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@ RoseCityRosie, every time I've had lasagna in Italy it's been made with a bechamel sauce. That's how I make mine too, it's nice and creamy and I always have the ingredients on hand.

I picked up a Kvikk Lunsj when I was in Norway thanks to your post in March and I absolutely love Daim bars. I enjoyed the slideshow and now I have a few more brands to look out for when we're in Sweden later this month. (I'll definitely be avoiding anything salty and licorice-y though, blech.)

Nutella, (my favourite breakfast is Nutella on toast, topped with strawberries,) cheesies, ramen and any kind of gummies.

Like others, our most expensive meals are usually when we're travelling; my husband's British and I'm Canadian. Last year we had a meal in Niagara on the Lake at the Stone Road Grille that came to $350 CAD including wine and tip.

Most recently, we were in Oslo. Man, that city's expensive. A three course 'specials' menu at a place I'd researched and two beers each came to £100 or $160 USD. We went for Vietnamese (should be cheap, right?) an app, an entree and one drink each came to $100 USD...my husband kept complaining that his 'eyes were watering' as everything in Norway is eye wateringly expensive.

YaY! As the author of the modern dictionary (Ben Johnson,) 'when a man tires of London, he tires of life'. I've lived here for six years now and absolutely love it. What a great city - I hope you enojoy it too.

- second the recco's for Borough, if you're a foodie you'll really enjoy it.
- Brick Lane for an Indian. Although slightly overrated, there are lots of nice restaurants to try and most of them offer a discount or BYO. I like Preem and three courses should run you around £15-20 pp.
- Daltson Kingsland for a Turkish meat feast. Mangal Ocakbasi has an amaxing grilled meat plate on indoor charcoal grills with quail for around £12. Again, it's BYO. Arrive hungry.
- Mare Street in Hackney is good for (again) BYO Vietnamese. I like Hai Ha - a meal for two with two appetisers, two mains and dessert should cost around £35 for two, with tip.

If you need any more info for restaurants let me know. One thing I like about London is that you can dine for a reasonable amount of money or go super £££.

Pubs:

Go the the Cheese (or rather 'Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese') It's a little over frequented, yes, but the interior dates back to the late 1600s (cellar from the 1400s) and a pint costs from £2. It;s an amazing experience; Ben Johnson of the aforementioned dictionary drank there, as well as Conan Doyle, Hemmingway, Dickens, and loads of other literati. A gtrip to the Cheese is like stepping back in time. If you take the bus outside St Brides (the #23?) you pass some major sites, such as St Pauls and the Bank of England before ending up near Liverpool Street and Brick Lane.
- Wapping. Loads of cool pubs here, such as The Prospect of Whitby which has been serving beer since Henry VIII was king and where Whistler and Turner painted scenes of the Thames. If you make it one stop on the East London line, to Rotherhithe, you can go to the Mayflower pub, where, (as you no doubt know,) the pilgrims sailed to Plymouth Rock.

Enjoy! There's soooo much history here and it's a truly lovely city. Please let me know if there's anything else you're interested in and I'll try to accommodate you :)

My parents are both pretty adventurous eaters when it comes to eating out. Dad used to be very meat and potatoes but he now eats sushi and tried it for the first time in his 70's (although he does insist on using a fork and not chopsticks.) When I lived in the same country as them, mom and I used to go to dinner once a week or so and try new restaurants or cuisines like Ethiopian or Tibetan. When I was a kid we used to go to fast food places but we also went for Chinese, Hungarian and pretty much any little restaurant that had meal deals or special offers as we were a family of six, three of which were boys and hearty eaters.

However, as adventurous as my parents are when it comes to trying new things they are NOT adventurous cooks. They love my cooking but mom will make the same thing in large quantities over and over again. She figures if we like it we won't get sick of it. I have not so fond memories of fifth grade; for the entire YEAR I had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

1. No idea, some kind of comfort food. Maybe roast ham with roast potatoes and veg, homemade mac and cheese, or chicken stew and dumplings, or venison stew "" - something hearty, filling and moreish.

2. Either a seafood platter - or a steak, scallops sauteed in garlic butter, ceaser salad and roast potatoes with a nice red. Husband's cooking up the latter right now whilst I sip my wine.

It's so hard to choose!

I live in the UK and when I moved here 'good' coffee was difficult to find and expensive. It still is, really, if you go to a coffee shop and especially compared to North America...and instant is the norm in many households. One of the requirements of my relocation was that we'd get a French press.

I don't drink coffee often but when I do I need to enjoy it. What's the point otherwise?

Oops, that was supposed to say 'why eat crappy touristy food when you can have so much better?'

@13tracker, you're absolutely right in where the origination of the name bangers came from, although I think it predates WWII. Most (good) sausages in the UK have a 90% meat content, and bangers are not an exception.

I understand where Desertman is coming from, although originally from Canada, I find aside from bratwurst, breakfast sausages and UK specialty shops, there's not the same variety. Here you can get Cumbrian, Lancashire, chipolatas, pork and leek, pork and apple and venison sausages as well as a number of French varieties, like Toulouse, from any national grocery chain.

The last time I was in Canada, I stayed at an upscale hotel and in the morning had a nostalgia for breakfast sausage... big mistake, I should have had bacon!

I tend to eat lighter in the summer too, lots of fruit, salads, smoothies, yogurt and meals that can be made with a minimum of cooking. Last night we had smoked mackerel with a couscous and green salad, tonight was pasta with spinach pesto. I find I don't want to eat as much meat and can't even fathom the idea of soup...seriously? Soup? In 90 degree weather?

Great post. I make a variation of a lettuce soup and often add shredded lettuce to stir fries - it was a revelation that it could be eaten in other ways than just as salad. I'll have to try grilled lettuce and lettuce sauce too.