One thing that I have always loved about large cities is their differing styles, tastes, and presentations of food. For London, it was the taste of the ingredients; there was never an abundance of salt, sugar, or spices. You tasted the ingredients and the food, not the condiments or spices. Overall, I felt like the food in London is better than American food as it is healthier, lighter, and more flavor abundant.
Britannia Dinner
Shepherd’s pie croquettes, mint gravy.
The first dish was Shepherd’s pie croquettes, mint gravy. I never really liked sheep or mutton, but I was delightfully surprised at the delicateness of the dish and how the mint sauce complimented the saltiness.
Prime British cheese burger, ale onions, gherkins, fries.
The main dish was a Prime British cheese burger, ale onions, gherkins, fries. The fries tasted like any other fries you would find in the US; however, they gave ketchup and well as mayonnaise as a condiment. The mayonnaise was a surprise and people around me told it was a standard condiment with fries in Europe. The burger’s buns were toasted and there were not a lot of items between the buns which gave a sense of lightness to the burger.
Lemon custard with sugar cookies.
For desert, we ate a lemon custard with sugar cookies. Again, I didn’t taste the sugar in the custard or the cookies. Instead, I tasted the flavors of lemon, milk, and vanilla. The entire meal was delicious, and I really enjoyed it.
Nando’s
Nando’s Half Chicken Order with Peri Peri Fries
Nando’s is my favorite chicken restaurant so far. I visited it back when I came to Birmingham for a wedding. The smoked and grilled Portuguese chicken with the Peri Peri flavoring was served with many types of sauces. From the picture, I picked out the Garlic Herb Sauce and the Peri Hot Sauce for the half chicken with fries. The chicken is covered with the medium hotness sauce which is the average hotness. For me, super-hot food takes away from the other ingredients and flavors, so I tend to stay away from super-hot sauces. The grilled chicken was incredible as the Herb Sauce complimented it well. I think it is interesting that most restaurants did not have fried chicken as most do in America. They offer smaller, lighter, and healthier options that I wish America would learn from.