A Yank Eating London

[Simon Majumdar]

It is nice to see Alfredo's revived in some sort of way as it was a great old haunt of mine and is down the road from the office. Sad to see it in wrack and ruin for so long but great to see it restored

The S&M cafe have a few branches now ( the old Alfred's on New Oxford St is being turned into one and there is one just next to Golds outside Spitalfields market ) They are not bad, not great , but a good non destinational place if you are hungry and in the area.

S

[Adam Balic]

Makes me quite wistful for my childhood meals at the Border Cafe; braised steak and chips, jam rolly-poly and day-glow green Barr's cream soda.

And me for The Walworth Road Cafe during my college days

Fry up consisting of Eggs, bacon, sausages, black pudding, mushrooms, fried bread, tomatoes, beans and chips & a mug of tea- yours for £2.95

I forget, did women have the vote yet during your college days?

[Simon Majumdar]

Makes me quite wistful for my childhood meals at the Border Cafe; braised steak and chips, jam rolly-poly and day-glow green Barr's cream soda.

And me for The Walworth Road Cafe during my college days

Fry up consisting of Eggs, bacon, sausages, black pudding, mushrooms, fried bread, tomatoes, beans and chips & a mug of tea- yours for £2.95

I forget, did women have the vote yet during your college days?

Yeah, those that were not shipped to the penal colonies to live with fuckwit occkers

S

[Adam Balic]

Makes me quite wistful for my childhood meals at the Border Cafe; braised steak and chips, jam rolly-poly and day-glow green Barr's cream soda.

And me for The Walworth Road Cafe during my college days

Fry up consisting of Eggs, bacon, sausages, black pudding, mushrooms, fried bread, tomatoes, beans and chips & a mug of tea- yours for £2.95

I forget, did women have the vote yet during your college days?

Yeah, those that were not shipped to the penal colonies to live with fuckwit occkers

S

Most of those ladies were Irish and Europeans in Australia at that time were British, not Australian's, so no Okkers. Present day 'Okkers' are mostly in NSW and Queensland hinderland - where I not sure if ladies have the vote or not.

But, apart form a number of temporal, social and geographic inaccuracies, you are almost correct, my old in-the-twilight-of-his-thirties chum.

[olly s]

The S&M cafe have a few branches now ( the old Alfred's on New Oxford St is being turned into one and there is one just next to Golds outside Spitalfields market  )

The next S&M to open will be the branch on Acton High Street, probably around the middle of August.

O

[angelman]

well I would rather have sausage and mash take over the high street than many other chains...

good to see them succeed...

[Holly Moore]

So far the trip is going quite nicely. The business part is over and the eating part has begun.

My experiences so far:

Learning British peas are an acquired taste not worth acquiring. Might be unfair. Only had them once at a hotel dining room in Aldershot. But can see no reason to pursue the subject. More like beans in texture than the good ol' American green pea. They are a nice bright green though.

Had dinner last night at the Golden Hind, a London fish and chippery with first Italian and more recently Greek ownership. Dates back to the early 1900's. Excellent fish and chips, and available with a crisp, fresh greek salad on the side. I've come to miss green vegetables over the past few days, so this was a pleasure.

Did the Ten Deadly Sins at Simpsons on the Strand this morning. Excellent. The Ten Deadly Sins: fried egg, bacon, sausage, liver, kidney, black pudding, grilled tomato, mushrooms, bubble (mashed potato for you Yanks) and fried toast. I believe I will head back tomorrow evening for my beef and Yorkshire pudding.

I'm off to the S&M cafe for lunch today. Have told friends in the U.S. about this and left them wondering about any side interests I might have had. There is a different kind of S&M cafe in New York. But I'm limiting myself to sausage and mashed.

Still trying to work up the courage for a plate of jellied eel. Maybe tomorrow lunch. Maybe not.

Also had excellent Chinese in Aldershot. A place called Wings.

Not enough time or stamina to eat myself through the entire list contained herein, but am doing my best. Thanks again for all the good advice.

[Andy Lynes]

Learning British peas are an acquired taste not worth acquiring.  Might be unfair.  Only had them once at a hotel dining room in Aldershot.

I wouldn't mind betting that these were not the finest exampe of the British pea. Aldershot is not commonly recognised as the centre of culinary excellence in the UK. Probably frozen. That said, I quite like frozen peas, especially pureed.

[Tonyfinch]

I believe I will head back tomorrow evening for my beef and Yorkshire pudding.

Holly, do not do this! Breakfast is the only meal worth having at Simpson's. The roast beef and Yorkshire there is strictly for the more gullible tourist.

[Carlovski]

And you have missed out on that most British of Pea treats (Along with the Pea Fritter Guide to English food for Americans) mushy peas. Definitely a more traditional accompaniment to fish and chips than a greek salad!

Frozen peas are great. The only reason to have a freezer apart from from ice cream, vodka and ice cubes.

Aldershot is a very odd place though. Who knows what they did to them.

[Holly Moore]

OK, I'll give the peas one more try and thanks for the heads up on Simpsons.

I think this is discussed earlier in the thread, but I have an asterisk for the request. I find myself without jacket and tie. So where might I head for roast beef and yorkshire pudding attired in slacks and a casual shirt?

The Golden Hind had mushy peas on the menu. I just was craving fresh green vegetables.

[Carlovski]

Well, they would have been freshly boiled for about 3 hours!

