Okay, this is a blatantly false title. However, as I don’t count calories when I’m
home, I found no reason to start while I was journeying around the UK. Unfortunately, I didn’t start doing all of
this while I was in Budapest. I know that
I got some wonderful lunches and dinners, I just forgot to document them in
pretty much every way. Though I did get
one picture of a lovely rosemary chicken with fried potato slices. Now I’m gonna warn you, this will be a long
one. I will never skimp on a post about
food. And while this started off as one
veeerrrrrrrrrrry long post, I’ve decided to split this between Cardiff and
Bath. So…you’re welcome.
I was walking around Cardiff Bay (basically fangirling over
Doctor Who stuff) and found this Nando’s facing the water. I realized later I actually had a great view
of the Doctor Who Experience as I ate (squeeeeeeee!!). Since I didn’t figure that out until later, I
focused on planning what I would do the following day (well...that and eating). For the most part, I stopped at Nando’s
because I remembered a Buzzfeed
article about this uniquely British restaurant.
The Food: Butterfly
Chicken; Medium heat Peri-Peri sauce; corn; chips (French fries)
The chicken of this South African-Portuguese fusion
experience was juicy and well-prepared.
The peri-peri was initially a little underwhelming, but created a slight
burn after a few seconds. I added a
(super small) dollop of the hot sauce.
Using only a touch of sauce on each bite was like being slapped in the mouth with a
torch. It was wonderful. The corn was fire-grilled to perfection. While there were some strings still attached,
for me this only meant they used fresh ingredients instead of frozen. The chips weren’t as crispy as I would have
liked. However, I didn’t specify, so for
most people they would have been perfect.
In fact, for my grandmother, they would have been too crispy.
The Service:
As someone new to Nando’s, I was a little uncertain of the
social norms. So I’m not sure if this is
the practice of all Nando’s, but I needed to go to the cashier to order. This left me a little nervous because the restaurant is pretty much open to the public, so I took most of my things with me. The ordering system felt a little like a Dairy Queen, where you order
at the front, but the food gets delivered to your table. The sodas were on tap for the customer, and
unlike a fast food place they gave their customers actual glasses. I didn’t know at first I was responsible for
getting my own sauces and cutlery. I'm a smart girl though (sometimes), so I caught on pretty quick. The
food was brought to me, but with rice instead of corn. Frankly I can’t remember if I accidently said
rice, but the waitress quickly brought me some corn. I also had at least two people check on me
throughout my meal. When it came time to
leave, I wasn’t sure what to do about tipping.
Looking at two other tables, I saw that no tip was left. As an American I felt like a massive jerk for
not leaving a tip, but I followed the social cues as I saw them.
The Price:
It was all a bit pricy.
All told, my meal came to £13.00. This included my “bottomless” Coke (a luxury
I didn’t expect). However, the
combination of taste and atmosphere was well worth it. This Afro-Portuguese fusion restaurant (which
I’m told is a favorite of Niall Horan of One Direction…it’s a British boy band)
is definitely on my list of “Will Go Again.”
The Rating: 8 of 10
Frankly, I chose this restaurant
based on location. It was literally
right next to my hotel. I was planning
to go to one of the restaurants in the vicinity, and this was just the first
one to catch my eye.
The Food: Fish & Chips; Peas
I knew I couldn’t leave the UK without
having fish & chips at least once.
The battered cod was flakey and perfectly crisp. Their tartar sauce was tangy with more of a
relish taste than I’m used to. This
complemented the cod perfectly. The
chips were hot and fresh. I once again
forgot to ask for them extra crispy, but I’ve never turned down a fried potato
in this lifetime. The peas were
unexpected (I’m sure they were on the menu, but let’s face it, I was blinded by
the main attraction), and not necessarily something I would have chosen if left
to my own devices. At first I thought
there was something off about them. Then
I realized I’m just not used to fresh peas!
Generally I’ve only encountered these legumes as mushy green-brown pulps
from a can. These were plump and full of
flavor. While I didn’t finish them, I
blame this on the fact that I filled up on fish & chips. Plus, I
don’t think my body would know what to do with the sudden influx of a
food that’s technically good for me. As you might see, I also had a Guiness with my meal. Sure, it's technically an Irish beer, but it's one I like. This is a little confusing to most people I know, because I generally dislike beer; people in general dislike Guiness the first tie; and I loved it the first time I tried it! Either way...beer must go with fish & chips.
The Dessert:
I was regrettably unable to get any
dessert. I only mention it because I need you all to feel the tragedy of my dinner.
My first choice was the “Salted Caramel Chocolate Slice,” which offered
“layers of chocolate truffle and salted caramel on a chocolaty biscuit base,
served with salted caramel sauce and ice cream.” When I was told they were sold out, I tried
to assuage my heart break by ordering the “Cookie Cup Explosion.” This one seemed like a S’more’s wet dream
with its “cookie cup filled with chocolate brownie, marshmallow, and chocolate
honeycomb and served with ice cream.”
