JeffreyJ

The complete English Breakfast in a can apparently has some form of eggs, beans, tomato and meat.

Yummy...sounds just like the ham & eggs dish that used to come in the old-style C rations, in my service days...before the advent of MREs (widely known amongst our brave lads in uniform as 'Meals Refused by Ethiopians'). It was edible only when compared to that OTHER tasty treat, Lima Beans and Ham.

We have a custom in our family, considered odd by some...whenever we're trying something new, little samples are passed around, so that everyone might have a taste. In Bishops Stopford the other day, those samples were larger than usual, my effort to get RID of the loathsome stuff. Steak and kidney pie, it was, served up in a little caff (a safe place, I figured, from the number of locals patronizing the place) not far from the station. Never again.

Pegontheroad

Don't you be dissing Spam! Periodically I get a craving for a fried Spam sandwich. Yummy! It's a side-effect of having been raised in the States during WWII.

PalQ

there's no such thing as bad food - just bad tastes.

Dukey

I agree that the food, and the selections in <b>some</b> locations, has improved.

I'm not so sure about the teeth.

W9London

Wimpy burger chains (do they still exist?) and deep fried Mars bars.

On the contrary, baked beans on toast or jacket potatoes ARE delicacy. Thought Heinz was American...

W9London

Also, Benjy's sandwiches. Any kinds. Especially the mysterious margarine that doesn't melt in your mouth. They have perfected the art of putting all the filling near the diagonal cutting to give that deep-filled illusion!

Pumbavu

I get a little pissed with people having a go at UK cooking. I've had fantastic meals and great meals everywhere I've been in the world. Including tasless muck in the US. Wouldn't this forum be better used to show where excellent food is served.

The British and bad teeth is an offensive stereotype. As is the notion that all Americans are obeses.

I had two meals out over the weekend and both were excellent, delicious, world class.... and in a pub!

Pumbavu

Sorry.

I've calmed down now.

The answer to the question &quot;I don't understand the sausages in the English breakfasts. The sausages don't have the same texture at all that the sausages in the U.S. (and many of the other European countries) do. What do they put in their sausages besides meat?&quot;

... is obnoxious tourists.

(I am joking...maybe)

StephCar

Pumbavu--I am one of those that LOVE the food in the UK!!! We leave in 2 days for a month in Cambridge, and I am already dreaming of some of the places we frequent. Even the take away at Sainsbury's is far superior than any grocery take away in the US. Better quality and less processed ingredients. My mom is allergic to all hydrogenated oils and was so worried she wouldn't be able to eat much there. Much to her surprise (and delight!) we discovered that few prepared foods in the UK use hydrogenated anything. Much fresher than what we find in the US, IMHO.

I can't wait!!!!!

Pumbavu

Steph... if you're in Cambridge can I make a recommendation. It's a bit of a trip out to a small village called Lidgate near Newmarket. The pub is &quot;The Star&quot; If you can find it you will have the best pub food you have ever tasted.

DiAblo

I must say that I had to laugh out loud when, shopping in great Great Yarmouth, I came across a can with the label proudly announcing the contents as “AMERICAN- STYLE HOTDOGS!”

Later I wished I’d bought them. I wonder if they would be like “Vienna” sausage sold here in the States?

StephCar

Thanks for the recommendation Pumbavu! We will give it a try. I am always up for a new pub and love &quot;Pub Grub.&quot; Our current favorite pub in Cambridge is The Flying Pig, which happens to have the best take away Thai food as well. I know its random but its also delicious.

The Star...it is on my list!

Pumbavu

http://www.localsecrets.com/showreview.cfm?id=7777

Graziella5b

Is there anything as bad as food in London except for breakfast and very, very, very expensive places?
Guess not.

Girlspytravel

and what makes you think that the food at breakfast is so great, Graziella-all that fried junk, knee deep in grease, yuck! no thanks!

Just do remember that people get food poisoning frequently in London-its kitchens are not known for their sanitary conditions-through the years, I've gotten food poisoning twice (and I've never gotten food poisoning anywhere else in the world-not eating street food out in Bangkok or Beijing) once at an Indian restaurant in Kensington and the other somewhere around Piccadilly. An old friend of mine, who has lived in London for some 23 years now, advises that he has gotten food poisoning in London several times. Something to think about.

Geordie

girlspytravel wrote:
&lt;&lt;and what makes you think that the food at breakfast is so great, Graziella-all that fried junk, knee deep in grease, yuck! no thanks!&gt;&gt;

Fried sausage, bacon &amp; eggs is a very common meal in many countries such as the US, Germany &amp; Hong Kong

If you knew anything breakfasts in the UK, you would know the vast majority of households do not have a fried breakfast everyday, that's why we live longer than people in most other countries.

Maybe you should ask your constantly poisoned friend what he has for breakfasts.

I'll not even bother commenting on your second point.

Geordie

Girlspytravel

Geordie-he's never gotten food poisoning, to my knowledge, from breakfast -only in restaurant dining throughout central London.

And simply because you don't like what I've said about the food poisoning situation in London restaurants, does not make it any less true-I could give many more examples of other people I've known who have had food poisoning there as well-there are too many food spots in London that are filthy, to be quite blunt about it.

kamahinaohoku

I made my first trip to London in the summer of 1980, and I remember some pretty mediocre meals, and nothing really improved in the next 5 trips. One meal included an orange vegetable (I think they were carrrots) that had been cooked for so long that they had no discernible taste at all. And there was that dreadful breakfast sandwich which I caught on the run: slimy half-cooked eggs, half-cooked bacon, 4oz of tomato sauce all on a nasty roll . I threw it away.

Re Spam: It's really not made out of all the nasty bits. It's pork shoulder meat and ham, salt, water, sugar and sodium nitrate. see:http://www.cusd.claremont.edu/~mrosenbl/spamfacts.html

Still not my favorite thing to eat, though other people enjoy it.I was amazed when I learned the following - Spam is considered a prestige meat and gift in Korea $-) .
http://tinyurl.com/f9yzq

irishiningo

I love the Brits; stop perpetuating the teeth stereotype. BUT I do have a serious question: what's with beans on toast? I can understand fixing it in your own home (I LOVE syrup on my sausage and bacon, Josser). But when I am in Ireland and they have the full breakfast (the sausage IS different) or cereals or whatnot, why do most of the Brits order beans on toast? No disrespect here, I'm just wondering, because anytime I can get a full breakfast out of someone, I take it.

Pumbavu

I've never ordered beans on toast in a restaurant. Or Cafe.

So I can't comment.

Only occassionally have it at home. Feels too much like being a student again and buying cheap baked beans from Asda.

Had hundreds of breakfasts up and down the UK, had food poisoning on 3 occassions in my life and never in London. I try not to eat out in London because it IS overpriced.. generally. And there are certain restaurants I'd avoid. But you can eat great food in and out of London.

Try to have breakfast in any Hilton Hotel that used to be a Stakis (mainly in Scotland but also Nottingham, Bromsgrove and a few others) and have the Scottish Breakfast. Yum