England (London, Bath, York, Oxford, Liverpool) Vacation Round Up (Long)

Regional Dining Discussions U.K., Ireland
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We’ve returned from our holiday in England and write to report back.

Bath:

Circus Restaurant – We enjoyed a nice three course Christmas menu at Circus. The venison pie and fish ragu were standouts. The service was efficient and warm. This was the best restaurant we dined at in Bath.

Sotto Sotto – very good Italian food. The lamb ragu we ordered was fantastic and our kids couldn’t get enough of it. The branzino was less successful but nonetheless tasty.

Hive – we had the Sunday Roast and tried a portion of the lamb, chicken, and steak. The steak and lamb were more successful than the chicken which was too dry. Each order came with roasted root veggies that were good but not memorable. Frankly, it’s a restaurant that I would return to eat at again but only if convenient. It’s not destination dining.

We also did afternoon tea at the Pump Room. Having never had afternoon tea I have not point for comparison. We enjoyed the food, tea and surroundings. A nice way to waste away an afternoon in a beautiful setting.

Oxford:

We only had one dinner and one lunch and ate both meals at Antep Kitchen, a Turkish restaurant. The lentil soup, lamb shank and kebobs (chicken and lamb) were fantastic. The price was extremely reasonable considering the portions. I highly recommend Antep Kitchen.

London:

Noble Rot (Lambs Conduit)– was the highlight meal for us. The service, wine list and food were all outstanding. The duck main was one of our best bites of 2023. A daily special appetizer of chicken liver, heart and mushroom was similarly fantastic. Our boys are still talking about the dish. Max and his team run a very tight ship and I highly recommend the restaurant.

St. John’s (Smithfield) – a very enjoyable dinner. The Jerusalem Artichoke and bone marrow starters were the stand outs. We also had the ox tongue (good not great), a sensational duck, and a very delicate and tasty plaice. The beer and wine list were also very impressive.

Gunpowder – perhaps the finest Indian meal of my life. Each dish was memorable. The highlights were the softshell crab, spicy venison doughnut, Goan prawns and Barnsley lamb chop. The chaat was the low point of the evening. It was fine just not nearly as tasty as everything else we ordered.

Pig & Butcher – great neighborhood restaurant. We really enjoyed our meal. The wine list was also impressive. Highlights were the black pudding scotch egg, venison, steak, and duck. The sticky toffee pudding was the best we had in England.

Prince Edward in Baywater. The boys wanted fish and chips. They were outstanding. As were the other pub style dishes we ordered. This was a very pleasant surprise. A low key and very enjoyable and tasty meal.

We also had enjoyable lunches at Dumpling Legend (service is a bit cold but the food was very good) and Tao Tao Ju. Between the two, Tao Tao Ju was the more enjoyable experience. Both the dim sum and the Cantonese style dishes were successful. We didn’t care for the hot and sour soup at either restaurant. The flavor profile (not peppery or particularly hot) is entirely different than what we are accustomed to in Los Angeles.

Liverpool:

Manifest – this was the best meal we had during our limited stay in Liverpool. Food, service and wine list were very impressive. The hen of woods mushroom starter was fantastic. So too the sweet onion tart and the venison.

Mowlgi (Bold Street). A nice neighborhood restaurant but not a dining destination. The food was good, not great. I thought the cocktails and mocktails were very impressive.

Mei Mei – had a nice lunch here.

Bakchich – we really enjoyed our lunch here. The shawarma and cold appetizer plate were favorites.

Duke Street Market – we had a nice breakfast at this marketplace and would have liked to have returned for lunch but simply didn’t have the time.

York:

Drake’s Fish and Chip – is very good but not quite at the level of Prince Edward in London.

Shambles Market – we had a surprisingly nice curry and noodles from the Thai vendor in the market. The husband and wife are originally from Chang Mai. They did a very respectable job preparing the food given the local ingredient limitations.

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Sounds like a wonderful eating experience; I’m especially awed by the variety of what you sought out and your children’s enjoyment. (And am curious about their favorite food places in the LA area.)

Here’s a link to your original thread.

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Thanks for this report! I’m glad your experiences were mostly positive and your kids had a great time (they sound like adventurous eaters).
I think Mowgli is a chain - I’ve seen branches in other cities. I might need to check out Gunpowder now - sounds great.

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Mowgli is a small national chain restaurant that I’ve so far avoided. Your comment confirms that I’m probably doing the right thing. It’s owner, an ex-lawyer, is something of a celeb regularly popping up on TV.

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You made me curious. https://www.mowglistreetfood.com/menus/food/

This kind of chain restaurant menu would go over well in Ontario, Canada. We have had a few modern Indian restaurant chains open up over the last couple years in southern Ontario, but not quite like Mowgli.

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Indian street food is very popular now in the UK and there’s a growing number of restaurants, particularly in the major cities, specialising in it. They are usually owned by Indians, rather than the majority number of Bangladeshi owned “high street curry houses”. Mowgli has spotted the popularity and sort of dumbed down the cuisine to widen the appeal (see “Mowgli Chip Butty” for example). It’s obviously being successful.

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Yes, our Canadian answer to Mowgli Chip Butty is Butter Chicken Poutine .

We end up with knock offs of British Indian Street food chains. :joy: One is called Indian Street Food. We have a couple others. I haven’t tried too many yet.

Canada’s population is growing very quickly, with a lot of newcomers from South Asia, and it’s reflected in a huge number of new and cheap South Asian restaurants in Canada, and more chains. Canada’s population grew by 500 000 from August 2023 to October 2023( 40,528,396 on Oct 1, 2023) , which you can feel in a country of 40.5 million people. Canada just past the 40 million mark in 2023.

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I’ve only eaten poutine once (in Vermont) but I’d have to try a butter chicken version. Have to say, I hadn’t appreciated that Canada’s population was now so large.

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It would be better with proper British chips. Canada is often weak at the deep fryer, especially at cheaper fast food places that have poutine.
I have to watch carbs so I’m more likely to order butter chicken straight.

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To be clear, it wasn’t a bad meal just not a place that I would affirmatively seek out for a meal. If I was in the neighborhood and it was convenient, I’d eat there again. We thought the food was fine just not at the level of pretty much every other place we tried.

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Neither my wife nor I radically changed our dining habits for our boys who are now 14 and 10 respectively. As such, they were socialized to enjoy ethnic cuisine and some items that others may consider unusual. That said, getting them to try the chicken liver and heart dish at Noble Rot was a bit of a sales job. We had to promise they could order desert if they tried the dish. Once they tried it, they were sold. It was fantastic.

As for local favorites, when we dine out, we lean heavily toward ethnic cuisine. Some of our favorites include: Jitlada, Night + Market, and Sir Siam (Thai); Parks BBQ (Korean); Hide Sushi and Sushi Gen (sushi); Carnival, Tel Aviv Grill, Mizlala (Israeli, Lebanese); Holbox, Chichen Itza, Guelaguetza (Mexican in the style of the Yucatan and Oaxaca); and Majordomo (David Chang’s LA outpost - for special occasions).

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They must really love their desserts! :joy:

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Delighted you enjoyed Manifest ‘round my way’ and Noble Rot down south.

Agreed re Mowgli - it’ s our ‘pop in on a Sunday afternoon when in town’ place.
The owner, as alluded to by John, is irritating in the extreme :slight_smile: