The Travel Thread

[pdub]

Regardless, it's delicious.

[KUTradition]

yes, yes it is

[jfish26]

I spent a summer in South Kensington a while back and it was a great spot near a couple big time museums and also walkable to Hyde Park - and walkable to the tube which could get you quickly to more touristy spots.

One night? And that means you're having dinner at the wedding and not getting to eat out in London?
At least take a day and make it two - and, as mjl mentioned, get some Indian food.

( also, pubs close way earlier than you think they should, and the tube closes not soon after that - but taking a black cab is an experience of its own )

The wedding is on a Friday, so Saturday night is wide open.

[Mjl]

I would recommend any Wetherspoon pub. There are two big pub chains - Nicholson's and Wetherspoon. Wetherspoon pubs have awesome selection and prices.

Chain maybe isn't the best word - the bars have their own names.

[pdub]

I'm grabbing a coffee/tea then hopping on the tube and then strolling through Hyde Park in the morning and finding a pub for late breakfast/early lunch and watching a football ( soccer ) game over a beer or two.

Going to Trafalgar and Piccadilly Circus because you're a tourist.
Walking along the Thames around Westminster to see Big Ben.
Maaaaybe if I have time, on the way to Brick Lane, checking out St Paul's or the Tower of London from the outside.

Finding an Indian restaurant on Brick Lane.
Taking a black cab home.

[Mjl]

Yes

[zsn]

speaking of Indian food and London…there has been a recent debate on the history of tikka masala and whether it is a traditional Indian dish or a colonial construct

Some have posited that the best Indian food anywhere is in London. I’d add Singapore to the debate, but you get the point. Brick Lane is where it is. Not just Indian but Pakistani and Bangladeshi as well.

One night about three and a half decades ago we had a drunken debate in one of the pubs about the theory that all advancement in navigation, science and technology since about the 1400s was directly or indirectly related traveling to India for spices - in other words, to satisfy European craving for Indian food

Looks like the British succeeded in bringing Indian food home!! Chicken tikka masala is as at least as Indian as fettuccine Alfredo is Italian.

[jfish26]

I'm grabbing a coffee/tea then hopping on the tube and then strolling through Hyde Park in the morning and finding a pub for late breakfast/early lunch and watching a football ( soccer ) game over a beer or two.

Going to Trafalgar and Piccadilly Circus because you're a tourist.
Walking along the Thames around Westminster to see Big Ben.
Maaaaybe if I have time, on the way to Brick Lane, checking out St Paul's or the Tower of London from the outside.

Finding an Indian restaurant on Brick Lane.
Taking a black cab home.

Thanks. Any idea if Wicked is running on the West End?

[pdub]

I can’t believe I forgot Wicked.
If you can find a deal on tickets, maybe do a double feature of that and Lion King.
Skip Indian food. There’s a TGIF in Leicester square. I’ve heard its ok if you go on a Saturday.

[jhawks99]

Any OGs in London?

[pdub]

https://www.google.com/maps/place/51+Re ... -0.2041107

[Mjl]

I did eat at an alleged KC-style BBQ place in London. They had the Kansas game on one day.

Worst brisket sandwich I ever had. Pretty sure it wasn't smoked, because they have a different definition of BBQ. And they put cheese on it.

It's called Bodeans. If you get a chance to go there, don't.

[Mjl]

Oh, the Mexican food there is really bad too

[KUTradition]

i think i’d have to get fish ‘n chips at least once if i ever visit london

[pdub]

Oh, the Mexican food there is really bad too

Confirmed.
The worst Mexican food I ever had ( and I deserved it ) was in Switzerland. Woof.

As far as fish and chips, if it was lunch, that's what i'd order if I had one day in a pub.
Be warned, some orders come with mushy peas spread all over your fish, so if there's something about peas on the menu, and you don't want em on your fish, ask for em on the side. Sometimes the whole deal will be served in newspaper.

If it was before lunch, gotta go English traditional breakfast with eggs, toast, bacon, sausage, mushrooms, tomatoes and beans. And a Guinness.

[KUTradition]

toast?

no English muffin?

[pdub]

Well, sure, sometimes, but the English sure do love them some toast too.

[Mjl]

I never saw an English muffin in England.

Re: the Guinness, nah. Go with a cask ale. Or if you don't like flat room temperature beer, go with a Fullers

[TDub]

fullers is good, boddingtons is good. I tend like the cream ales (boddington not fullers) there were several other good ones i had over there that I cant remember now.


Interesting that they hate Stella's over there (I don't like it but used to know some guys that were all about Stella's and snooty about it as if it was great because it was European)...when I was in England I asked about it as its in every bar...apparently its referred to as the "wife beater beer".

[KUTradition]

I never saw an English muffin in England.

Re: the Guinness, nah. Go with a cask ale. Or if you don't like flat room temperature beer, go with a Fullers

the wife had both Guinness and a Jameson Irish coffee when she was in Ireland a few years back

she said the Guinness was unlike any she’d had here in the states