Literally just a bunch of food recommendations
Hello again! Let’s do something lighthearted this time.
I mentioned in my last email from the TinyLetter platform that I was in Scotland at the time. It was a whirlwind trip - fun but absolutely exhausting - and I have some regrets about flying round-trip from London and taking the train up to Edinburgh rather than trying for a more direct route, because good lord that was a lot of time to spend on trains. What I don't regret, however, is that this gave me the chance to do two things in London. One was to stop by Claribel's old abode, as I mentioned. The other was to once again hit up what's possibly my favorite restaurant in all of London, and that's what got me thinking that I should share my favorite food spots from my giant trip with y'all.
London
The Bumble Bees - the aforementioned favorite restaurant. This was unquestionably the best value on food I found in all of Bloomsbury. Reasonable prices, and all the dishes I’ve tried across my four visits here - from a lamb burger (I think it was lamb, at least, I don’t quite remember) to a few different curries - were absolutely wonderful. Their chefs can cook for a wide variety of spice levels without ever losing the flavor of any dish, which I personally appreciate as someone with a medium-ish spice tolerance. I’d particularly recommend the balti chicken with their fun multicolored rice; balti was one of my favorite food discoveries over last summer’s trip, and when I ordered it here on my February visit I absolutely housed the whole plate.
I also can’t say enough good things about the staff. One server in particular, whose name I sadly can’t remember and couldn’t quite ascertain from Google reviews, was always incredibly kind and solicitous. At least twice, he insisted on giving me a cup of chai after dinner, on the house. He also remembered me instantly when I came back in February, though at that point he hadn’t seen me since the previous May. That visit was also when he brought me a serving of their special-recipe gulab jamun on the house for dessert; as he informed me, the gulab jamun you can get in cans is absurdly sweet, so they retooled the recipe to use half or less than half the sugar but maintain a nice sweetness. (Can confirm, it was very sweet. I can’t even imagine what the canned version must taste like.)
Other major points in this place’s favor: outlets at almost every seat (great for charging your phone if you need to) and free wifi (great if, like me, you don’t have international cell service). The decor is definitely kinda Instagram-bait, but it’s cute and I liked it. Seriously, give it a shot.
Sandwich Street Kitchen - I ended up coming here twice, specifically to have their absolutely mind-blowing shakshuka. God, it was so good. Pretty reasonable price, too, considering it’s in central London.
Land of Fire - bit more upscale/expensive, but oh, what a treat it was. Madison has a pretty diverse food scene, but even so, I’d never had Azerbaijani food, and I jumped at the chance to try it. The space is kind of small, so you may want to see about making a reservation before heading here.
The Harrison - I’ll be frank, a lot of the pubs in England kinda blended together in my mind. I distinctly remember one irritating evening in Kew where I was trying to find someplace to eat in walking distance, and it seemed like every single damn pub in a half-mile radius had the exact same menu. The Harrison sticks out in my memory, though, partly because I stumbled across it by accident and partly because it felt genuinely cozy and welcoming. One of its points of pride is being a local live music venue as well as a pub (and a hotel, actually), and when I stopped in, there had recently been a big community push to save the space for precisely that reason. It made sense, honestly, once I read that. The place felt very loved. I don’t know how else to describe it.
(I was also thrilled to be able to kip on a wonderfully comfy couch by a fireplace while I ate my fish and chips. Most of the beds I slept in over there, uh, weren’t the softest. This couch was a lovely respite.)
Lincoln
Cosy Club - This one is actually a chain, with locations all over England. The one in Lincoln is in the old Corn Exchange building, which frankly is the reason I originally went inside. And my god, it’s beautiful in there. It’s decorated in true Victorian-period style, i.e. with wallpaper and paint in deep and vibrant colors, cushy furniture, and paintings/prints/whatnot on almost every inch of wall space; I often found myself looking for familiar faces among the portraits. At the same time, though, they kept the immense vaulted ceiling and made sure it let in plenty of natural light, so the space never feels claustrophobic like so many Victorian homes would have. I miss it a bunch, in no small part because the ol’ Facebook algorithm keeps tossing pictures of that glorious interior onto my newsfeed. Pining, nbd.
Doughnotts - excellent donuts. I actually got a whole box of ‘em on my last Friday in Lincoln and brought them to the staff at the Lincolnshire Archives, because I was so grateful for how lovely and helpful they’d been.
Sign of the Fish - the oldest operational chip shop in Lincolnshire, and one of the oldest in England! It opened its doors in 1899 and is still serving people today. The space itself is quite small, so you might want to grab food to go, but there are plenty of spots in the general Cornhill Quarter area to sit down and people-watch while you eat. That’s what I did, and it was lovely aside from the slightly annoying spot of wind.
Little Korea - I’ve had a thing for Korean fried chicken ever since I had it for dinner on Christmas Eve 2021 in Cologne, Germany. It was lovely to find such a good spot for it in Lincoln, and I also got to try a new soju flavor (plum - delectable).
200 Degrees Coffee Shop - this was my spot to hole up and work, when I wasn’t doing so at the Lincolnshire Archives or just my Airbnb. Definitely also specifically came here for my morning latte on a few occasions, even though it was out of the way from my walking route to the archive. Worth it.
Louth
Helal Tandoori - this restaurant is the current tenant of what’s believed to be the oldest surviving secular building in Louth, a late-medieval building called Cromwell House. (The oldest religious building is, obviously, St. James’s Church just down the road.) Regarding the place’s name/sake, there’s an old rumor or legend that Oliver Cromwell stayed in this house before the important battle at Winceby, though that doesn’t seem to have been confirmed either way. The place has been a lot of things over the centuries, but at the moment it’s Helal, which I’ll always remember as the place where I first had (and became enchanted by) balti chicken.
A word of warning for tall people: duck. I’m five-seven and a half, and even I had to watch my head at a couple points.
Marrakesh - incredible Moroccan food. Honestly, Louth absolutely knocks it out of the park in terms of its culinary diversity. I had their kofta tagine, which was served over couscous, and I think I may have actually ascended to nirvana during that meal. It was that good. The decor was absolutely stunning, too.
Bar Castilléjar - I visited Barcelona in early 2022, and I’ve been missing tapas restaurants ever since. This place scratched that itch for me, and then some. Their menu changes quite often, depending on what local ingredients are in stock, but the place is also very rooted in that specific northeastern Granada region of Spain, especially in its decor.
Mablethorpe
Layla’s Little Cow - this is one of several small food stands on the somewhat gaudy Mablethorpe sea front, which as a whole reminded me of nothing so much as the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. However, I have to shout out Layla’s specifically, because it’s from this little ice cream stand that I got far and away the best milkshake I had in all of England. To be honest, it was the only good milkshake I had there, i.e. actually properly thick instead of all runny. (I swear to God, the Brits must think “chocolate shake” means “take some chocolate milk and shake it.”*) It was, however, also excellent on its own merits, especially with this fun extra marshmallow garnish.
Look at it. It’s so cute.
Dover
Cinnamon Island - another incredible Indian restaurant I found on my first evening in Dover, located in a historic building right on the way to the beach. I felt a bit silly afterwards for raving about the murgh makhani I had there without realizing (at least initially) that I also know it by the name of butter chicken, but what the hey.
I think that meal felt extra soothing in part because I was still reeling from my grandfather’s passing when I arrived in Dover. I definitely needed some comfort food, and Cinnamon Island delivered.
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*Incidentally, while in Scotland I found further fuel for my theory that the Brits don’t actually know what a milkshake is…
Costa Coffee… listen, I love you, but what the hell.
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Anyway, now I’m hungry. Off to find a bite to eat — till next time!!
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