For the last destination of our adventure, Love Handling Food found ourselves in the multicultural city of London. England has long had a reputation for fish & chips, but what not everyone realizes is that curry is actually recognized as the national dish! London is a beautifully diverse city that the River Thames flows through, and the food we enjoyed on our one day layover was a perfect metaphor for the many intersecting cultures of England.
Our early morning flight from Bucharest, Romania landed in the afternoon at London's Heathrow airport. After navigating our way, in the rain of course, from the tube station to our hostel, we asked the gentleman at the desk where we could find some decently priced fish & chips. He gave us a few suggestions, from pricier sit-down restaurants in the posh Soho district, to cheaper and laid back options just up the street. We new we might be spending a little more on dinner, so we went with one of the cheaper options he suggested up the road. Although the place we chose was cheaply priced, the food was delicious and generously portioned, much to our grumbling stomachs' desire. When we order fish & chips in the states, we usually are served a few small pieces of battered cod with a large helping of what we call french fries. In England though, we received a "massive," as the locals would say, whole fillet of fresh cod. It was lightly battered and not overly greasy, and was served with tartar sauce and malt vinegar. The chips were thickly cut, and were also the perfect balance of crispiness without too much grease. This fish & chips lunch was a nostalgic moment for Ianna, returning her to her memories of studying abroad in Manchester, and a new first for Helaina, who had not yet been to the island to have a taste of authentic English style fish & chips.
After an afternoon of walking along the Thames River, visiting the world famous sights of Big Ben, Shakespeare's Globe Theater, and Parliament, it was time for a nice big dinner. Since curry is the national dish, we of course knew we wanted some Indian food for dinner. We navigated our way to a small curry house near King's Cross station, and sat down for a bite to eat. Inside was an interesting atmosphere, with white tablecloths and formal place settings, with some catchy Indian pop dance music videos playing in the background - like we said, England is quite the mix of cultures! We decided to eat at this particular Tandoori eatery because of the £7 dinner special of an appetizer, entree, and side. Coincidentally, we both ordered a vegetable samosa, chicken tikka masala, and a side of naan, a type of India flatbread. Samosas are like fried pockets with fillings such as potatoes, other vegetables, and spices, wrapped in a crispy layer of dough. Although samosas usually will come with complementary sauces and chutneys, we did not order any to go with because we thought this particular restaurant might charge extra and we had already exhausted our wallets over the course of this trip. With our chicken tikka masala, which is a rich, sweet, and sometimes spicy red curry, we received some beautiful and colorful basamati rice that had little bits of vegetables in it as well. Our naan side dishes were served accompanying the rest, nice and hot just out of the oven. Although we must detract a few points for overall presentation, seeing as the meal was served lunch-tray style on a tin portion tray, the taste and portion size of the meal still hit the spot for these two hungry travelers. The dinner we received at this restaurant was likely not the best Indian food either of us have ever had, but was still a hearty meal eaten with smiles from the both of us. Although, one bit of advice: as Helaina learned, ordering lemonade at most English eateries will get you a nice big glass of fizzy Sprite, and not anything Americans will recognize as lemonade.
Our day in London was quite abbreviated, but at the same time was packed with things to do and see, with a little down time to enjoy some great English food. So if you ever find yourselves in London, or anywhere else in England, even for just one day, rest assured that you will still be able to get around to see some great sights as well as eat some great food. London was the last leg of our European tour, so this entry concludes our current chronicles of our travels. It is of course a bittersweet ending, but the both of us are just now planning and dreaming about the next adventure we go on! Stay tuned in for more and thanks for reading everyone!
-Love Handling Food
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