Going to London... advice?

[Morrus]

Pack your own food. London is awesome and all, but I never ate so poorly anywhere. The food was awful. I'll never forget finding a place called The All American and ordering a cheeseburger. Turns out my cheeseburger came with mayonnaise and prawn. Not only that, but the dessert was some sort of weird yellow pudding with nuts and some type of fruit in it.

If you're in a foreign country, I think the name of a place being "All American" is enough of a warning.

London, as one of a select few world-class cities, has a lot of amazing, world class restaurants. I don't think any of them are called "All American" though, any more than the best restaurants are likely to be called "All Chinese" or "All Italian".

Like anywhere, you get what you pay for, and you need to research where you eat beforehand unless you like a gamble.

I asked him about the dessert and he said the same thing and I said did you ever hear the song baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, and chevrolet?

With all due respect, if you're looking for American food, the best place to find it is in America, not England.

I'm off to Rome for a week soon, and I can't wait to try the best Italian food in the world! And when I'm at GenCon this year, I'll sample the cheeseburgers, etc.

 

[billd91]

Pack your own food. London is awesome and all, but I never ate so poorly anywhere. The food was awful. I'll never forget finding a place called The All American and ordering a cheeseburger. Turns out my cheeseburger came with mayonnaise and prawn. Not only that, but the dessert was some sort of weird yellow pudding with nuts and some type of fruit in it.

Allow me to say that, thanks to the influence of more ethnic food restaurants like the tons of tandoori you'll find, the food is MUCH better than it was 18 years ago when I was a student there. That said, why are you eating American in Britain? You might as well go to McDonalds. Hit the fish and chips joints (many of them even have meat pies). Get a kebab. Go tandoori.
Just avoid the Wimpy's. Please. If I can save even one person...

 

[Land Outcast]

Turns out my cheeseburger came with mayonnaise and prawn. Not only that, but the dessert was some sort of weird yellow pudding with nuts and some type of fruit in it.

Pack your own food.

Thanks for the advice (thought about doing so), but I'm guessing you can't bring food into England (at least that's my impression).

I won't do more specific questions, my principal topics of interest are more than covered (considering the length of my stay):
books, must-see list, history, and gaming.

Special thanks to SteveC - I'll take some towels
Also, thanks for the tea comment, but I'll have to order coffee... (no tea for me)


Wimpy's?

 

[Morrus]

Wimpy's?

Crap burger chain; I haven't seen one in years, to be honest.

If you want American food, go to the American chains. But you haven't been to England if you don't do the whole curry and lager experience. It's our national dish these days, apparently.

Fish and chips - there are millions of fish and chip shops in England. They vary immensely. Some fish & chips are divine; some make you want to be sick. It's hard to tell in advance (they aren't tourist oriented, they're local oriented, so those living nearby will know which are the good ones and which aren't).

Pub Food - exactly the same. Millions of pubs, all serving food. Some is gorgeous; some is average; some is terrible. Again, it's hard to tell in advance without advice. I know which pubs near me I'd eat at and which I wouldn't, but I wouldn't expect a foreigner would be able to tell.

 

[Morrus]

Thanks for the advice (thought about doing so), but I'm guessing you can't bring food into England (at least that's my impression).

You can't bring food into any country that I know of.

 

[Land Outcast]

That's what I thought, but I prefer to show my ignorance here and now
Safer.

 

[Imruphel]

You can't bring food into any country that I know of.

Singapore!

 

[freyar]

I'm off to Rome for a week soon, and I can't wait to try the best Italian food in the world! And when I'm at GenCon this year, I'll sample the cheeseburgers, etc.

When in Rome, do as the Romans and get lunch from a pizza stand in the street. Just some crust wrapped around plain tomato sauce and a slab of cheese, but pretty good! Some good restaurants in Rome, too (there's one near the Spanish Steps that seats different groups together at large tables of say 8-10 people and feeds you homemade pasta of many varieties -- see if you can find it), but I personally had the best Italian food experience in Florence.

In terms of bringing food, you might be able to get some prepackaged food through customs, but that's about it. Honestly, though, I haven't found London to be a bad place to eat, and that's even as a vegetarian. Pub food might be simple, but is usually fine, and the Indian food is excellent in my experience.

 

[Infernal Teddy]

I'll lean out the winder here, and say DON'T get any kind of tourist's guide book. Just make a list of places you KNOW you want to see, and wander to and frow. You stumble on some really interesting places that way that are NOT in the books.

And you look less like a tourist

...how I miss the Imperial City...

 

[Jonny Nexus]

One more thing: a lot of people will tell you that it is tough to travel as an American these days, that people are very angry at us. That could not be further from the truth, at least in London and the surrounding areas. The people of London don't like annoying people any more than we do, so just try and be on your best behavior.

...and don't stand two abreast on escalators on the tube, because that really does piss people off. (By custom and tradition if not rule, the left-hand side is for people walking up or down, so people standing should stay on the right).