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Holiday in the UK - food!

Antje77 said:
Brilliant!
I already found one I want to stay at close to Birmingham. :)
It is the oddest looking pub, they make a point of inviting dogs at the bar and for a meal (I'll be without my dogs for 10 days so I'll need to meet other people's dogs!), menu looks easily adaptable to low carb and not too expensive, and you can put your tent up for only £10!
www.thefishatwixford.com

The Fish at Wixford

The Fish at Wixford
www.thefishatwixford.com

Bookmarked the ukcampsites website on my phone. :)
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I live about 30 miles from Brum. Alcester is in the same county as me, but at the opposite (posh) end and probably nearer Stratford upon Avon than the city centre. Local pronunciation is Olster. Pretty little market town with an abundance of pubs
 
Another tourist question to which someone may have answers. :)

I'd love to go see a play at some point, but I know theater is very expensive in your country (it's heavily subsidised around here, but you get free museums to make up for that).
Now my cousin has surprisingly offered me €45,50 for my fourtyfifth-and-a-half (or should that be fortyfive-and-a-halfth?) birthday to see a play!

You wouldn't think it when reading my postings, but there definitely is a language gap when it comes to understanding spoken English, so I'd prefer to see a play I know and love.
This can be a professional play but I do love amateur plays as well!

So I'm looking for tips, either on plays or on how to do a google search for them.
Top of my list is Hamlet, my father loved it and he made sure to pass it on so I've seen many versions of it and am always willing to see more.

Then there are quite a lot of plays by Pinter (The dumb waiter, Victoria Station, A kind of Alaska to name a few) I'd be very interested in seeing.
Also Becketts Krapp’s Last Tape would be amazing but I think chances on that one are very slim.

Apart from the plays I know, I'd be interested in any one act play festival with different amateur groups performing short plays.
 
Goonergal said:
Hi there

A few thoughts from me. I’d avoid Brick Lane. I don’t like spicy food (and it doesn’t like me!) but those I know who do say the food there is overpriced and poor quality compared to that found elsewhere. From experience, you can be quite aggressively pursued along that street by restaurant staff seeking to up their numbers! If you’re after Indian or South Asian then some of the suburbs in Birmingham - Handsworth, for example - will be a lot better for cheaper, authentic food and easy to reach from the city centre.

For ‘on the go’ low carb supermarket options then Marks and Spencer is a stand out winner with their deli section - I suspect you may already have a list from the What Have you Eaten Today thread. Some branches have a rotisserie too, for cheap, hot takeaway food.

There are still some traditional pie and mash shops around, including a couple near places I know you’re heading to and I’d you’re able to bolus well for pastry, I'd recommend giving that a try.

And proper fish and chips, of course. Poppies in Shoreditch is pretty decent. Or try in a seaside town - might be some close to Harwich.
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Pie and Mash!!! now theres a good reason to have blood sugars, literally the best food ever invented! some people dont like it but they dont count, the world has two types of people in it, people who like pie and mash and meh

now must read rest of this thread because reading food threads so useful at 6am when im not eating till 6pm
 
Antje77 said:
First night spent at my aunt, we'll have breakfast shortly.
She clearly plans to send me on my way thoroughly fed!

Heading for the ferry at 11 or so, it will depart at 2:15 pm. :)
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Very glad you didn’t arrive last night. It wasn’t weather for camping at all! Much improved today. Safe travels.
 
Goonergal said:
Very glad you didn’t arrive last night. It wasn’t weather for camping at all! Much improved today. Safe travels.
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Not sure how bad it was further south but up here in the north west, a tent wouldn't stand up to it. Even our Force 10 mountain ents wouldn't have. Em's parents had a heavy duty canvas tent in their back garden, storing stuff, and even the last, lesser storm tore it apart. Last night's would have torn it to shreds.
 
How was the crossing? The North Sea can be pretty rough in bad weather. Hope it wasn't too bad. But of course, you are a sailor so should be alright on a rough sea - doesn't always follow though.

Reminds me; the one time I knew my husband to be seasick was on a hydrofoil ferry from Guernsey to St Malo. And he was the only one who was! Not a fair comparison because the motion of a hydrofoil and a boat or ship of any kind us quite different.
 
Annb said:
How was the crossing? The North Sea can be pretty rough in bad weather. Hope it wasn't too bad.
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Seas were very calm so the crossing was mainly boring!

The driving to my camping was an adventure though!
I'd expected to be able to follow the rest and copy them, but my route took me to a small winding road and I only met a handful of cars coming from the opposite side!
No-one coming from behind, even though I'm sure I drove way slower than any local would do. :hilarious:

Arrived at the camping at 10 pm. Very odd to arrive in a new country in the dark so you can't even see what's different!

The only neighbours I have are goats, looking forward to meeting them in the morning!
 

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Quick question.
In the Netherlands we have this store called Action, which sells very cheap stuff.