Did they have pickled eggs?

[macrosan]

Learning British peas are an acquired taste not worth acquiring.  ...  More like beans in texture than the good ol' American green pea.  They are a nice bright green though

Ahhh, those would be the "Berkshire Tourist Peas" you had. Aboriginal Brits learn at an early age to avoid those "bright green" ones that can cause much gastric and hallucinatory unpleasantness. Hope you're still feeling OK, Holly

The best peas, of course, are to be found at St Johns.

[Holly Moore]

Eating my words and my mushy peas. The waitress at the S&M Cafe promised me theirs were the best she has ever tasted. How could I say no. They came piping hot with a pat of butter melting atop. And they were very, very good, as was everything else at the S&M Cafe.

My only complaint was playing 20 questions with my waitress. I was there for sausage and mashed, she wanted to know which sausages (suffolk style and lamb), how many, what kind of potato (bubble and squeek for me) and which gravy (red onion). Not really complaining. I liked the approach. And the meal.

Edited June 25, 2003 by Holly Moore (log)

[Carlovski]

Everything is improved by a pat of butter on top. Even butter.

[StephenT]

My only complaint was playing 20 questions with my waitress.  I was there for sausage and mashed, she wanted to know which sausages (suffolk style and lamb), how many, what kind of potato (bubble and squeek for me) and which gravy (red onion).  Not really complaining.  I liked the approach.  And the meal.

Hehe, that sounds rather like my attempts at ordering plain coffee in American coffee shops

[mogsob]

Holly, if you can hold out to Sunday, there are several good pubs that do the roast beef/Yorkshire pudding thing (at a fraction of the cost of Simpsons). The Anglesea Arms 15 Selwood Terrace SW7 (a great old pub) has the best Yorkshire pudding I've had to date, while The Phoenix 23 Smith Street SW3 (a loathesome gastropub) has the better beef. Those are my two regular Sunday destinations.

[angelman]

glad you liked S&M. Funny most of the staff there are american as far as I can tell in the islington branch. Which branch did you go to. I kind of hope you went to the one in islington in the old alfredos greasy spoon. It does have that kind of american diner vibe of 20 questions but as with all these things its easy when you know how. They also do a reasonable bakewell tart, though the American waitress had no idea what it was. I made her try some to educate her a little!

good luck on the rest of your time here

[Holly Moore]

Home again in the US of A. Ate rather well once I escaped Aldershot.

I struck out on my own for roast beef and yorkshire pudding, choosing Rules, the oldest restaurant in London. I did rather well. A question, what do genuine Brits think of Rules? Is it a respected museum of a restaurant serving up well prepared, traditional British high dining fare or is it more aimed at luring in London tourists and their pounds sterling? I took it to be the former, but Rules had it's fair share of tourist when I was there.

As it happened, on the way home, Virgin Atlantic was also serving roast beef with yorkshire pudding in its tourist cabin. Rules was better, but Virgin Atlantic did quite well by airline standards.

I'll be writing more about my trip once I de-jet-lag.

[John Whiting]

A question, what do genuine Brits think of Rules?  Is it a respected museum of a restaurant serving up well prepared, traditional British high dining fare or is it more aimed at luring in London tourists and their pounds sterling?

The answer has to be, both, as indicated by their "inauthentic" emendations of traditional recipes. You must remember that "genuine Brits" who can afford such places include a large contingent of gastronomic illiterates who measure their meals nostalgically against the execrable fare they were served at boarding school. Such people start boiling the sprouts for Christmas dinner two weeks in advance.

[jparrott]

I can't imagine going to Rules and ordering anything less exotic than the wild hare stew (which is awesome, as is the grouse, when you're in the mood for those sort of things). And sticky toffee. Great place for lunch on Madrid (3PM) time with their "pre-theatre".

[Holly Moore]

I can't imagine going to Rules and ordering anything less exotic than the wild hare stew (which is awesome, as is the grouse, when you're in the mood for those sort of things).  And sticky toffee.  Great place for lunch on Madrid (3PM) time with their "pre-theatre".

All the more reason for me to return.

I was on a mission to satisfy a four year yen for a proper roast beef and yorkshire pudding. Mission accomplished.

The game dishes were tempting. On the menu was a side bar listing occassional availability of special game from their own spread - I think I remember it to be in Scotland.

[Varmint]

I thought that Rules has an estate in County Durham in the village of Lartington. The only reason I recall this is that our extended family had planned to stay here for our vacation last summer, but because of all the international turmoil, we stayed domestic. This place is adjacent to the Rules estate.

[Holly Moore]

Varmint's right. From Rule's brochure, "England's last wilderness ... Rule's own estate at Larington Hall Park near Barnard Castle in Teasdale. Partridges, Pheasants, Wild Duck, Snipe, Teal and Roe Deer... Wild browntrout and the occasional salmon ... in the waters of the River Tees which meanders through the estate with Cotherstone Grouse Moors as a backdrop.

[Holly Moore]

Thanks all for the terrific help. The places I hit and liked are now on my site - Golden Hind, Rock & Sole Plaice, Nicky's Fish and Chips, Simpsons-In-The-Strand, Maison Bertaux, S & M Cafe, Fortnum and Maison and their Fountain Restaurant, and Rules. Ate rather well, I did. But only had four days in London, so will have to get back soon and hit all the places I missed this time.

Europe at HollyEats.Com