Top 10 Restaurants....in the WORLD

[2pints-mate 0]

 Quote:

I find the standard of English home food to be very poor.

Tell us about your experiences of "English home food" then. I doubt it to be extensive, given what you have said.

Ocean11, tell us about that close encounter with Italian police.

'Please' in both cases of course.

[2pints-mate 0]

PS I don't give a shite what you think about my home country, 34 guests. I'm not the proud type. I'm just interested in your generally incorrect assumptions and apparent lack of any experience living anywhere other than central London.

[damian 0]

forget it.

[NoFakie 45]

I don't care what list or book these restaurants are in. The people there are eating veggies that aren't as fresh as the ones in my garden. So there!

 

As for London, my mate lives in Dulwich and the high street there is fantastic. Grocers from all over the world, with top notch produce from all over. On the surface, it's a crappy run-down looking street, but it's a real global bazaar if you take the time to look. They call upmarket North London "JJ Town" because that's basically the only people who can afford to live there. There's no chance of the cultural diversity you get in south London.

 

Me and the missus drove around the south of France for ten days last autumn, and while the local stuff's great, there are very few alternatives. Even the Italian places there were nothing special. Thai or Turkish? A decent Indian even? Forget it. It's basically a monoculture. A very good monoculture and a very attractive place with that climate and that heritage, but a monoculture all the same. You see far more foreigners in Tokyo.

 

As a rule, British people don't spend very much on food, which is why a lot of the best Scottish beef and certainly a lot of the best seafood go overseas. It's a real shame, because great ingredients generally don't need fancy preparation, the sauces for which France is famed for example. Unfortunately, the reality is that the French, Spanish and Italians will pay more for our goodies. I dunno, maybe it's because less of them are stressed out trying to buy their own home like British people. Supermarket dominence in Britain is also killing domestic producers of traditional meat products, traditional fruit, and all those wonderful things you never see in Japan. I think supermarkets are big because Britons don't have a lot of free time. They swallowed all that anti-union propaganda in the 1970s and rewarded themselves with longest working week in Europe, seven or eight hours longer than the French or Germans. In London at least, you've got a countervailing force in the form of ethnic diversity. They are bringing variety back to the UK shopper.

 

For me, what is most attractive about London is all the films, plays, live music, club events, comedy, etc. that are on virtually every night with buses at 3am to get you home. It's a real cultural playground. Nowhere, not even NYC (post Guiliani at least), has as much.

[Ocean11 0]

Just to add to Mr~'s note, there are also very lively food markets to be found in most English cities with traditional fishmongers, cheesemongers, butchers and pie makers and everything else. I went to one in London with my brother-in-law for a morning's shopping to gather the ingredients for our evening meal, including the salmon I mentioned earlier. Part of the pleasure was dealing with the fishmonger and getting advice about the fish (it helped that she was a fresh and stunning little kipper herself). We had to queue for a while because everybody else was eager for their fresh fish too.

 

I think this alone rather contradicts most of what you wrote there Mr Guests. Actually the market itself was very poorly presented, but the quality and variety of the goods was quite amazing. Do I detect a hint of that Anglo inferiority in the face of Romance culture? While admiration of their good things is perfectly natural, I think you risk missing out if you don't appreciate some of the home stuff too.

[cheeseman 1]

Yes yes some wonderful cheesemongers over there. Great old fashioned markets, difficult to beat, there are some real treats on offer.

[big-will 7]

I know an amazing sausage shop that has over 100 kinds of sausage on sale. Very very nice many of them are too. There's a really nice small coffee shop a block away, and a bakers too. Amazing what you can find if you look.

 

(Not being in poo-ey London helps too.) Actually I really like London, but no way would I want to live there. Nice to visit and stay with friends.

[grungy-gonads 54]

 Quote:

British people (in London) are proving notoriously difficult to be-friend. Very bitter and unfriendly with huge shoulder-chips, men and plough pulling women alike. I have given up.

Bitter? Unfriendly? Huge shoulder-chips? Sure you're not talking to a mirror?

What on earth have you been doing to get that response from people? And whats that all about I wonder. What might these strangers be bitter about exactly??
I wonder where you are actually meeting these people, sound a right rum bunch to me. The people I know who have visited England have told me how friendly they found people to be generally - smiles and friendly chat to complete strangers, polite, and all that....

[Dims 0]

I think one of the most important aspect regarding food in any country is the access to a large variety of fresh ingredents at a reasonable price. This I found lacking during my time in Japan. If you have access to these, a good internet connection, basic cooking skills and a sharp set of knives, you can eat the best food from any part of the world in the comfort of your own home.

 

I love going to the small specialty butchers, delis, markets and fishmongers around here and buying stuff for a great weekend meal. And matching it with some great Margaret River wine. I think that one of the points 34 was making was a good one, that the food of a nation can't be judged by a couple of elite restuarants. The rest of the debate I am not touching with a 20-foot barge-pole.

 

So often these days when I go out for a meal I am dissappointed, and know that I could have cooked for people at home and had better service, all for 1/4 the price. If only someone would magically do the washing up

[sakebomb 0]

Hey Dims, can you send over a couple of bottles of Devil's Lair Fifth Leg for us?

[Goemon 0]

 Quote:

I think one of the most important aspect regarding food in any country is the access to a large variety of fresh ingredents at a reasonable price. This I found lacking during my time in Japan.

I don't know about "reasonable price" for anything in Japan (or London for that matter), but there are several organic food delivery services which operate in the greater Tokyo area. We use one to get plenty of fresh, healthy ingredients. Coupled with our internet access and sharp knives, we eat quite well at home.

And the best part about eating at home is we don't have to listening to any squabbling Commonwealthers...

