UK Trip Travel Food: Grasmere Food (Co-op Food, Lucia's Coffee and Bakehouse, and Emma's Dell)

I took a trip to England in the summer of 2019. During this trip, I rented a car in York and drove to the Lake District. I wanted to see a national park outside of the United States to see how parks like this are done elsewhere. I picked a random destination within the Lake District and ended up in a town called Grasmere. 

Co-op Food:

When I arrived, I checked into were I was staying, hiked up a mountain, and then got back just in time to take shelter from a thunderstorm. By the time the storm let up, all the restaurants in Grasmere were closed for the day. That is, except for the small convenience store sized supermarket called Co-op Food. Here, I bought some of their ready-made food options for dinner. This included a Chimichurri Chicken Flatbread, olives, and biscuits. 

Lucia's Coffee + Bakehouse:

I had breakfast the next morning at a place called Lucia's Coffee + Bakehouse. I had a freshly baked Cumberland Sausage Roll, served with homemade ketchup. 

Emma's Dell:

Lunch was had at a restaurant specializing in crepes called Emma's Dell. I had a crepe called the Highland Fling. It was filled with smoked salmon, scrambled eggs, and served with a chive crème fraiche. I had tea to drink. Tea leaves were served loose in a french press.

During the meal, I felt like somebody was trying to watch me eat from the next table...

Here's a picture of a Luxury Dairy Ice Cream truck in the mountains, just because mountains need to be photographed.

 

UK Trip Travel Food: York Food (Betty's Cafe, 29 States, and The York Roast Co.)

 I took a trip to England in the summer of 2019. During this trip, I left Newark-on-Trent and proceeded to York.

Betty's Cafe Tea Room:

As I was leaving Newark-on-Trent, a bus driver told me I had to eat at Betty's Cafe in York. Also, to avoid the main location in the city which gets huge waits and visit the location in Stonegate instead.  I followed directions and was able to be seated in the restaurant immediately. I walked by their other location a few blocks away afterwards and there was a huge crowd waiting to get in...

It was a tea room, so I started with some tea. Obviously...

I tried their special of the day. It was a breakfast dish what I was unfamiliar with called Kedgeree. This consisted of rice, fish, and dried fruit, topped with a poached egg. It was interesting, and really good. Looks like the dish has it's roots in India and became popular in England during the Victorian era. 

29 States:

I was touring Clifford's Tower in York and was distracted by the aromas of delicious smelling Indian food wafting up the hill from a restaurant somewhere below. I decided I was going to find this restaurant and eat there for dinner. Turned out this restaurant was called 29 States. I had a very good chicken dish with some naan. 

The view was nice too. It's the only Indian restaurant I've ever visited where I was able to look out the window and see a castle towering above the restaurant...

The York Roast Co.:

Having Yorkshire Pudding in York seemed like an appropriate thing to do. I did this at a fast food restaurant called The York Roast Co. They basically made wraps out of the Yorkshire pudding, rolling the bread around turkey, stuffing, cranberries, assorted vegetables, and gravy. It was a very messy thing to eat and the Yorkshire pudding didn't hold together very well as a vehicle to transport the rest of the fillings...

UK Trip Travel Food: Nottingham Food (Pieminster)

I took a trip to England in the summer of 2019. While staying in Newark-on-Trent on this trip, I took a train to Nottingham. I saw Robin Hood, then I ate.

This was a restaurant which I did not eat at, but was noteworthy. Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem was built into the side of a cliff below Nottingham Castle and claims to be the oldest inn in England.

I had lunch at a restaurant called Pieminster. As the name states, this restaurant specialized in all sorts of pies.

There was some quirky decor in here, such as potato eyes in glass cases.

I had the Saag Pie-neer. This was an Indian inspired pie filled with paneer, peas, spinach, potatos, chilli, and mango. It was served over mashed potatoes. A side of mushy peas and gravy also came on the side. It was pretty good, and the Indian influence was a nice change from the other more traditional meat pies I had on this trip.

 

UK Food #4: Edinburgh (Theatre Royal Pub, Fiddler's Arms, and YHA Edinburgh)

During my trip to the United Kingdom, I took a train to Scotland and stayed overnight in Edinburgh. My train arrived around noon. I found out I couldn't check into where I was staying until 2:00, so I decided to have lunch at the Theatre Royal Pub on the next block until I could drop off my bags.

Theatre Royal Pub:

As the name implies, they were next to Edinburgh's big theater. Unlike the pubs I visited in London where you ordered your food at the bar and then claimed a table, the Theatre Royal Pub was full service from start to finish. Just to confuse American tourists with variations of pub culture in different parts of the UK.

I ordered one of their daily specials, which was the Pork & Bacon Pie. I really liked pies like this after having a few of them in London so I couldn't resist ordering another. It was served over mashed potatoes in a gravy sauce.

This was the most boring of all the pies I tried in the UK. This was filled with not much else besides ground pork and bacon. It was almost a meatloaf wrapped in a pie crust. Still pretty tasty.

