one to be more bitter than it was, and was mildly surprised. I would definitely order this again when I go back.

The next one was Spitfire Ale (which I didn't take a picture of). This one had more of a bitter kick to it. But it wasn't too bitter to be unpleasant. It had a good balance of fruity flavor behind it to counteract the bitterness. Bitterness is good in my book when the flavors around the bitterness are just as strong. I personally preferred the Old Speckled Hen over it, but enjoyed the Spitfire just as much.

I also tried a lighter lager beer called Tiger. I was told by the bartender who recommended it that it is an Asian beer that happens to be very popular up in Scotland. It's a little clsoer to an American style of beer, and I have since seen that it is sold in parts of America, though apparently not in every part. Anheiser Busch is marketing it here. I'd like to find it because it was pretty good. It wasn't anything special, just good.


I couldn't leave England without finding a good hard cider. I am a fan of hard cider's since my days in Boston when I used to enjoy a drink called Cider Jack. I can't seem to find that anymore. But I did find something close to that with a cider called Bulmer's.

It had been a long time since I had hard cider as good as this. If you've ever had Magner's cider here in the US, it's apparently the same thing with a different name. It's far from bitter and much fruitier obviously. People in America might think something like this is a chick drink. Maybe it is (my wife liked it a lot). But I think it can be manly since it is from Ireland. Nothing in Ireland is a chick drink. Then again... I might be wrong. I'll have to ask a full blooded Irish guy sometime. But I don't care if it is or not. It tastes really damn good.

I did get a chance to try Fuller's London Pride. But I tried it on the plane ride home. It was advertised everywhere in London, so I'm guessing it's one of the big names in England. It was tasty, though I did try the canned version so I'm thinking I may have missed out on a better taste from the bottle or draught. If I find a bottled version in America, I'm picking some up.

Next posting, I'll talk food. I hit more than a few London restaurants, and enjoyed a few English style breakfasts. By the way... British style back bacon is tremendous and way better than American bacon. There, I said it!