Excellent English food
Toss out some good places, please. Keep the budgets reasonable, preferably 20 quid a person before my American tipping (I feel so bad giving under 16 percent here. I need to stop it.) Hare or rabbit are a definite plus as I've been in the mood for both. Same thing for places with excellent stews. No purely fried food please, I'm trying to lose 20 pounds before early February (I'll be losing 10 of them overnight via dehydration, but I need to get within 10 pounds of that so I know for a fact that I'll be able to drop that overnight.)
Again, I'll travel anywhere. Unlimited bus pass and a pile of books! Yay!
I've been interested in trying jelly eels. Any reccs? Cart at Brick Lane market?
If this turns into another post of "Stop comparing NY and London" I will scream. I don't like London. End of story. Don't argue against it, convince me otherwise with food. One restaurant recc is worth more words than can be typed in one of these posts or ten of these posts for that matter. As a city, London can be nice and I enjoy a walk home in very light rain down Victorian street, but as far as food goes I'm more than sceptical.
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greedygirl
Feb 3, 2008 08:27 AM
The set lunch at Wild Honey in Mayfair is £15.50 for three courses. The pre-theatre menu is £17.50. The portions aren't huge, but the food is delicious. It's the same people behind Arbutus, and they just got a Michelin star.
There are only two choices per course - on my recent visit I had Cream of White Onion soup (delicious), roast gurnard with cavolo nero, and some very nice Cornish Yarg cheese. The other half had the soup, roast rump of lamb, and pannacotta with roasted rhubarb.
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I'm afraid you are just not going to find excellent English food for £20 per person. Sure, you can find great Indian/Pakistani food (Tayyabs), decent Vietnamese on the Kingsland Road, top notch Dim Sum at Hakkasan (just about possible for £20 if you drink only tap water). But, given where the exchange rate is at the moment, £20 is going to be a challenge for English/Modern British food.
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The Chowhound Team
Jan 22, 2008 02:31 PM
We have split a digression about "English" cuisine to its own thread on the General Topics board where cusine's in general are discussed. Please help maintain the value of this regional board as a focal point for discussion of WHERE in the UK you can find great food and drink.
You will find the split off discussion here: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/482026
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Its slightly more than 20 quid but for truely traditional english food you should try Rules - http://www.rules.co.uk/menus/
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re: JFores
Why don't you try the Quality Chop House on Farringdon Rd? You can get a starter for about £5-6 and a main from about £12. They do fab things like potted shrimp, home made pies, suffolk chops, black puddings etc..about as english as you can get.
And , just round the corner on Exmouth Market is a pie and mash shop called clarke's which does home made pies with mash, jellied eels etc. I love it - but maybe it is an acquired taste
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According to their website, the Prince of Wales in Putney does a "Hare & Potato Pie For Two People" (£24). I have no idea what it's like, so I've booked myself in next Tuesday to scout it out for you.
Aren't I kind?
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re: monkeytennis
Well, in the time-honored tradition of London gastropubs, the menu had changed *completely* from the version on their website. However they did have some interesting seasonal ingredients and promise to serve delicacies such as hare and woodcock as availability dictates. All I can suggest is you give them a call - 0208 788 1552 - and see if they have any of your favourite ingredients in on the day you want to visit. Here's a pic of the menu along with my full review:
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It seems like you're missing a trick by not trying out some of the pubs which serve great food at well within the £20 a head budget. Many serve very good British food alongside dishes with mediterranean and other influences. It's worth searching for gastro pubs on this board - but the ones which are mentioned very often include The Eagle on Farringdon Road and The Anchor (or Hope and Anchor?) south of the river. I believe that the Fox and the Princess are both good too - they are in the Hoxton/Shoreditch area.
By the way - please stop leaving such big tips - you are doing us no favours, as the more people who do it, the more the trend will be upwards. I still leave 10% of the bill (including drinks). You say that you are shocked at prices here, but you are just adding to your problems by leaving tips of that size, and you should follow the customs of where ever you happen to be. When I'm in other countries, I leave whatever is usual for that place, even if it does feel strange sometimes.
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Robin Joy
Jan 21, 2008 11:04 PM
The Star Tavern in a mews off Belgrave Square, SW1, is a great spot. Probably rabbit free, but the smoked haddock and spinach shouldn't pile on too many pounds. unlike the steak and ale pie, which is great.Main courses mostly under £10. Pleasant 10 minute walk from Knightsbridge tube.
http://www.pubs.com/pub_details.cfm?I... -
I can't think of many places that serve hare / rabbit that are very cheap (Le Gavroche, Arbutus and Le Cafe Anglais all do it but are hardly budget dining), but others may know better.
Passione (Charlotte Street W1) serve rabbit rabbit (on the bone) with sun dried tomatoes, dried porcini and sauté potatoes, but it's £22.50...
On the same street, Pied A Terre do 'Saddle of Rabbit Wrapped in Carrot, Roasted Carrot Oil, Fondant Potato, Carrot Tuile and Pommery Mustard Sauce' but I don't know what prices are like here and the website doesn't say either.
However, Waitrose and Tesco both sell rabbit fairly cheaply so you could always cook your own - especially if you want to cook a lower-fat meal and don't want to pay London restaurant prices.
Billingsgate Market is supposed to be very good for jellied eels, or try Manze (London's oldest pie and mash shop) as they do them for £2.35 - bargain.
http://www.manze.co.uk/menu.html›2 Replies-
re: DollyDagger
I'll check out Manze's. How are the pies there too? I'm definitely going to run out of food by about Wed-Thurs so this could be a nice lunch run if I time it right. They close early! When my enormous batch of green curry runs out (Wed Thurs) I'll be looking at the Bengali frozen ilish supply again. Drat.
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re: DollyDagger
My favourite jellied eel stall is Tubby Issac's at the bottom of Commercial St ( Near East Aldgate tube)
The family have been on that site for nearly 100 yrs , I think
http://majbros.blogspot.com/2007/03/t...
If you go there, be sure to ask Paul to give you his bottle of "special" chilli vinegar he keeps behind the counter
Whelks are good there too
S
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