Gday Tony.

I heard a rumour that you have been/are travelling? Anywhere luxurious? Somewhere full of tasty food?

We’re just back from a quick trip to London and Dubai. London for a short break, Dubai for a cracking good fun wedding.

Now before we went to London (I’ve never actually been before), I sought guidance from some trusted foody friends who lived there for a good period. I was half expecting to find stodge, the other half 300 quid/person uber Michelin star greatness. Guess what, we found the stodge.

Ok, so I didn’t try and secure a table at The Fat Duck or any of the other super premiums, but we did look for some simple, go-to food for mere mortals.

Staying in funky Fitzrovia, we expected this would be simple. A diverse selection of local eateries, each packed night after night with eager inner-city London dwellers had me, I must admit, a little excited.

Imagine my surprise to find that, in general, the food was pretty ho-hum though pricey. But we were expecting that.

In fact, we did find some cheap stuff in London…beer, chocolate and flowers. Everything else is ouchies expensive.

We did find a great little breakfast joint. As it happened, across the road from our Airbnb place. It was called Lantana. Guess where the owners are from? My go to was the slow braised ham-hock smoky beans. Worthy.

Now, living in Melbourne, coffee is an institution. Get it wrong and your café will not last the season. London however seems to pride itself on some pretty lousy stuff. Yeah, it’s reasonably priced, but that’s a bit like not-quite genuine, but pretty close to it truffles or caviar. It’s just not worth bothering.

Londoner’s seem to take pride in good ol’ fashioned pub grub. So, who were we to go against the grain. First night was a random pub nearby. The food was reheated, with soggy chips. The beer was cold though. We tempted fate and chose another pub, the Marquis of Granby.  This time the food was ok and the beer was cold. Guess you have to be in the know, as both pubs were bursting at the seams.

We tried to have some food at Harrods, after strolling around for the day, but baulked at the 27 quid hamburger. Needless to say, Harrods is not a thrifty place to obtain sustenance.

Qantas directed us to the American Airlines lounge on our way out. Not sure what to say about that. So best I leave it. I don’t even know if there was food to be had.

Dubai is next. Different place, different context.

Cheers,

Daniel