[Dims 0]

 Quote:

Originally posted by Goemon:
And the best part about eating at home is we don't have to listening to any squabbling Commonwealthers...

[Ocean11 0]

I think in the Tokyo area they also have a service that delivers squabbling Commonwealthers to your home at dinner time.

[sunrise 0]

Is that Raddish Boya, Goemon?

[Goemon 0]

sunrise: No, we're using Daichi , not Radish Boya .

[sunrise 0]

oooh, I don't know about these guys. Looks interesting. Do they also do organic fish and meat? Can you choose your vegs and get small enough amounts for someone living alone? (sorry, I'm nihongo illiterate). Also just curious: do you like them better than Radish Boya or have you simply not used RB? RB are the only ones I've ever heard of here as we used to use them in a place I used to share.

[Goemon 0]

They also do organic/free range meat, fish, etc. We tend to only use them for fruits, vegetables and eggs though; I prefer to see my meat before I buy it. Having said that, we have ordered meat from them before and it's always been fine/delicious.

 

You can choose the amounts/frequency you want delivered, but there is usually a minimum size (ie a bunch of bananas); I'm not sure how well that would work out for a singleton. We usually end up forcing ourselves to finish a head of cabbage before it goes bad.

 

We've never used Radish Boya; we used this one mainly because some friends had recommended it (and they gave us some good deals on free delivery/etc). They will also sometimes provide a selection of their season's best items for a reduced price as kind of a "grab bag". It has introduced me to fruits I might not have ordered on my own. The on-line/telephone order system is pretty language-free (once you get set up).

 

(sorry for this organic interlude; please get back to your regional sniping about whose menu is longer)

[2pints-mate 0]

Whose menu is longer?

 

For the food part of this discussion, was the point not "poor home-made English food" that Mr Guests was trying to tell us about. But it seems he isn't willing to let us know if he has ever had any or not.

[Goemon 0]

I'm sorry, but I don't know what the point was. I'm just talking about food.

 

I can't speak for 34 Guests, but I've only had home-made English food a few times. It was good.

[sunrise 0]

Thanks for that info Goemon, they sound great. I'm keeping that link.

 

We now return the rest of you to your regular program.

 

By the way, I must say, the home cooking I experienced in my England visits has been very good. Also had some killer Indian and arabic foods in restaurants there. I'm not a real fan of traditional English foods, mainly cos I'm not a big meat eater and I much prefer grains to potatoes generally speaking. That being said, I've enjoyed some good fish & chips.

[Goemon 0]

Yeah, one of my favorite meals in London recently was at a Lebanese restaurant called Fairuz . Also had some gourmet bangers-and-mash at a place called the S & M Cafe .

[yodel 0]

Do Australians eat bbqs every day? I bet they put some variation in it. You know, sausage on Monday, burger on Tuesday, etc.

[NoFakie 45]

Australians eat a lot of meat by the sounds.

 

 Quote:

Fish consumption studies undertaken in 2001 showed per capita consumption is in excess of 15 kg of seafood product, of which less than half is produced domestically. This compares with 36 kg of beef, 31 kg of chicken and 12 kg of lamb and 19 kg of pork.

That's only 300g of seafood per person per week. Two portions perhaps. More than the UK, but still pretty grim.

 

 Quote:

Australia continues to export the majority of its high value species such as lobsters, shrimp and abalone

Sounds like Britain, but with different species.

 

The source is the UN. You can see the Australia fisheries data here.

 

http://www.fao.org/fi/fcp/en/AUS/profile.htm

 

You can see info on different countries here.

 

http://www.fao.org/countryprofiles/selectiso.asp?lang=en

[sunrise 0]

I enjoyed Cafe Arabica - friends of friends, and what they call fusion arabic food. In the middle of nowhere, though.

[damian 0]

Ocean said:

 Quote:

"I think this alone rather contradicts most of what you wrote there Mr Guests. Actually the market itself was very poorly presented, but the quality and variety of the goods was quite amazing. Do I detect a hint of that Anglo inferiority in the face of Romance culture? While admiration of their good things is perfectly natural, I think you risk missing out if you don't appreciate some of the home stuff too"

No, it does not contradict my original intent, but it goes a small way to contradict the eventual implied or interpreted message. My error has been to confuse London for England. I stand by my statement that on the average, every day street food and so called cafe life in London is terrible and that the home cooking that I have had has also been bad, or a non event. I have been and continue to explore regional UK and have not had one down point in the process (except for admittedly a few not so great food experiences.... they were exactly like a disgraceful concept in Australia known as the pub 'counter meal'). Last time a friend visited London I collected them at Heathrow in a rental car and drove directly out of London. We had a fantastic time and promised to repeat and build upon it at least once every two months. I also crave the grub at my local 'ye olde' style of English pub. I eat there every 2 weeks.

 

Anglo inferiority: yes, I suffer from it, I think that we are inferior in many respects and more so than those aspect in which we are self assumed to be superior. I resent being an Anglo Saxon, I think we are a lacklustre bunch and I was born into the wrong race. I also suffer from an irrational symptom described as follows: I love my home country Australia but am like a round peg in a square hole and it annoys the hell out of me that I feel so out of place in my home. After I arrived in the UK (very excited to have a change from Japan) I slowly learnt that most of what I do not like about Australia was directly inherited from the UK. This has (perhaps immaturely) wound me up as I am 'angry' that the UK serves as a big mirror for me to see all the things that I don't like about Australia (myself). And whilst I am on the wagon de hate ( ), believe me, I think just as little of the average 'Aussie' as I do about the average Brit. Some goes for the average Aussie's suburban food habits: they are all so bogan that they can't do anything decent with the abundant resources that they have, but still stand back and spout the greatness of the land.