Drummond Street has been known for vegetarian Indian food and desserts for as long as I can remember.
If I found myself with an Underground Travelcard, it was nice to make the trek up here for a cheap meal, ideally a thali of several curries, rice, naan and dessert. Or a dosa. It was an Indian restaurant on Drummond where I had my first dosa.
Bringing together a group for a meal in a big city is always a challenge. Add in some vegetarians, some food adventurers and some poor students and the challenge gets more complicated. I suggested a spot on Drummond as the best compromise. Phil picked Ravi Shankar.
A number of us got the thali - a single platter with either small bowls, or small compartments in the platter to hold a number of separate curries. In the center of the platter is usually the rice and/or naan. We got the thali and a paneer and spinach dosa to share.
 
This thali contained four vegetable curries, a bowl of small pakoras, rice and a cardamom spiced custard as dessert. I love this custard, it’s very dense and a little goes a long way, especially when eaten in dainty bites with a small spoon. I wish I knew how to make this.
The dosa came folded over an ample amount of spinach and paneer, much like a stuffed quesadilla. On the side was a dipping sauce to scoop over. This is very filling and great to split with other diners.
  
Others at the table ordered a variety of dosa. Hannah’s dosa came with several dipping sauces and the crisp crepe-like dosa arrived at the table splayed up like an exotic fan. What was nice about this presentation was that the dosa stayed crisp while the ones that get wrapped go soggy quickly.
Another favorite of the night was Hannah’s aubergine curry ordered a la carte, and Mary’s crispy street food snacks she got as an appetizer.
Beverage-wise, many people ordered and enjoyed their beer and wine, while I am partial to the mango lassi.
 
Price-wise, this is good value for money. However, one important item to note is that this restaurant posts on the outside menu that gratuity is added to the bill. But who has that menu nearby when the bill comes?
So remember: you do not need to add a tip because it has already been done for you, unless you want to tip them twice.
Ravi Shankar (Euston)
133-135 Drummond Street
London NW1 2HL
Nearest tube: Euston and Warren St.
Aside from attending Mac’s wedding, I used this trip to England to catch up with a few friends from my Kew days.
Raphael’s one of them, although he now works under the umbrella of the British Museum. Both of us have left our former professions based on this whole “allergy to poverty” situation.
We headed down to South Ken to meet up with him and let him pick the lunch spot. He brought us to Raison d’Etre, down a street lined with French restaurants and cafes. Turns out the French Embassy is just at the end of the road and the businesses there were bursting with French folk. That suits Raphael just fine, as he is French himself!
The sandwich offerings were mouthwatering, with so many flavorful concoctions, and I have to say that while American sandwiches certainly are filling, there is often so much of the same stuff in them - mustard, mayo, pickle, lettuce, tomato, plain cheese - that they all start to taste the same. But the sandwiches here are like tasteful dishes, bundled into a crusty baguette.
  
Raphael had the bacon, chicken and avocado baguette. The filling was finely chopped, which was different to what I would expect, but apparently still good to eat. There were only a few places in England that I could order an avocado dish from with confidence that I would get decent avocado, so I was likewise suspicious of the avocado here. Raphael pointed out the healthy, green, fat avocado halves in the deli case and I felt better.
Ted ordered the winner baguette: melting raclette cheese, ham, tender new potatoes, and pickled onions. Ooooh!
I ordered a crusty baguette with grilled aubergine, goat cheese, basil, tomato and caramelized onions. It was delicious, and for a meat eater I was completely satisfied with a vegetarian sandwich. Grilled aubergine in sandwiches is amazing.
My only regret was not getting a panino. My first introduction to panini was in Morocco and France, where it is always done with a parbaked baguette, which then flattens into a crisp but chewy hot sandwich. I had full intentions of eating one if not several of those on this trip and I’d just passed up my first opportunity.
Over lunch we got caught up on our lives, then walked back to the Science Museum where we had a grand old time exploring the Launchpad interactive exhibit, then pottered around the Victoria and Albert Museum until closing time. Of course, in this heat, we dunked our feet into the shallow pool in the V&A courtyard along with half the other visitors.
Raison d’Etre (South Kensington)
18 Bute Street
London SW7 3EX
Nearest Tube: South Kensington
 
If Shakespeare were around today, he would be protesting - eloquently - to the council at all these commercial businesses overrunning the quiet residential neighborhood his home was once in. Then again, these businesses wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for him. So nevermind, I guess.
The childhood home of William Shakespeare is now in the center of a bustling tourist street lined with souvenier shops and tea rooms. Did someone say cream tea?
I go cuckoo for cream teas and Devonshire clotted cream seems very readily available now, so you can have a good one in just about any town, including Stratford which is nowhere near Devon. The Henley Street Tea Room is about 50 feet away from Shakespeare’s house, as my second photo at the top of this page shows from my seat at the Tea Room. While there were many places to choose from, and most offered a cream tea for about £4, this tea room specifically baked their scones on site, and also didn’t appear to be a chain.
The tea is freshly brewed, loose in the pot, so the service comes with a little strainer to place atop your teacup. After pouring the tea, milk and maybe sugar is added. Not before! That’s how it’s done, sir.
  
