Best bring-home food vittles from the UK?
I'm going to London for a week on a business trip and I would like to bring home some of the best food items (preferably non-perishable) that the UK has to offer.
Does anyone have any suggestions for:
1) Places to buy nice teas and biscuits, and preferred brands?
2) Other types of items that could be bought relatively last minute that would hold up to a 6 hour plane flight back home to NY?
3) Reccomendations for hard core Fish and Chip shops, Indian Restaurants/Kebab joints, Hardcore English pubs?
4) Must-see food stores and food markets?
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23 Comments:
For usual stuff, just go to Harrod's in Knightsbridge and be done with it.
For real foodstuffs though start here...
Vacuum pack at Neil's Yard Dairy.
http://www.nealsyarddairy.co.uk/ourshops.html
If you're into game (and game is very good in Europe), try Rules if you want very traditional or my fave St. John (run by Mr. Head to Tail himself).
http://www.stjohnrestaurant.co.uk/
I may post more later if I have time. Cheers and have fun.
(I'm in London myself Monday/Tuesday.)
Serious Eater at 2:35PM on 02/09/07
Oh, one more thing. I noticed Time Out recently published their London Cheap Eats guide.
http://www.timeout.com/london/restaurants/features/2553.html
Definitely try local curry (aka Indian Food). Don't bother with the London Chinatown.
Serious Eater at 2:37PM on 02/09/07
for indian/curry/kebab -- avoid brick lane, and head a little further east to a place called new tayyab. (http://www.tayyabs.co.uk) amazing lamb kebabs, fairly inexpensive, almost always a wait .... but completely worth it. (note -- it's byob.)
ruiniste at 2:57PM on 02/09/07
Chocolate! And candy!
When I was in London a while back, I just went into a random store (Boots I think) and bought one of each candy or snack item I could.
kathryn at 4:19PM on 02/09/07
Agree with Kathryn! Buy all the chocolates (mmmm Cadbury) with funny names that you can't find much of in the States. Entertain your friends!
Also, shortbread. Walker's with the red plaid box is classic.
veggiesattva at 4:36PM on 02/09/07
New Yorkers can get all (or most) Cadbury products here in NYC. Walker's, too. I'd stick to the unique sources or those where you get a trendy shopping bag with your purchase.
One unique thing comes to mind at Fortnum and Mason. There's an anchovy spread called Gentleman's Relish which comes in a lovely green ceramic dish. The name alone conjures double entendres and the flavor may, too. Enjoy.
Serious Eater at 5:03PM on 02/09/07
fortnum and mason. one-stop shopping.
you can get a great range of biscuits at heathrow actually.
i recommend the cocolate coated bath oliver biscuits. hard to find, but worth the hunt. also prince charles' duchy of cornwall line is very good as well. i like the orange, the ginger and the oaten. theres a great foor market under the london bridge statio, particularly on saturday.
norman at 6:26PM on 02/09/07
Serious Eater is right about Cadbury and Walker's being easily available—between my corner deli and a magazine shop five minutes away, I can probably get most of their products, so only get stuff that you're positive you can't get here.
My recommendation: They're Australian, not British, but if you can find a place in London that sells Tim Tams: LOAD UP. I don't even like chocolate, but Tim Tams are basically crack in chocolate biscuit form. So so so so so good. Bring me back a pack, if you please!
lia at 8:29PM on 02/09/07
Hi jperlow, I live in London and have loads of ideas, but before I suggest anything I'm just wondering what neighbourhood you'll be staying in and how much time you'll have to shop around? Only, London is a massive city with slow public transport. So a bit more info would help.
Cheers.
caley at 8:33PM on 02/09/07
P.S. I see Walkers Crisps here every once in a while—they don't travel very well, so if you like potato chips you really should try the Smoky Bacon and Lamb and Mint flavors! They taste so uncannily like what they're named after that you'd be frightened if you weren't already too busy enjoying yourself.
lia at 8:35PM on 02/09/07
Flake bars. Break them up over ice cream mmmmmm. Breakfast tea. All kinds of chocky and biscuits. Odd crisps (odd for here) Shrimp and chili, any kind and chili. spotted dick in a tin. (no really) Lyles syrup the recipe for wings on the jar is not too bad.
JerzeeTomato at 12:34AM on 02/10/07
Jaffa Cakes!! They're cheap, but oh so yummy and totally British in my opinion. I always grab a few packs when I'm there and have my boyfriend send some occasionally.
Switchblade Susie at 4:04AM on 02/10/07
For a must-see food market, I'd recommend Burrough Market, which is right next to London Bridge (Southwark Cathedral). It's open on Fridays and Saturdays.
For a fish and chip place, I like North Sea Fish Restaurant, in Leigh Street off Russel Sq. I think there are some good ones in the Notting Hill area as well, but as an East End girl, I never go there.