Fiddler's Arms:

I decided I needed to try haggis while in Scotland. This happened at another pub called Fiddler's Arms.

I knew exactly what I was going to order when I walked in. I had the Traditional Scottish Haggis, Neeps, & Tatties. The menu described this as haggis, mashed potatoes and turnips, drizzled in a homemade whisky cream sauce. My expectations weren't high for ordering offal meats in a bar, but what I was served far exceeded those expectations. The whole dish was constructed as a circular tower. There was a bottom layer of potatoes, topped with turnips, with the haggis above that, and then finally a sprinkling of greens at the top of the tower of food. The entire thing was drenched in the sauce which pooled at the bottom of the plate. Not only did it look good, but it was delicious too!

I did find it humorous how my server came over after I finished eating everything and started telling me what haggis is made from. Hurray for scaring the tourists with organ meats!


YHA Edinburgh:

I had breakfast at the hostel I was staying at the next morning. Unlike the other hostels I stayed at in the UK, this one was serving a hot breakfast. It came with a poached egg, beans, sausage, haggis, black pudding, a potato cake, roasted tomato, and a type of puffy bread. Plain haggis was interesting, reminding me of scrapple from the Pennsylvania area of the US. Of the plain meats, I did enjoy the black pudding. Blood sausage is always tasty!

I also bought a bottle of Irn Bru. I was told this was the national drink of Scotland and had to try it while I was there. It was soda...

UK Food #3: Train Food

Part Three of food from my trip to the United Kingdom. This post starts in London and ends somewhere in Scotland. I took a train to Edinburgh and there was food involved. My journey began at King's Cross Station.

While I was waiting for my train, I ate breakfast at a restaurant called Leon.

I had an egg pot consisting of a poached egg, smoked salmon, and sliced avocado. Small portion, but tasty.

I explored the train station for a while until it was time to board my train. It didn't look like the Hogwarts Express...

The UK has a somewhat complicated but simple train system. There are several different companies running their trains, but yet you buy your tickets from a centralized website. I ended up getting tickets with Virgin Trains. I guess they do more than airlines and spaceships. On board, they had a worker come through with a food trolley. In my head, this only happened on the Hogwarts Express. I'm glad there's reality behind food trolleys on British trains.

They were giving out samples of biscuits in the train station, so I didn't partake in the food trolley. Was basically a chocolate chip cookie.

After a wonderful train journey, I arrived in Edinburgh, explored the city (see the next post on the blog), and then it was time to take the train home. Without realizing it, I had accidently bought first class tickets for this trip. These first class tickets were cheaper than the coach tickets going to Edinburgh. I was good with my accidental upgrade.

My previous long distance train experience was on an Amtrak Acela between New York and Boston. They advertised that entire train as being first class, but that got you pretty much nothing. On Virgin, first class actually means something. There were attendants coming though constantly offering all sorts of foods. This started with a bag of crisps.

Cottage Pie with Root Vegetables came next. This was ground meat (beef or lamb?) topped with mashed potatoes cooked until crispy on top. The root vegetables included potatoes and beets.

Tea and biscuits.

Slice of cake.

The food was unexpected. Compared to the overpriced soggy frozen pizza I had when riding with Amtrak, the food here on this Virgin train was wonderful. I think I'd upgrade to first class again on a train in Britain. Overall, even without the food, I was really impressed with these trains. It was a quick, comfortable trip and the scenery outside the trains windows was beautiful. Whizzing past colorful farmland, cute little villages, and along cliffs on the edge of the North Sea made this my favorite train trip I've ever taken. The United States needs to learn a lot from trains like this...

UK Food #1: London (Chinatown Bakery, Keu, EAT, Borough Market, Nando's, Greggs, Greenwich Market, Paul Rhodes Bakery, Istanbul Cafe, and Harrods)

I recently took a trip to the United Kingdom. Most of my time was spent in London. This is part one of the food I ate while in the city. The post is long, rambling, in no particular order, but is filled with lots of delicious British food picture...

Chinatown Bakery: 

This was the first place I ate once arriving in the UK. I flew London, checked into where I was staying, and then decided to take a walk and start exploring my surroundings. I ended up in London's Chinatown.

I walked by a very busy place called Chinatown Bakery. Along with all sorts of baked goods, they were making little custard filled fish called Tai Taki at a machine in the window. I was intrigued.

The tai taki were pretty tasty. The cute little fish waffles were filled with very hot, creamy custard. I burnt my tongue on the first one because I wasn't expecting the filling to be so hot.

Keu:

Not long after I had the Chinese fish pastries, I ventured into a nearby Vietnamese restaurant called Keu. I'm still fuzzy on where one neighborhood of London ended and where another began (is neighborhood the proper word?), but I believe this restaurant was in Soho.

I had a banh mi at Keu. The sandwich was not unlike the banh mi sandwiches that I've had back in the US. It was pretty standard with various parts of pig and pickled vegetables served on a French baguette.  The first sandwich ever put into my stomach from Europe filled me up!

It was in this restaurant that I realized I really didn't know proper tipping customs in England. Turned out my server got a very nice tip on top of the included gratuity on the bill...


