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mandragoraWatching HIGNFY tonight I saw that The Fat Duck at Bray has been named the world's best restaurant for 2005.
Not exactly a surprise. Nor was it a surprise that Britain had 13 restaurants in the top 50 compared to France's 8 and the US's 6.
Arguments aside whether the 50 named restaurants are *really* the best in the world (doubtful, I mean, how would you know? Has any of the judges visited *every* possible contender - I think not), it is a sure sign of what is well known in Britain. Which is that the (well-deserved) past reputation of Britain as a culinary desert is just that. Past. Nowadays British cuisine is actually really rather good. Which is why Britain has more restaurants than any other country in a list of what are undoubtedly 50 very good restaurants (even if they're arguably not the 50 'best').
So, to anyone thinking of travelling to Britain and some local trots out the usual "Oh but the food is just *terrible*" rubbish, tell them just that - they're talking rubbish. (Mandragora thinking with irritation of the New York investment banker she met on a bus in Barcelona who *insisted* that British cusine is crap, even though he'd never actually been to Britain and even after Mandragora informed him that Britain has more Michelin starred restaurants than the US does.)
ETA: Actually, it wasn't 13 of the top 50 restaurants were British but 14. I had missed out the winner!
Not exactly a surprise. Nor was it a surprise that Britain had 13 restaurants in the top 50 compared to France's 8 and the US's 6.
Arguments aside whether the 50 named restaurants are *really* the best in the world (doubtful, I mean, how would you know? Has any of the judges visited *every* possible contender - I think not), it is a sure sign of what is well known in Britain. Which is that the (well-deserved) past reputation of Britain as a culinary desert is just that. Past. Nowadays British cuisine is actually really rather good. Which is why Britain has more restaurants than any other country in a list of what are undoubtedly 50 very good restaurants (even if they're arguably not the 50 'best').
So, to anyone thinking of travelling to Britain and some local trots out the usual "Oh but the food is just *terrible*" rubbish, tell them just that - they're talking rubbish. (Mandragora thinking with irritation of the New York investment banker she met on a bus in Barcelona who *insisted* that British cusine is crap, even though he'd never actually been to Britain and even after Mandragora informed him that Britain has more Michelin starred restaurants than the US does.)
ETA: Actually, it wasn't 13 of the top 50 restaurants were British but 14. I had missed out the winner!
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Date: 22 April 2005 21:42 (UTC)g, d, rlh
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Date: 22 April 2005 21:46 (UTC)That's one of the things I love about London, the plethora of good restaurants. Actually, the only other cities I can think of that have a similar array of great restaurants are New York and Paris.
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Date: 22 April 2005 21:51 (UTC)no subject
Date: 22 April 2005 21:58 (UTC)Chips with Chinese would crack me up, as well. Even when I was a kid we were never served with chips at Chinese restaurants in Britain.
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Date: 22 April 2005 22:09 (UTC)I've never been to England, alas.
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Date: 22 April 2005 22:13 (UTC)no subject
Date: 22 April 2005 22:10 (UTC)no subject
Date: 22 April 2005 22:15 (UTC)But chips in a Chinese restaurant, no. I'm trying to imagine the expressions of restauranteurs in Chinatown if a asked for chips. *eg*
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Date: 22 April 2005 21:44 (UTC)no subject
Date: 22 April 2005 21:47 (UTC)no subject
Date: 22 April 2005 21:57 (UTC)While I was at Oxford, we saved up to go to lunch at the Manoir aux Quat' Saisons as well (another one on the Michelin list) and it was worth every penny, even to an awkward vegetarian like me ;)
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Date: 22 April 2005 22:03 (UTC)Ah, happy memories.
So, don't give up hope at getting a free course or two at the Fat Duck. And I agree, the good restaurants are worth every penny. Gordon Ramsey is still may favourite chef (for his food, not his personality). He used to make the Best Pudding Ever (it was a banana and chocolate confection) and I went into mourning when he took it off the menu. Sigh.
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Date: 22 April 2005 22:08 (UTC)By the by, er, I realise I've had your Angel DVDs longer than is strictly polite or conscionable. I have to sneak to Oxford to watch them, as the DVD player is decidedly unswitchable. But I will give them back ANY time you want: I'm in town most days if you want to yell for an urgent Charisma Carpenter fix.
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Date: 22 April 2005 22:20 (UTC)No rush at all on the Angel front. I've just received Buffy Seasons 1 to 4, so have loads of DVDs to watch if I want to watch the wonder that is Charisma. Besides I'm deep in the throes of fannish love for Stargate Atlantis atm, so when I watch anything tend to watch episodes of that. It's research, don't you know. *g*
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Date: 23 April 2005 10:14 (UTC)Ah, the cheap Buffy. That news caused me deep personal conflict, but I've realised the only Buffy I can really justify saving up for is Season Seven, which I haven't seen yet. Plus, my friend bought me Season Two on VHS for a bargain price, and it's so funny to watch - they were so young! and had such horrible outfits!
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Date: 23 April 2005 10:44 (UTC)On the cheap-Buffy front, I suspect that the cheap sets will come round again. I know a bit about the way the video/DVD industry works having been involved in the administration of the largest video-distributor in Britain back in the 1990s. After the initial 'we can make you pay high prices because they've just been released' point the marketability declines quite dramatically and there comes a point when they need to sell them for whatever they can get because of the terms of the distribution agreements etc. The only trouble is when they go 'out of print' so to speak.
I know what you mean about the outfits.
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Date: 23 April 2005 14:30 (UTC)I just watched an episode in which Buffy wore blue denim dungarees. I feel violated.
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Date: 22 April 2005 22:46 (UTC)Actually, the food on my own UK trip was great, sometimes in surprising places -- like at the tiny little motel/inn I stayed at in the Highlands, where the waitress warned us not to order anything but two dishes -- but those two (fried haddock and steak-and-onion pie) were *superb*. Also, the best hot chocolate I have ever had in the world was at the ski house restaurant at the top of Cairmgorn Mountain.
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Date: 23 April 2005 10:11 (UTC)On the drinks front, when you're back for the book launch we ought to go to the American Bar at the Savoy - best cocktails in town IMO. The Savoy Grill is good, too. Has a Michelin star.
Glad to read that your experience supports what I've been saying - that British food is no longer routinely terrible.
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Date: 23 April 2005 01:17 (UTC)no subject
Date: 23 April 2005 10:16 (UTC)The best pizza I've ever had was in Chicago. I was attending ZedCon (I just can't remember to call is ZCon) and we ordered some pizza to be delivered, asking the hotel's recommendation as to which pizza company to use. Eating that pizza was a revelation - I really 'got' pizza in a way I never had before. Even though I've eaten many a pizza in Italy.
Most British pizza isn't up to much, but sounds like you can get excellent pizza in at least one place in Ireland. It's probably run by a nice Italian couple, mind you.
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Date: 23 April 2005 06:15 (UTC)I have always had very good food at restaurants in England. And the widespread popularity of the table d'hote menu (everything is a la carte here) means you can get a very nice dinner at a less ridiculous price. The only time I had lousy food in England was at a Chinese restaurant in southwest London. Now, I'm picky about Asian food, living in a Pacific Rim city with a huge immigrant population, and lots of extremely authentic Chinese restaurants (and lots of extremely authentic other Asian cuisines, also). But I thought that food was absolutely crap.
Now, I could've just struck out with one particular restaurant, or it could be that Twickenham doesn't have a big Chinese population, and therefore no demand for good Chinese food. Come to think of it, I rarely saw a non-white face in Twickers, and it usually belonged to someone who was obviously there in a service capacity rather than as a resident.
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Date: 23 April 2005 10:26 (UTC)On the Chinese restaurant in Twickers front, I would say that Chinese restaurants in the suburbs can be very hit and miss. If you go to Chinatown in the West End, or one of the Chinese restaurants in Queensway, you're pretty much guaranteed a decent meal (even the very cheap Chinese there tend to be at least edible). And some Chinese restaurants there are world-class, absolutely superb.
But if I'm going out for a Chinese near where I live in North London I only go to the ones that I know are decent, which is probably about 1 in 3. I have the advantage that I know which ones are good, but if taking pot luck odds are I'd end up at one of the not-so-good ones. I suspect living where you do with a large Chinese population you're better off in the consistently good Chinese stakes than surburban London. Incidentally, my local Chinese takeaway is the best one I've ever come across. Which makes me very happy. *g*
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Date: 23 April 2005 10:02 (UTC)(And today I'm off to The Marriot in Cairo, where they're having a British Cuisine week in celebration of St George's Day. BACON BUTTIES*!!! Roast Beef & Yorkshires! Ploughman's Lunch! Hurrah!)
Ahem.
(*Bacon being a rarity on menus, here in predominantly Muslim Cairo.)
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Date: 23 April 2005 10:32 (UTC)Best food I had when I visited Egypt was the local cuisine, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I visted a couple of excellent restaurants in Cairo, the names of which completely escape me (and I've lent my Egypt guidebooks to a friend who is thinking about going). And when we were cruising along the Nile the chef was very good at producing Western style cuisine (the food was of a very high standard indeed) but his Egyptian cuisine was a revelation.
But no matter how much I travel, sometimes you just get a craving for the familiar on the food-front. When I lived in Gibraltar, much though I adore Mediterranean cuisine, I was glad that there's a large Safeway there, which imports all the British stuff on a daily basis and that meant I could enjoy both worlds. So I can well understand your glee. *g*