I agree about avoiding brick lane curry (I actually live on brick lane, and we never eat in any of them). Tayyab is great. If you're in the East End, go to G. Kelly, a pie shop in Bethnal Green Road for a true London experience, or go to E Pelicci, a traditional caff that still has the original twenties art deco-but-working-class decor.
If you are going into the East End, The Golden Heart might be a fun pub to go to. It is the notorious hangout of loads of well-known young British artists (Tracy Emin, the Chapman brothers, etc.). It's actually a really good pub, though. I also love the Approach in Bethnal Green. For something more ye olde Englandish, the Seven Starts, which is directly behind the Royal Courts of Justice, might be a good bet. It dates back to 14somethingorother and it's really an amazing little space with lovely food as well. Many regard it as London's best pub. And sometimes when you're there you get a glimpse of a law lord dashing down the street in his gown.
It's hard to recommend a curry restaurant, because there are so many. My favourite is Rasa in Stoke Newington (the original one - some of the other branches are crap), which does Keralan food that is truly a revelation (I think I waxed poetic about their beetroot curry in another post). Sagar in Hammersmith is also good, but then, I love South Indian cuisine. For more high-end places (and meat) in Central London I like the Red Fort in Dean Street. Tamarind, in Queen Street, Mayfair, was also great when I went there.
For kebabs, my boyfriend recommends 19 Numara Bos Cirrik, an ocakbasi in Dalston (Stoke Newington Road). The grilled meat is apparently amazing, including fantastic grilled quail. For Turkish, I love Sariyer Balik, an unpreposessing place in Newington Green that does wonderful, very fresh, grilled fish. Yum.
I'm not sure about British food to take back, since I'm not sure what there is in the States. I have to admit I'm pretty taken aback by the collective fascination with Walkers, and also by the idea of dragging back a Heinz-brand spotted dick in a tin (they do a treacle sponge one that I like better, if you're into that sort of thing). I recommend branston pickle and piccalilli. Hob Nobs - do they have then in the States? They're chocolate covered oat biscuits and they're delicious. Get them.
I know it's cliche, but I'd visit Harrod's food hall. It's such a spectacle.
I'll probably think up some more, but that's it for now.
caley at 5:33AM on 02/10/07
Oh dear, I'm sorry that post was so long.
caley at 5:34AM on 02/10/07
And, sorry, that should be The Seven Stars.
caley at 5:36AM on 02/10/07
Pontefract cakes
dksbook at 11:21AM on 02/10/07
Oh dear, I'm sorry that post was so long.
caley, telling us about tasty things is something you never have to apologize for!
lia at 2:03PM on 02/10/07
Flake available at my local Korean fruit and veg stand. And most of the stuff mentioned here can be purchased at Myer's of Keswick in the West Village. Lyle's Syrup, Walker's Crisps, the lot. Not trying to be bitchy, but there's very little you can't get in NYC (except for the fruit, veg, and meat that customs won't allow you to bring in).
BaHa at 11:10PM on 02/10/07
That's probably true. There is, however, a class of British snack food that I suspect is too trashy to export. Hulahoops and Wotsits, for example - I guess they're the British answer to Cheetos. I have a soft spot for ham and pickle flavour crisps, which are not made by Walkers, but by some slightly trashier company.
I would definitly go to Burrough Market, as there's quite a lot of extraordinary food there, including some very unusual regional things.
Also, out of curiosity, has anyone had samphire? It's not really the season for it now, but that's something I think I've only ever seen in Britain.
caley at 4:26AM on 02/11/07
Shortbread, definitely. But try not to go for the touristy tartan Walkers stuff. Look for Deans - more like authentic Scottish shortie like my Grandma used to make. As the Easter eggs are out - already - look out for Cadbury's Mini Eggs. Delicious.
Jules at 4:43PM on 02/13/07
Aah, forget Harrods! Fortnum & Mason, all the way. The grocery is smaller than Harrods, but the prices are not *as* bad and it's all quality stuff. The tea selection alone is amazing. Also, if you have time for a tea, they do a wonderful one. I brought home tea, lemon curd and mustard from F&M.
Also, I agree with the above posters, go to a Boots or Tesco and wander around the candy/junk food aisles. The Hulahoops are delicious and the Galaxy bar with hazlenuts is my favorite chocolate. Ever. Plus, the Brits have tons of interesting flavor combos on their "crisps."
I was in Ireland over Christmas, and I brought home ploughman's sauce (kind of like a chow-chow, or chutney if you're not from PA), HP sauce, and LOTS of McVitie's (a "digestive" biscuit with a plain chocolate coating). McVitie's are delicious with tea.
segalbraith at 8:32PM on 02/13/07
In case anyone is interested to see how I did:
http://offthebroiler.wordpress.com/tag/london/
jperlow at 1:51PM on 03/12/07
By the way, I did end up with some Fortnum and Mason stuff as well, but from the Duty Free shop at Heathrow.
jperlow at 1:52PM on 03/12/07