YHA London Central:

I stayed at a few hostels while on the trip to save money. My first dinner in London was at the restaurant in the hostel I was staying at that evening. I had the Mile End Pizza. The menu described it as black olives, brie, and spinach. I really didn't taste much of the brie, but there was way too much mozzarella. The pizza was a bit of a cheese overload...

I tried a soda called a Tango. It was orange soda...

EAT:

The next morning I had breakfast at a restaurant called EAT. Turned out these were a chain that seemed to have locations around every corner. I ordered an egg pot. This consisted of a poached egg, served over baked beans and topped with avocado and ham hocks. I like the whole beans for breakfast thing.

Borough Market:

I stumbled on Borough Market my accident. It wasn't initially on my list of places to see in London, but walked into it on my way somewhere else. It was a good find because I returned a couple more times during my time in London.

I would rank Borough Market as one of the best food/farmers market I've come across anywhere in my travels so far. The closest food market I've come across to compare was Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia, but Borough Market far surpassed it. They had every sort of food imaginable, both ready to eat and fresh.

The first food I had from Borough Market was from a booth called Pieminister. They had all sorts of meat pies.

I tried the Matador. It was filled with British beef steak, chorizo, olives, and butter beans. I had it with a side of creamy mash and gravy.

This pie was delicious. I wish I could find pies like this back home...

I had food from a booth called Nana Fanny's on the second time I visited Borough Market. This booth served an interesting combination of salt beef and falafel. I was tempted by the falafel, but the salt beef preparation looked more fun.

I ordered a sandwich on rye bread. I had the option to get it on a bagel, but the rye seemed more proper for this type of sandwich. The sandwich consisted of thick slices of the salt beef, cheese, cabbage, pickles, and mustard. The beef was sliced right there, as was the cheese (from a huge wheel), then melted with a blowtorch. It was entertaining to watch when a paper plate caught fire a couple sandwiches ahead of mine.

It was similar to a New York style Kosher deli sandwich, only with cheese and more toppings. I liked it!

Nando's:

This was a chicken chain and I saw several locations throughout London. I ended up at a Nando's right up the block from where I was staying. They had a strange setup that perhaps is a British restaurant thing, but I was unfamiliar with this restaurant custom. Nando's was set up like a fast food restaurant where you order at a counter, but they have a host that seats you and gives you menus. You are seated, read the menu, figure out what you want, then go up to the counter to order. I made the mistake of just walking over to the counter to order. They didn't like that very much...

I had a quarter chicken with peas and chips for my sides. There was sauce on the chicken that was pretty tasty. Unfortunately, it didn't really permeate inside the chicken and it was dry and bland below the surface of the meat. Luckily they did have lots of extra sauce around to remedy the bland chicken. I wasn't very impressed...


YHA London Oxford Street:

I stayed at another hostel in Soho while in London where I purchased breakfast one morning. It included a croissant, cheese, and tea. Not much, but it did the trick for breakfast.

Greggs:

This was a similar style coffee/breakfast shop to Eat, but not nearly as prevalent. Greggs had a little more of a Dunkin Donuts feel. I had a bacon and egg sandwich with brown sauce. British bacon is interesting. More like ham that was cooked until crispy rather than the American style fatty bacon. 

Greenwich Market:

Greenwich Market (or all of Greenwich in general) was another place that wasn't on my list of places to visit in London, but I'm glad I found it. My plan for the day was to take a train somewhere out of London, but I was given the suggestion to do that the next day and go to Greenwich for their Saturday food market. After an interesting train ride (switching from the underground subway type trains to elevated driverless trains), I arrived and decided to get lunch from a booth serving Ethiopian food 

The booth had several pots of various meats and side dishes cooking. I ordered the mixed meat box.

When I overwhelmed with what I should choose, they made me a dish with a little of everything in it. There was chicken, lamb, potatoes, spinach, lentils, and more that I'm forgetting, all served over half rice and half couscous. It was all delicious!

Paul Rhodes Bakery:

While wandering around Greenwich after leaving the market, I walked past Paul Rhodes Bakery and saw a tower of some of the most beautiful meringue cookies I've ever seen. Their window display worked because I went in and bought a raspberry meringue. Unfortunately, they looked better than they tasted with a very weak raspberry flavor and the chalky texture got old quick.

Istanbul Cafe & Bistro:

I went to a Turkish restaurant for breakfast one morning and didn't order any Turkish food. I had an English Breakfast. It came with an egg, sausage, bacon, baked beans, toast, and a garnish of arugula. It was very nice. I like beans as a breakfast food...

Harrods:

I almost skipped London's famous department store. When I walked past on my way to a museum, I decided to step inside on a whim. I didn't realize the huge food section that they had in here! Upon seeing all the deliciousness, I found myself at the pastry counter and ordered a cream cheese & peach vatrushka.

I'm not sure if I've ever had a vatrushka in the past, but the thin slices of peach over a cheesy filling, all in a cake-like bread was very tasty!

Part Two of food from my UK Trip is coming soon...