London, Part I

I really don't understand any of this grumbling about how the English have terrible food.  Honestly, when I was studying abroad in London during the Winter/Spring of 2009, I was in food heaven.

Bangers and Mash? Pies? Fish and Chips? Victoria Sponge Cake? Mushy Peas?  Scones and Clotted Cream?  AMAZING!

Seriously, what in the world are the haters jabbering about?  I mean, I can kind of understand that argument 75 years ago, but now?  HELLZ NO!  Especially if you've taken a look at any of Jamie Oliver's or Nigella Lawson's cookbooks, I can't see how you can still say the English have terrible food.  But that is besides the point.  As much as I love traditional British fare, for this post I will (with the help of my best and oldest friend, Jeanie Weanie) reverse the misguided belief by showing you what else is offered in Merry Ol' London, especially some great ethnic food, perfect timing really with the London 2012 Olympics!

The first stop: Burger & Lobster, where they serve nothing but--yep, you guessed it--burgers and lobsters!  Okay, there are actually three things on the non-existent menu (and I say non-existent because there is really no physical menu): burgers, whole lobsters steamed or grilled and the lobster roll.  Since Jeanie Weanie went straight for the grilled lobster, I elected to try the lobster roll.  I have pretty high standards for a lobster roll since I used to live near Luke's Lobsters in the East Village and they have the whole seafood roll thing down to a science.

Steamed Lobster, Bloody Mary and Lobster Roll at Burger & Lobster!

The lobster roll that I got from Burger & Lobster was good.  Not great, but good.  My problem was that it was just too big and there was just too much butter, which made the entire experience a bit overwhelming, but the lobster was fresh--you could really taste it.  The fries were awesome though, and I'm a sucker for good fries.  Jeanie Weanie's grilled lobster was great since the lobster was fresh and the parsley butter sauce the lobster came with was OUT OF THIS WORLD.  Yea, it's just parsley, garlic, and melted butter, but I have a feeling if I tried to recreate it at home, it would still not be as good as how Burger & Lobster made it.  We, of course, washed the entire thing down with bloody marys that were the perfect drink for our seafood feast.  And I say feast because after neither of us could really walk without waddling--that's how much food they gave us.  It was £20 for each entree, which is a bit pricey, I'll admit, but it was absolutely worth it for what we got.

The second stop: Aladin, supposedly the best curry place on Brick Lane...but that claim has been made by ALL the curry houses on Brick Lane so it's to be taken with a grain of salt but this place was good.  Certainly better than all the Indian places I've tried in New York (sorry guys).  I absolutely fell in love with Indian food when I was studying abroad in London in 2009 and just haven't found anywhere in New York that could really compare.  Yes, I know all the Indian food I had in London is completely Anglocized but that doesn't really bother me one bit since it is DELICIOUS.

Our Indian feast at Aladin: Garlic Nan, Balti Lamb Kurma, Rice Pilau and Balti Chicken Tikka Bhuna

Jeanie Weanie and I went a little nuts with the ordering since we were both starving by the time we got to Brick Lane but you only live 9 times right?  Oh wait, that's a cat.  Nevermind.  Anyways, we started with papadoms and onion bhaji which were both good but pretty standard fare at all Indian places.  As much as they both tasted great, we were a tad distracted as we were really excited for our curries, Chicken Tikka Bhuna and Lamb Korma (or Kurma), made extra special as our waiter recommended we get both Balti-style.  Balti, according to the folks at Aladin, is "a unique concept of Kashmiri cuisine.  ..[where] traditional dishes are prepared and presented to the customer in a cast iron dish with natural spices and herbs."  Basically they are saying what is already awesome is kicked up another awesome notch (enough awesomeness for you in one sentence?).  We also ordered garlic nan and pilau rice and to be honest, what really rocked my socks was the pilau rice.  I'm not sure how well you can see in the picture but the pilau has sprinkles of different colored rice (red, yellow, green) that , combined with its incredible flavor (garlicky, soft, a bit sweet, a bit salty) just elevated it to one of my favorite side dishes EVER.  The curry itself was good as well but a bit one-dimensional for me, which is surprising since curry is usually a party of flavors in your mouth.  I actually preferred the fire red Balti Chicken Tikka Bhuna over the Balti Lamb Korma, which I felt was just overwhelmingly sweet, hiding much of the other wonderful spices that goes into the dish.   Either way, these two were the best Indian curries I've had easily in the past year so it nonetheless lifted my spirits.

Please check back for London Part II where I go to get some Fish and Chips and visit Borough Market for some awesome Paella!