The scones are served warm, dressed with a little strawberry and powdered sugar. They’re also very generous with the cream and jam. It’s so good! Slather on as much as you can onto that scone, clotted cream is not to be wasted. The cream tea, including tea, scones, cream and jam was £3.95.
Henley Street Tea Room
40 Henley Street
Stratford-Upon-Avon CV37 6QW
England
 
We’d an hour and something to kill before catching the train back to London. A cream tea was on the cards, but surely that wouldn’t take 90 minutes. Liquid refreshment by way of a real ale was sought from a pub with character, preferably also with free wifi. Mac recommended the Old Thatch Tavern.
Ted selected the Purity Ale. I was warned that the wifi signal wasn’t so great and they were right. Oh well.
 
One item to note: this pub was a Football Free Zone.
Do you know what else was a Football Free Zone later that day? England. Oh snap!
The Old Thatch Tavern
23 Greenhill Street
Stratford Upon Avon CV37 6LE
England
  
Our B&B in Stratford was a cute little place called the Curtain Call. Although I dropped the luggage off there en-route to the wedding reception, and then we limped up to the room somewhere in the middle of the night, I didn’t get much of a look at the place until the following morning. It was cute!
But oooh, it was an aching head moment the following morning, sitting in full sun with the effects of late night dancing, eating and drinking still pounding in the head. Plus, breakfast was served only between 8 and 9 am. As in, eat it *before* 9 am. So really, it’s breakfast at 8 or 8:30 am.
Add to the confusion the man who came out to bring our coffee, tea and juice. Turned out he was American! The Inn is run by a couple - Cheryl and Dave, a British woman and an American man, former military based in the Cotswalls who fell in love with the area and an area woman, and stayed. Both were fun to talk to. They took great pride in running their businesses and serving up a fantastic full English breakfast and taking great care that the ingredients were of the highest quality and locally sourced. Free-range eggs, and sausages procured from a small business butcher and the Inn owner had visited the very farms the pigs came from. Plus bacon, beans, tomato, toast, and an assortment of cereals and milk.
 
Really, for £65/night, for two people with a private WC and shower, and including this great breakfast for two, in Stratford, for a Saturday night? That’s an amazing deal, it’s only about $100 total. Bravo.
The Curtain Call
142 Alcester Road,
Stratford-upon-Avon CV37 9DR
England
After a lovely wedding ceremony in Inkberrow, the crew drove on about 20 miles to Stratford, home of William Shakespeare, for the wedding reception.
 
After reception cocktails, which went quickly in the heatwave most of England was experiencing, there were two rounds of meals, and the first was a proper sit-down banquet. We were served the best wedding food I’ve had in my life. Well-coordinated, well-plated, served at the right temperature, and good quality, especially the vegetarian items (and for Britain, too!).
 
  
The vegetarians got to start the meal with a fruit salad made of melon and berries in wine. We meat eaters had smoked duck with a Thai eggroll and a salad of sprouted beans. The Brits and even a few Americans were confused by the sprouts, finding them “more Californian” than British, but they still ate them. It was good.
For the main course, we had a roast chicken with gravy, and the vegetarians had mixed greens in a cup of phyllo pastry. Both were accompanied with platters of roast potatoes and roast vegetables.
  
Dessert was a selection of items, all included on the plate. An apple tart with spun sugar, ice cream, and berries in a rich berry sauce. And somewhere is some wedding cake, as well! Finally, after coffees, some champagne to toast the wedded couple.
 
The second feast came later in the night, during the more casual party atmosphere. It was a whole roast pig with piles of gorgeous crackling!
  
Oh dear, this looks almost too human to eat. But we got over that quickly. The staff pulled the pork and served it in soft rolls with coleslaw. Here’s where things got tricky - they didn’t plate the crackling when they served up the sandwiches! You had to *know* it was in a large bowl under the roast pig and grab it yourself. Luckily, we have that kind of intuition, plus I asked for a portion of pork without the roll and got a nicely plated dinner instead.
The night went on with music, dance and we drank ourselves merry. I recall a conversation about peanut butter? Nevermind, just play the music. The Hotel guests had been pre-warned of disco music already, why not take full advantage of it.
 
