There are too many mediocre restaurants

[CheGuevara]

Personally, I don't think I want to eat in mediocre restaurants. I'm more than happy with restaurants that are cheap and provide simple food, well done. But I consider those good restaurants within their category and not mediocre.

Unfortunately there are too few good restaurants within this simple category - this is really where the UK falls down - there isn't a grass roots restaurant culture as there is in France. That's why I keep banging on about St Johns B+W.....(but not St. Johns ;-))

i couldn't agree with you more - especially on St.Johns B+W - it is perfectly well conceived.

nowhere in London, same goes for NY, have i ever seen such consistent and across the board high-quality raw materials.

value for money it is the best i've had in london....here's a little something i wrote upon returning from lunch there over a year ago...i was a bit drunk at the time.

-che

Leche separada, en bocaditos de tostada harina

Pepinos fugaces y dulces como el placer

Un tinto impecable, manteca sin sal

Fuimos transportados en jalea de ruibarbo

English translation:

Clotted milk, in small bites of toasted flour

Fleeting pickles, sweet like pleasure

An impeccable red, salt less butter

We were transported in a rhubarb jelly

[origamicrane]

che

that's pure poetry

[balex]

I'm not saying that the UK populace has bad taste, heck! no!

The uk taste buds have improved in leaps and bounds over the last 30 years

what i am saying is that the UK populace is still reserved and conservative when it

comes to trying new foods.

As such the variety and range of restaurant serving more new and interesting food is limited.

I think this is the opposite of the case. The English population do have bad taste as a whole, but are very open to new experiences -- chicken tikka masala being one of them.

Compare to Italy, where your average taxi driver can talk for half an hour about the difference between riso alla crema di scampi and risotto alla pescatora. And where they are completely paralysed by a pervasive culinary conservatism.

And I know where I eat better. London has a few good restaurants at the high end, and a bunch of good 'ethnic' restaurants, but a dearth of good solid middle range conservative restaurants churning out the same old excellent stuff all the time.

[origamicrane]

balex Posted on Jul 20 2004, 12:40 PM

I think this is the opposite of the case. The English population do have bad taste as a whole, but are very open to new experiences -- chicken tikka masala being one of them.

hehe

I agree but was being diplomatic

but you have to admit the range of restaurants has increased over the last few decades there definitely more ethnic places open.

I honestly think its the conservative natural more then the bad taste buds thats holding them back. I reckon that over 70% of the UK population wouldn't even dare try sushi.

[CheGuevara]

i'm glad you enjoyed my poem...

as to the quality and adventurousness of UK taste buds - you can't use London as a metric for the entire country. this polarisation between rural and urban taste buds is much more prevalent in highly cosmopolitan cities like london and new york, who themselves never had a tradition of culinary excellence all their own.

-che

Edited July 21, 2004 by CheGuevara (log)

[Adam Balic]

I honestly think its the conservative natural more then the bad taste buds thats holding them back. I reckon that over 70% of the UK population wouldn't even dare try sushi.

From experience I would say that this would also true of places that do have large numbers of good resturants, like say Italy. Blimy, my Italian friends will talk forever about food, but are very suspicious of the local Chinese places as "You never know what they are putting in their food".

Considering the general lack of interest in food, the lack of a foundation of tradional British food regularly cooked in the home and the popularity of ready meals and take out, I think that the level of restuarants in Britian is not as bad as it could be.