English Eating

Most people don't think of eating when they think of England. Fascinating history, yes. Amazing drama and literature, yes. Awesome music, definitely. Great places to eat, not so much. But when we go to England, we have two places we have to eat, and given, they're not typical English food (I mean, hello, check out the Full English in the photo. No thank you) and maybe because of this, they are among my favorite restaurants in the world.

The first is an Asian inspired noodle bar called Wagamama. Anyone who knows me knows I love this place and would do just about anything to get one close to home (although they do have one in Boston now, so maybe they'll make their way out West at some point). I love the gyoza and the kare lomen, which is a great noodle soup with chicken or shrimp in a coconut curry broth. Another favorite is the yasi katsu curry. Basically, I'd like to mainline this curry sauce directly into my veins. Why do I love Wagamama so? Mainly because everything tastes so fresh and is ALWAYS good when we go. And it brings back fantastic memories of living in London. It was fun to introduce it to the kids, who loved it by the way:

The boys both loved their noodles.

And Max loved the kid's chopsticks, that work like tweezers and were so much fun him to use on both his noodles and Steve's nose.

And I loved my yasi katsu. That's an eggplant I'm eating, and I wish we would embrace the use of the eggplant as much as Europeans do. An eggplant is a truly wonderful thing.

We also made it to a new favorite of mine, Gourmet Burger Kitchen, (or GBK to the locals). You that know me are probably going "What?! A Burger Place?!" and I have to say I am just as surprised as you are that I love this place so much. Really, I probably eat a burger, I'd say, maybe, once or twice a year, but if burgers tasted this good at home I'd have a big, big problem. Again, it's not a truly English place since it was created by New Zelanders, but the beef is fresh, the preparation is innovative (and who knew you could do something new with a burger?), and everything is made on the spot, so you don't get anything that has been sitting under a heat lamp. Ever. And their fries are awesome too. Check it out:

I love these little tomato shaped ketchup bottles on the tables at GBK. I need one to take home.

Real Diet Coke (not Coca-Light) in real glass bottles. Love it.

Can you feel the GBK love?

Our friend Tim, who introduced me to GBK on my last visit to London, challenged Steve to eat one of their signature Kiwi Burgers (which includes an egg, pineapple, and beets). Steve thought better of it and got a Avacado Bacon Burger instead.

And my favorite has to be the Garlic Mayo Burger. Sounds unassuming enough, but that Garlic Mayo is crazy good. Like crack cocaine good. I'm not kidding.

So we had a very successful trip to London, and probably gained a few pounds (and I don't mean Sterling) in the process. More on the actual stuff we did vs. stuff we ate in London later.