Lovely landscapes, lackluster food
London: the city known for constant changes and reinvention. A city also known for crappy food. Don't get me wrong, I love London. The nightlife, the theaters, the museums, the architecture, the history: I eat it up! One thing I can barely get down is the food here. I've avoided the culture shock bug for awhile but it's decided to hit me in the sustinance department. One thing I love about new cultures is the food. Trying new things is one of my favorite activities. The first thing I got here was my one of my must haves: a Dr. Pepper. My mouth is salivating since all I'd had in the last 24 hours were little shot glasses of water compliments of Air India. I crack open my soda like a dehydrated man in the Sahara desert. To my dismay, it tasted like someone had left it open for a week then re-added the carbonation. I tried to get past it but as a person who drank about 4 Dr. Pepper's a day, this was a huge shock. I've been trying to keep an open mind, trying McDonalds, Subway, KFC, local chips (chip chips not chips as in french fries) but it just isn't the same. I haven't been disappointed in the sushi department though, thank god! For the past week I've been sticking with a trustworthy salad. The hardest thing for anyone to screw up! This isn't a jab to the English people, I think they just need to discover the awesome world of flavor when it comes to some of their food.
Now not all food here is entirely terrible. There have been a few exceptions. Imagine my surprise when a British friend of mine offers to buy me breakfast and returns with a sausage enveloped in a pastry. To me, this is the British attempt at a corn dog. A bad attempt at that. I graciously accepted it but threw it in my fridge and forgot about it. The other day my roommate and I were starving and it was the only thing we had that didn't require cooking. We popped it in the microwave to warm it up and divided it down the middle. That sasauge pastry was one of the best foods I've ever had in my life! Now I see them every where: at bakeries, convenient stores, grocery stores. I buy one every time. Now I don't know how I'll survive without them in the States.
One thing is for sure, this London experience has stretched my taste boundaries to the point of breaking. All in all, it's probably a good thing. I'll go home appreciating food a lot more! I'll never cast my eyes at McDonalds ever again! Oh and if anyone ever walks past a Taco Bell, alert me right away. I'm about to the point of hurting someone for a chicken fajita or taco!
Now not all food here is entirely terrible. There have been a few exceptions. Imagine my surprise when a British friend of mine offers to buy me breakfast and returns with a sausage enveloped in a pastry. To me, this is the British attempt at a corn dog. A bad attempt at that. I graciously accepted it but threw it in my fridge and forgot about it. The other day my roommate and I were starving and it was the only thing we had that didn't require cooking. We popped it in the microwave to warm it up and divided it down the middle. That sasauge pastry was one of the best foods I've ever had in my life! Now I see them every where: at bakeries, convenient stores, grocery stores. I buy one every time. Now I don't know how I'll survive without them in the States.
One thing is for sure, this London experience has stretched my taste boundaries to the point of breaking. All in all, it's probably a good thing. I'll go home appreciating food a lot more! I'll never cast my eyes at McDonalds ever again! Oh and if anyone ever walks past a Taco Bell, alert me right away. I'm about to the point of hurting someone for a chicken fajita or taco!
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