Belgik wrote:Ok here's the story. Went to London n had my first ever Starbucks coffee, in the little pavillion right in the middle of St. Catherine's dock.
So at least the view was nice! St Katherine's used to be one of the most expensive marinas in the UK... doesn't actually look that bad (expensive) these days surprisingly, in fact it is probably cheaper per day than parking a car.
Two quid, too!
Whomever gave you the impression that London was cheap! Still, you could have had a decent pint for that!
I'm much afraid that today's London is much more halfway accross the Atlantic ocean and drifting yet further...the waitress suggesting I might better have my steak well done rather than rare...OK...I should have told her that we eat horsemeat, over here!
Ok, as somebody with his feet placed firmly on both sides of the channel, I'll respond to this... In my experience meat is always over cooked in the UK (and always under in Fr no matter what you ask for, not had much experience in Belgique) unless the restaurant is notably french/european in style... even then they still often cater for the majority... the notion of "saignant" is not well known or understood (forget steak tartare, you'll only get the sauce over here
). So this has little to do with our cousins the other side of the pond... if anything, we were probably over-cooking our meat well before they were
The UK is generally not very service orientated (ask PaulT on this one) but people have realised that this is probably good for business and most training/research in the field does come from the US, so that may explain your reception a little.
From a food point of view, generally, I'd say London is widely multi-cultural much more so than anywhere else in Europe and even to the detriment of "local" cuisine. That said, I can't think of anywhere that does anything "chevaline" and even the suggestion would probably have you in the Tower of London... hypocritical...? Nah... horseys are all cute and sweet, everyone knows that
Next time Belgik... you want jellied eels and a decent pint of bitter, that'll set you right!
I don't know whether it is the case in Belgium or not, but the French are fixated about the UK (and paranoid about France) becoming a mini US and most of the time it is no more valid than anywhere else in western Europe, the only difference being in the UK we speak kind of the same language some of the time, but with the correct spelling and grammar
BTW, the Eurostar was on time, and comfortable.
Ah, so it is me, I'm jinxed then... last time I was 2 hours late and sat with a party of 30 koreans all eating pre-packed warm sushi... an olfactory experience not to be repeated.
On a more serious note... I wonder whether anybody (on TMC) anywhere has had a decent espresso from *$? Maybe it is a bit like asking for a decent meal from the golden arches, the staff aren't that different.
Or even.... having a meal in Beligum served without "frites"
"À la fin de l'envoi...."
D
Ps. Next time we'll give you some decent addresses Belgik!
))
