Just be a gourmet in London?

A place in Hammersmith picturised by Author

The JOKE about British food

‘If there must be hell, then the hell will be where the British chef cook meals for you.’ Well, a typical joke about British food.

When I go to a British restaurant, it must be some kind, like a café chain or a pub. I have been invited to a pub before, which was a very British pub where I did enjoy the burger and chips. The most visited sort of British restaurant I have ever been to is marked ‘£’ out of ‘£££’ on Google map, the cheapest one but also serving the widest range of British dishes, such as a full breakfast with a large cup of coffee. Those restaurants rarely see Chinese visitors coming in since I felt being stared at the first time by most of people sitting inside when I popped in just like crushing into a pub where there were lads drinking beers. You can feel that, not in a modern and decent time but in the past when always fists and guns say problems solved – my imagination.

Luckily, those British restaurants provide me with tasty food with reasonable price within £13 and I can fill my stomach. I love the full breakfast. It sometimes has egg, sausages, bacon and beans, varying in different places but the core is there. Presumably, commoners love that and so do I. It is not easy to find a cheap British café in London all the time so most of time I can find them in towns outside the biggest capital city in this country. Thus, here comes a question: what kind of restaurant I would visit in London?

Fish and chips

Thanks to industrialised food production, commoners can eat cheap food serving them high protein and energy to help them work all day long – fish and chips, after the WWII. It may be another British food I like in a reasonable price. Usually it costs £8-18 depending on different common restaurants. Certainly, the more you pay, the larger and better fried fish you may get with some pieces of lemon and loads of chips. Yes, chips always come together and don’t be surprised and prepare your stomach to be filled!

In short, I like fish and chips and I recommend a family-run restaurant in London. You can find it on Google map and get a time slot, pop in! Don’t be too late or you won’t grab a seat. It’s really popular! You know why? Because it serves good fish and chips which do not cost much. Service charge? Well, you may pay some and the staff deserve that, honestly. There is no habit to pay service fee in Britain but some luxury restaurants or some common ones adopt a management strategy that servce fee is not included in food price and the staff need to earn it so they let customers to press the button on the POS machine before they can add their fees into the final bills. I am getting used to that part of habit at the moment, too.

Japanese food in London

Come on! Have flown away from East Asia for more than 20 hours but still homesick of the Japanese food? You’ve got a high price to pay! Indeed, Japanese food is not cheap like Chinese food outside Japan.

It is trickier for Chinese to find a good Japanese restaurant in London than Japanese people. I was tired of finding a good Japanese restaurant once but then was harshly cheated so it became an impressive lesson for me to learn.

It may have been known that many posts marketing Japanese restaurant chains or individual restaurants in London, all of which offer detailed descriptions. However, what I was hoping to share is my personal experience, which might be useful for those who try to balance learning from marketing materials and individual bloggers, so it is expected to be written down as following.

Basically, Xiaohongshu (小红书) is a useful social media platform where bloggers share their practical experience and offer quick response, although most of whom have feminine backgrounds, in the case of gourmet expertise sharing, they are likely to be professional and can be trusted.

More interestingly, it seems that recently there have been increasing people running Japanese restaurants while they are from Japan or not ethnically Japanese, or in other sense somehow not relevant with ‘Japanese’. For instance, Hong Kongers operate Japanese restaurants, offering some ‘authentic’ Japanese dishes, which, in my perspective, do taste Japanese like the ones I ate back in my hometown, which is a city more close to Japan. In addition, they are reasonably cheap based on the local life standard in London. It usually costs about £30 per person and makes them feel full somehow. (Likewise, it is the same as some Cantonese restaurants I have been to before.)

However, my terrible experience is the time when I went to a Japanese restaurant run by Tibetans. At least, they looked like that group of people. I could not tell the difference but just supposed so. I ordered a dish of sashimi mixed with three different kinds of fish and a bowl of salmon ramen. They were surprisingly terrible and expensive. Before stepping into that restaurant, I noticed there was nobody sitting inside and I already presumed the restaurant was not famous but I still double-checked on Google Map and it gave them good reviews ranking at the first place and thus I entered, sat down and ordered my food.

Well, eventually, I paid a high price and got a great lesson from that night. I shall never come back to that restaurant chain (Yes, they are a chain with 3 restaurants, only.) and learn marketing posts beforehand to decide my choices.

Finally, just a great reminder, don’t forget your lovely Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose. They sell sushi, origiri and some smoked salmon in good quality and good price. Also check-in Kokoro, Itsu and Wasabi, which are all Japanese fast food chains focusing on the markets in towns and cities. London is the capital of UK so they are definitely there. You won’t be let down.

Always the loved one – meal deals

The most common meal deals that people can buy are the ones in supermarket chains. A meal deal contains a main meal (such as sandwich or salad), a snack (such as egg, sausages, chicken nuggets) and a bottle of drink (such as juice, soft drink or water). For instnace, it normally cost £3 before soaring up to £3.4 due to the cost-of-living crisis in Tesco. The price of meal deals vary in different supermarket chain brands, which may vary from £3 to £5. Typically, I buy meal deals in Tesco and Sainsbury’s.

In London the food cost more than in other towns so I find it more affordable buying meal deals in supermarkets rather than dining-in. I would rather waste £10 having my mouth stuck with food, which is what I will not do often, by the way.

In short, just be relaxed when you choose food. Unless popping up to luxury restaurants, you will not spend too much on essential food. However, you know, it is not easy to live in London.

London, a paradise for gourmet?

To begin with a short word, it could be.

I have limited budget in food so it hardly could be to me but I suppose it will be to some people.

London has been attracting people from all over the world including chefs. There is few choice for me to choose in terms of British food but instead I can easily grab one coming from various cultures. It feels like a trade-off. Fair enough.

Depending on areas inside London, a gourmet can find good places to dine in with a reasonable budget but, compared with other cities which are also famous for international students, the food in London is still more expensive and thus less competitive. However, London wins in its geography and reputation.