  
The Shakespeare Hotel
Chapel Street
Stratford-upon-Avon CV37 6ER
England
The Shakespeare
It seems there are two pubs in all of Inkberrow. They are right next to each other, and involve a Bull. Well, now you know what happened to the head of the Old Bull when he got shipped off to the glue factory. Kidding!
The Bull’s Head is the newer of the pubs, and offers accommodation. This is where we stayed the night before the wedding, along with the groom and his party. So, drinks a plenty.
I seem to recall that the gang stayed up quite late at night, and involves cigars that may or may not have been initiated by me and at one point we were told to hush, but my jetlag had gotten the better of me and I spent most of the time crashed on the bed while people talked around me. That is better than Sanda, who was just like me - conked out - but sleeping mostly upright on the floor. Anyway!
By the next morning we were bleery and tired. This is when the gracious powers of the Bull’s Head talents came into play. Our Bed and Breakfast included a gorgeous full English breakfast with many options and I believe we took all of them, *especially* the black pudding.
The dining area is separate to the pub dining area and is nicely appointed with dark wood tables and good light. The table was loaded with all the proper accountrements of breakfast. Pots of tea, caffetieres of coffee, sugar and creamer bowls, endless spoons and hot plates of fried eggs, bacon, sausage, black pudding, tomatoes, mushrooms, potatoes, beans and fried bread. Gorgeous!
  
Who ordered the beer?! That’s not morning juice! Oh well, it was all good. The bloody mary cocktails were especially welcome, and the price tag was dead reasonable, £3.75 each.
The Bull’s Head Inn
High Street
Inkberrow
Worcester WR7 4DY
 
The primary purpose of this trip was to attend a wedding. We’d set off to the Cotwalls Friday morning after breakfast, arriving in Evesham around lunchtime. We were picked up and driven the rest of the way to Inkberrow, a very small town in Worcestershire where the wedding would take place.
We spent the afternoon with the groom and his friends catching up, or in my case, getting acquainted. And what better way to do that than over a pint of real ale from the local pub.
The Old Bull might be in a very small town, but does have a small claim to fame. This is the pub in the fictional British radio series ‘The Archers.’ Despite its requistite Archers memorabilia, there is undeniable charm to a wonky standing old pub with giant fire places, old rafters and real ales on tap.
 
Phooooaarr, just look at the creamy effervescence slowly settling. That’s a nicely pulled pint and must sit for a couple minutes before it’s ready to be quaffed.
And don’t forget, Simon plays on Sunday!
The Old Bull Pub
Old Vicarage
Village Green
Inkberrow
Worcester WR7 4DZ
There’s a greasy spoon tucked into the nooks and crannies of just about anywhere. The Shepherdess is one of them, and spacious with ample seating for workmen on break, or a friends’ meetup.
Our host Phil, has a weekly breakfast there with a group of friends, one of whom is responsible for the salivating eggbaconchipsandbeans blog, although he wasn’t there this morning. It was a cheery gang, all seemed to love breakfast and listed out an impressive variety of breakfast orders from a simple bacon sandwich to the full on, slap-up fry-up. If your favorite breakfast combination is not already listed, they’ll sort it out a la carte and prices remain reasonable.
It’s a no-frills environment. In place of the expected frilly curtains, for example, the windows have been painted with pictures of curtains.
I got a breakfast of egg, sausage, bacon and half portion of beans. I don’t think I actually got a half portion of beans.
If you love chips, order them. If you moderately like them, don’t order them and you will still get half a dozen as garnish on the plate, as seen above.
As a first British meal since arriving in England, we were comforted by a perfect cup of tea. Mellow, milky, and sweet without being sweetened. It was probably an inexpensive, big bulk brand, but it was just right for the moment.
Shepherdess Cafe (Hoxton)
221 City Road
London EC1V 1JN
UK
Nearest tube: Old Street
Wagamama noodles was one of my “splurge” meals in my poor student days. Some noodles, some edamame and an elderflower juice was easily £15, which translated to $30 given the weak dollar at the time. But I loved it. Trendy, clean, consistent quality of the noodles. Back in the day, there were only three Wagamamas in all of London, and I mainly went to the one in Soho.
The name apparently means “selfish” or something like that. You’re supposed to throw your face down into the noodle bowl and slurp it all up with no concern of politeness for rationing the food or lip smacking.
Now Wagamama is a widespread chain, with many shops all over London and beyond. This one we went to in Moorgate is like any other Wagamama. Dependable, efficient, with a staff of unknown gender preference except it’s definitely not yours.
Soup noodles are such a large portion you really can’t expect to consume the whole thing. It’s a good option during the cooler months when a hot spicy soup will warm you up.
My preference is the amai udon, #43, and has been for years. Pan-fried udon noodles with fried tofu, prawns, spring onion, mungbean sprouts, tamarind sauce and crushed peanuts. The only sad part of the dish is the lime wedge, which is often dry and mealy and yields perhaps a single drop of lime juice to dress the dish. But it’s expected - this is hardly the Mediterranean.
My beverage, while normally the elderflower presse, was freshly made carrot and ginger juice. I thought that was best after the long flight.
 
 
My dining companions got the toropikaru senzai ramen, and the yaki soba.
I like the details of the interior. Hooks on the wall to hang a jacket, hooks under the table to hang a handbag, and the table under the table to place whatever you can’t manage to hang. All this to keep the tables streamlined and clear of the disorganized baggage we hang off ourselves daily.
Wagamama (Moorgate)
1a Ropemaker Street
London EC2Y 9SS
Wagamama
Nearest tube: Moorgate
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