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Restaurants in London and the rest of England serve everything from imaginative nouveau and continental cuisine to traditional British standards, like shepherd's pie. Breakfast is usually a big meal in England (don't be surprised to see a breakfast fish or steak), and don't forget afternoon tea time!
Once upon a time, you could always count on getting lousy meals in England. English "home cooking" — dull, insular, and uninspired — was the joke of Europe. That began to change in the 1980s, with the influx of new cooking trends that favored foods from France and Italy. Since then, London has become a major food capital, and the rest of the country has raised its food consciousness considerably. London is certainly the easiest place to find restaurants serving inventive Modern British cuisine, but you also encounter the new cooking style in smaller towns and even in some pubs. And don't forget that spicy Indian cooking is England's second "national" cuisine. You find thousands of Indian and other ethnic restaurants throughout the country.
But traditionalists have nothing to worry about. You can still get your hands on all those wonderful Old English faves — eggs, kippers, beans, and fried tomatoes for breakfast; bubble and squeak; roast beef and Yorkshire pudding; meat pies; fish and chips; cottage pie; sticky toffee pudding; and trifle. When traditional, non-fancy English dishes are done well, they're super satisfying and delicious. If you travel around the country, look for local and regional specialties, such as sausage, lamb, cheese, and desserts.
While you're in England, you can also look forward to the world of afternoon tea. In the West Country, you get a cream tea, which consists of tea, homemade scones, strawberry jam, and thick, rich, clotted cream from Devon or Cornwall. (You put the cream on your scones, not in your tea, and then top it all with the jam.) Elsewhere, you may find whipped cream in place of the clotted cream. You can have teas as simple or as fancy as you want.
Visiting an English Pub
The pub (short for public house) is an English institution. England is awash with historic pubs, where you can sit all evening with a pint of ale, bitter, stout, or cider and soak up the local color. No matter how tiny the village or town, you always find at least one pub. In London and larger towns, you can do a pub crawl, walking (upright) from pub to pub and sampling the diverse brews on tap. Although you can get a hard drink at both bars and pubs, when you're in a pub, you're better off confining yourself to beer.
 | Parliament has instituted the strict hours that most pubs adhere to: Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 10:30 p.m. Americans, take note: In a pub, you never tip the bartender; the best you can do is offer to buy him or her a drink, an acceptable practice in England. Ten minutes before closing, a bell rings, signaling that the time has come to order your last round. |
Considering smoking laws in England
On July 1, 2007, England went smokeless. Smokers are no longer allowed to light up in restaurants, pubs, or any public place. For non-smokers, the legislation is literally a breath of fresh air.
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