@vinouspleasure thanks for bringing us along - I’ve been chuckling as I read each post
1 Like
We started buying online from Neals Yard during the pandemic (we knew the shop from trips to London). Great produce. And we now have a cheesemonger who has opened a shop nearby and he uses Neals as a wholesaler, so that’s where we now go to buy cheese. Same Neals Yard quality and variety and we get to support a local small business. Last visit saw us buy Duckett’s Caerphilly, Gubbeen (from Cork in Ireland) and Sparkenhoe Red Leicester. All three are wonderful cheeses.
5 Likes
Conventional wisdom, to which I subscribe, is that you can rarely get decent fish and chips in the south of the country. Of course, there are exceptions. One such is Masters Superfish behind Waterloo railway station. So good it could be northern.
PS: it is possible that folk who write conventional wisdoms are northern. But the first recorded fish & chip shop was in the small town of Mossley, in my metro area, in 1865, so we have a fair old bit of experience oop norf. 
4 Likes
I am not sure if it’s because of this thread. A seaside town in Kent, with apparently good seafood options, was pushed into my social media feeds this morning. (Whitstable, Kent)
I haven’t eaten too much fish up North. The fish in Cornwall was excellent, as was the fish in Ireland near The Cliffs of Moher. Damn CBS for pulling the plug on Chowhound and my trip reports.
This must be debatable. 
3 h from London:
1 Like
I don’t know the town mentioned in your link but the general area forms part of the southwest England that I mentioned upthread for good seafood.
It’s some years since we were last in Whitstable. We used to stop an extra night there when we were crossing back from France on the ferry. This place is very quirky and very good. Whitstable raises possibly the best British oysters.
And then there’s the wonderful Sportsman just a couple of miles away in Seasalter. Lovely local food. Chef makes his own butter and salt and creates his five course tasting menu daily.
2 Likes
we love good German, Russian and Polish food, relatively difficult to come by in nyc. We’re about a 5 minute walk to schaller & weber and Heidelberg, one of the last surviving german restaurants in yorkville. the other cuisines are a decent subway ride away.
I suppose I’m beating a dead horse here, but if I think about iconic Germán food it might be jaeger schnitzel and bratwurst, polish food perhaps perogy and blintz, russian pelmeni and strognaoff, and Brittish we have…fish and chips which are easily found in ten restaurants/pubs 20 minutes from my apt. It’s not that one can’t find good fish and chips in london or up north, it’s why one would do so when the dish can be found locally.
1 Like
we have a similar situation in florida around citrus fruit. When my mom first moved to florida 55 years ago, grocery store citrus was uniformly delicious. Today, it’s no different than buying citrus in new york.
Fish can certainly be a mixed bag in nyc, I’m completely convinced a lot of places are simply frying up pre-breaded fillets from restaurant depot, a restaurant supplier. However, some places do get it right. As someone who grew up on the water in a fishing community and still fishes for our family dinner, I like to think I have a sense of fresh fish.
1 Like
jen, thanks, I did see that eater article. I had the best lebanese meal of my life with a client in london, wish I recalled the name of the restaurant. Also, an amazing kebab/lamb chop meal somewhere or other…my client had to pull me up away from the table 
1 Like
That’s exactly why I don’t seek out Italian food when I visit England.
I get it. The fish & chips scene in Toronto is much worse than the Italian food scene in Toronto.
1 Like
thanks to all who are trying to help us find delicious food in london! sadly, we left two nights ago, not nearly enough time to see or eat everything of interest. i’ll post our last meal in london tomorrow, probably from the plane home from madrid.
one thing i haven’t mentioned to date is that london is much, much cleaner than nyc making it such a pleasure to explore it’s streets and neighborhoods. And though our food experience wasn’t been wholly positive, I noted so many interesting places to try, it does seem like an exciting time to be a foodie in london.
we still have to check wimbledon off our tennis majors list and I believe it runs a fortnight…
5 Likes
Whilst I have a feast of Middle Eastern places near home, they are all casual places. For a more upmarket experience, I’ve enjoyed meals in London at Ishbilia, Noura and Maroush.
2 Likes
sorry it took so long to close this out, our last meal in london was at dishoom, convent square and it might have been the best indian meal we’ve ever had, certainly the best chaat. If we have a regret about our visit to london, it’s that we didn’t eat here twice. Thank you @Saregama for the wonderful recommendation.
At some point, after visiting london so many times for work, I thought of Johnson’s quote “When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life.” and wondered indeed if I was tired of life. But visiting London purely as a tourist gave me a newfound appreciation of the city and we can’t wait to visit again!
15 Likes
As I recall, @Saregama can weigh in here, several Dishoom locations, all with slightly different menus, and all good (at least the ones I have tried, and in memory).
We’re heading to London on May 10 and probably going to back to our favorite time tested spots. The Barbary in Neil’s Yard for North African/Mediterranean/middle eastern deliciousness, Barrafina for Spanish tapas, Koya for Udon and Dishoom is back on my list. We’ve eaten at the shoreditch branch a couple times and loved it although lines can be dauntingly long. We tried Hoppers a few years ago and I remember absolutely loving an Indian meal we got in the borough market. So much good Indian in London…
1 Like
Yes. One opened in Manchester a little while back. We havent been and probably won’t go.
My issue is that they don’t take reservations and I’m not schlepping in to the city on off-chance of getting a table. Not least as I’m only a few minutes away from a non-chain Mumbai street food place that we already enjoy.
1 Like
Glad you enjoyed it. My brother is there right now for his first trip this year, and I’m waiting to hear how many meals he will have squeezed in at Dishoom this time (breakfast usually, and the odd dinner, maybe a free lunch – he’s there for work so the rest are fancier business meals)
from the dishoom, manchester website: "We take reservations for “groups of any size until 5:45pm”, same policy as convent garden.
I have dreamt of the black dal at dishoom for 8 years. We are going back to London in June and I pray it’s exactly the same!
My Son gave me the cookbook a couple of years Ago but I haven’t dipped dipped into it yet. What do you think of their cookbook?
