|
There was a time when outside a large city it was almost
impossible to find a restaurant. Now however they are growing in number
and many small towns now have at least a few.
FAST FOOD CHAINS.
There are a few fast food chains, McDonalds is now insinuating
itself in almost every town in Britain but be aware that the prices are
MUCH higher than you would expect to pay here. Last check was $6.45 (approx.
exchange rate) for Big Mac (11/29/97). The local burger chain is called
Wimpy and they do some nice burgers but also have platters and other more
usual food too. Of course the most famous is the fish and chip shop, some
of which produce excellent fried fish and chips. Be aware however that if
you are in the north of England you will also be served with a scoop of
peas as part of your meal. Its the tradition there, and in some cases the
law that they cannot serve without it.
Other American chains like Pizza Hut have places there
too, but they don’t serve the same items as they do here and the prices
are much higher. Local restaurants are often much better and serve a more
varied fair. For the best local food around pubs are by far the best bet.
Many now have large dining areas and serve very good food, smaller ones
serve local and traditional dishes and may be the only place you can get
to try them. Restaurants can be very expensive and are not as well patronized,
they may be non existent outside large towns and tourist areas.
SMOKING
Many restaraunts do now have non smoking areas. However since many most of the best food is to be had in the Public Houses you need to take care where you sit. In many pubs they now have a separate section for non smoking but it can be quite close to the smokers. This is something that many pubs can do nothing much about since they are quite small and have limited space.
If smoke is a problem to you check the place out before you pick or assigned a table.
Most Public houses also have an outside garden, or at least a few tables outside somewhere. Many gardens are really nice and if you are visiting in better weather this is always the best place to be. English Gardens are so wonderful its better to be outside when you can. Tables are not usually very close together so smoke from one table should not bother you. Bear in mind that England is usually quite windy or breazy so pick a table upwind of any smokers and you will be fine.
BREAKFAST
Getting breakfast in Britain can be a problem. Now it is
becoming slightly less so in larger towns and cities but in outlying areas
there is usually nothing open to feed you. This is why bed and breakfast
is so popular as you do get the meal that is most difficult to come by.
Most hotels have a restaurant serving breakfast but they usually do not
expect people other than the hotel guests to eat there, often in the smaller
hotels you cant even get into the dining room unless you are staying there.
At one time the only other place you could get breakfast
was the motorway stops but there are a few places opening now that will
serve it.
HYGIENE
Hygiene standards in Britain are not as stringent as they
are in America so care should be taken where you eat. Some of the roadside
cafes and smaller ‘burger’ style bars can be quite unsanitary.
Hygiene inspections are carried out but not as often and the penalties are
not as great as they should be. This means that things can be lax in some
places so care would be taken in choosing where you eat. Most people who
have lived there all their lives get at least one case of food poisoning,
it’s just taken as part of the way of life and the offending place
is usually (although not always, some people are stupid) avoided in future.
It is not a common occurrence but it can happen and you should be aware
of it. In the 26 years I lived there I recall one very bad bought and maybe
two others, most people who live there have about the same experience so
don’t worry unduly just take care.
Be wary of the small vans and trailers parked at the roadsides
offering food. These places are often the only places in some areas that
serve breakfast outside the hotels so if you are not in a package to get
breakfast you may not have much choice. However these are the most likely
culprits for bad hygiene although some of them are really nice. This does
not include the vans found at the seaside which serve the fresh seafood
winkles and whelks. True you can get bad shellfish but that’s usually
due to the shellfish itself rather than the van. These places are very popular
and their turnover is so high that there is usually very little problem
with them. If you love seafood and can get yourself to eat marine snails,
give it a go, the British love them!
Worse still are the mobile vans which serve fish and chips
or other fast food which move around like ice cream vans. A large proportion
of the food poisoning cases I have heard of come from these vans, so they
should be avoided at all cost. If you want fish and chips go to one that
has a fixed store. There are some very good ones. If you ask the locals
they can usually tell you who makes the best Fish and Chips in town. Often
people will drive all the way across town to the best fish and chip shop,
its a British tradition after all.
MYTHS ABOUT FISH AND CHIPS
If you have never had take out fish and chips you have
probably hear that they are served in newspaper. This was true. However
the food was not placed directly on the newspaper but on a greaseproof paper
sheet then wrapped in newspaper for insulation. Newspaper is one of the
best insulators around and kept the food wonderfully hot until you reached
your destination to eat it. This was usually the river bank or some other
nice spot where you could enjoy the countryside and eat. Your food never
got black with newsprint unless you pushed it on the paper.
In some ways newspaper wrapping could be a nuisance since
there is a portion of the population that READS their newspaper wrapping.
However since the articles are usually continued on more than one page and
the newspaper is split up they then start bothering everyone else in the
party to find the rest of the article. This is considered annoying at best
and wrapper readers are viewed as unusual or old fashioned ‘nerds’.
Today most of the fish and chip shops have stopped using
newspaper instead using plain white sheets rather like the fish counter
wraps your fish in. It’s a sad loss of an old tradition but the servers
like it since their hands don’t turn black any more.
|