Alas, this was also denied to me.
While the “Chocolate Fudge Cake” and “Blueberry Pancakes” were both
available, my tastebuds were clamoring for one (possibly both) of the first
choices. [Please note, those dessert
descriptions were direct quotes from the menu.
I believe that should be a testament to how seriously my soul was
wounded by this denial of sweets.]
The Service:
It was pretty slow when I went, so while I wasn't expecting to be waited on hand and foot, I did expect a bit more attention. Once again, I went to the bar to order. I didn't feel as nervous about leaving my things at my table this time, as it was an open floor plan and the other two groups in there were nowhere near me. The two young men who co-served me were nice, and the guy who delivered my meal was kind enough to make a run for more tartar sauce. The bartender was pleasant and empathized with my dessert disaster. Overall, I think it's a different experience with service overseas versus in the US. Everyone's pretty nice, but they're not going to do cartwheels in hopes of a good tip.
The Price:
The prices here were surprisingly
low for a restaurant situated smack in the middle of the city center. My fish and chips - along with my absolutely necessary pint of
Guiness - only cost £8.55. The desserts
were £4.45, and what made my above story more terrible was that (had they been
available) I could have gotten both desserts together at that £4.45 price. Sure, I likely would have horrified the wait
staff with my overwhelming appetite, but those things looked delicious…and I always appreciate a
bargain! Once again, I was unsure of the
tipping policy, but this time I decided to leave some money for whoever cleared
my table.
The Rating: 9 of 10
Okay, I know what you’re thinking, but no I’m not doing this
backwards. I just caught a small
breakfast the first day and decided to have my “Full English Breakfast” before
my travels to Bath. I wanted to try the
breakfast at my hotel both because I wanted the experience, and because it fit
well with the schedule I needed to hold to.
The Food: Full English
Breakfast + Continental Breakfast
I’m splitting this up between the two breakfasts, because
the FBE was cooked to order, while the CB was normal hotel fare. The FBE came with bacon, eggs, and a tomato
sliced in half and covered with ground pepper.
The bacon was a typical UK bacon, which is thicker than what people in
the US are used to. I knew to expect
this from previous trips to the UK. What
I didn’t expect was to find my thick-cut bacon crispy. As I love my bacon that way, this was an
altogether pleasant surprise. My eggs
were a little runnier than I would have liked, but their overall taste was
good. My tomato was pretty fresh. I believe it was baked, so I had the rare
experience of a hot tomato. As someone
who enjoys combining the food on her plate, the overall combination of these
three was delicious. The salt of the
bacon enhanced the eggs, while the acidic tang of the tomato gave both eggs and
bacon a slightly sweet spice.
The continental breakfast was part of the package when I
ordered my FBE. So I got some tea (it is
the UK after all) and apple juice, some fruit, and a piece of toast with
honey. The drinks and fruit were as
expected, nothing especially wonderful or awful about them. However, I will applaud the Royal’s use of
fair-trade teas for their guests. As for
the honey, it was absolutely delightful.
It had that perfect taste of clover, like Spring dancing on my tongue. I was a little surprised they used
store-bought honey, only because they had signs everywhere highlighting heir
rooftop beehive (in 6B in case you were wondering). They also had
honey-based shower gel and shampoo, but I forgot to check if that was locally
sourced or not. I’m guessing if they
didn’t use their own honey, it’s something to do with their health codes or
something to that effect.
The Service:
The servers were pretty aloof, so I didn't feel too bad about not having some extra cash on hand for tips. I think part of their attitude stemmed from the fact that I came in toward the end of breakfast time, so they were all ready to stop serving. Once again, they were nice enough and answered questions if I had them, but my American brain wasn't quite awake enough to deal with aloof.
The Price:
My full breakfast came with an equally full price. The total meal was £11.50. I would assume that is in part because a
guest can choose more from the FBE menu than I did.
The fact that the continental breakfast was a buffet (from which I never
get the full value) should also be taken into account. Really, the full breakfast was only £1.60
more to get the bacon, eggs, and tomato. Like
most buffets, I think they raise the price a bit to offset the people who
(unlike me) try to “get their money’s worth”…and then some.
The Rating: 7 of 10
As you can see, I kept myself
pretty well fed as I walked around Cardiff.
And when I say “walked,” I mean I averaged 8 miles a day (so sayeth the Fitbit). For someone in an office job, I can tell you
my feet were KILLING me by the time I came home. But even taking all of the awesome food I’ve
detailed above out of consideration, I wouldn’t trade my experience for all the
foot rubs in the world! Now, I don’t
want anyone to think I was overly frivolous whilst traveling. I did have a few cheap, on-the-go, meals and
snacks to keep me going as well. Next I'll detail some of my meals in Bath…and I’ll hopefully have that up in the next couple of days.
Until then, stay happy, and eat
well!
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