Anything like that in the UK?

I think I need a new air mattress...

Not completely sure yet, maybe mine still stretches a bit because it's new, but I did hear a funny sound when pushing the air out this morning, and my behind is sinking deeper into it then it did this afternoon when I first sat on it after inflating.
 
Antje77 said:
Quick question.
In the Netherlands we have this store called Action, which sells very cheap stuff.

Anything like that in the UK?

I think I need a new air mattress...

Not completely sure yet, maybe mine still stretches a bit because it's new, but I did hear a funny sound when pushing the air out this morning, and my behind is sinking deeper into it then it did this afternoon when I first sat on it after inflating.
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B&M Bargains, Home Bargains both worth a try.
 
Antje77 said:
Quick question.
In the Netherlands we have this store called Action, which sells very cheap stuff.

Anything like that in the UK?

I think I need a new air mattress...

Not completely sure yet, maybe mine still stretches a bit because it's new, but I did hear a funny sound when pushing the air out this morning, and my behind is sinking deeper into it then it did this afternoon when I first sat on it after inflating.
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You might struggle to find camping stuff in general stores this time of year as they clear "summer" for Christmas. Search instead for camping stores, or online use Argos to pick up in a store (they often have locations in a Sainsbury supermarket)
 
In Response said:
When my Dutch colleagues come to the UK, they always want to eat an Indian curry and, if you avoid the rice and naan, it can be reasonably low carb.
Unfortunately, I do not know the are you are visiting so cannot recommend a specific restaurant or take away but there is a large South Asian community in Birmingham so I know you will have a good choice in that area. Or, if you are in London, Brick Lane is THE Bangladeshi area (many "Indian" restaurants are run by people with a Bangladeshi heritage).

If you are looking for something that you do not have to cook and can nibble on in your tent, Britain has an amazing selection of cheeses. It would be difficult to recommend any as there are so many. But if you find a farmshop, they often have a good selection of local cheeses that you may not be able to find in a supermarket.

Talking of supermarkets, the main ones are Lidl and Aldi which you may be familiar with on the cheaper end; Asda, Tesco, Sainsburys and Coop in the middle; Waitrose and Marks and Spencer food halls are usually on the pricier side. That said, most have some sort of "budget" range although I always smile at Waitrose Essentials range which includes essentials such as avocados, baking parchment, laundry water softener tablets and halloumi.

Snacks are usually quite carby but if you can, I would encourage you to check out the British crisp (Americans call them "fries"). We have many many flavours with aisles of them in supermarkets. I enjoy Skips which have less carbs per bag (7.5g for a small bag) with a "prawn cocktail" flavour (at least that's what is says on the packet)
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I think you might find that Americans call crips,chips.
 
AKANanaCG said:
I think you might find that Americans call crips,chips.
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Yeah, that was a typo which someone else commented on but I never corrected as it would make future comments meaningless.
I didn't think it made much difference my response with regard to what someone visiting UK might like to eat.

Sorry for my inaccuracy.
 
Antje77 said:
I'll be visiting the UK for ten days early october so I thought to ask you what foods I definitely want to try!
Having so many locals on hand on the forum I would be stupid to not make use of your collective wisdom. :joyful:

I'm looking for tips on supermarket foods as well as eating out in the cheaper segment.
And foods good to bring home with me as well.
Which supermarkets are the nicest? Or are they more or less the same?

I'll have a single camping cooker, a frying pan, a cooking pan and a small kettle. And a very small tent, no awning, so the ability to cook depends largely on the weather. Although I suppose I could still cook soup when it rains. :hilarious:
So ideas for easy (but tasty!) meals that don't need cooking are very welcome, but please add your tips for cooked meals as well, I expect it won't rain every day!

As for eating out, what are favourite places?
I'll be driving around roughly within the Harwich - London - Birmingham triangle, so specific small village places within that area are much welcomed.

I've never eaten a full English breakfast so I definitely need to try (minus toast and beans, and definitely not right after waking up), but where do you eat something like that? I'm not very experienced at eating out, not even in my own country so pretty much out of my depth here.

Should you happen to know a very nice small camping within that area, preferably with goats, chickens, guinea pigs, cows etc. or a nice view over a lake or such, tell me! So far I have only planned my first night so I can go wherever I want. The only thing I need in a camping is a spot to put up my tent and park my car, nothing fancy like electricity.

Any off topic tips on traveling in the UK, places to see, things to do are welcome too, derail away all you like!
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well if you are in or around London there is the walkie talkie building as it is like that image. It's called the Sky garden and is free of charge https://skygarden.london/what-is-sky-garden/
I've not been myself but it looks beautiful. One day I will go and see it for myself.
Also visit the science museum I've been to about 4 museums in London all fasincating. All free of charge. There is 26 free museums in London all worth visiting. Obviously you need a day to get around and see everything in one of them.
 
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