I know that the cuisine in England was notoriously bad for a long time. Judie and I experienced it when were here in the early 80s. Maybe it is still the case outside of London (we’ll find out eventually), but it is emphatically not true here. There is a startling variety in international cuisines and they often get mashed together in interesting ways.

Yesterday I went to Borough Market, which is right on the other side of London Bridge. It’s about a 25-30 minute walk. I discovered that I could have taken the bus, but I didn’t have ticket (the don’t take cash), so I ended up walking home. (Lots of steps, but I’ve misplaced my Fitbit in the move.) Anyway, it is nice to figure out that Borough Market is so easy to get to, because it is a wonderful place. It is a bit like a farmer’s market, but while there are a few vegetable sellers, including one with a spectacular assortment of wild mushrooms (I should have taken a picture), it really isn’t about vegetables. It is just everything. There are numerous cheese vendors, wine places, fish and chips joints, stands where you can stop and eat or buy oysters, a place where you can buy partridge or pigeon, various butchers and fishmongers, pie salesmen (both meat and fruit), a stand specializing in different sorts of scotch eggs, every sort of desert you can possibly imagine, at least two places I found where you can buy a whole foie gras, and a truffle stand (see photo I did take). And it is all surrounded by various vendors selling all kinds of food to eat on the spot–at least 20 different varieties, probably more. It is all in this open air hall under the railroad tracks, so the lousy English weather doesn’t slow it down. Although I wonder what it will be like in the winter.

In this part of London (and I think in many areas), one of the striking and surprising things are the number of markets. Within a short walk from our flat is Spitalfields Market, Brick Lane Market and Petticoat Lane Market. And Borough Market is close. I walked through Spitalfields today and they had devoted a big area to selling vinyl records. (See photo and the hair on the guy in the front) And all of these markets feature a variety of stands and more permanent setups selling a variety of street foods. And then, as you walk about, you stumble across empty warehouses, lots or old breweries (and even an old gas station) that have been converted into markets, always selling a variety of foods and usually vintage clothes, jewelry, etc. I’ve been stopping and eating the street food as I explore and have eaten Japanese dumplings, pulled duck confit with salad wrapped in lavash bread, a venison burger and pasta carbonara. I have my eye on the Japanese hot dog stand. Pulled pork, hamburgers, Mexican food, Thai food, Indian and other subcontinent food, Turkish food, pizza/pasta and Japanese food are all commonly available at the sites where a number of food vendors congregate. If I wasn’t walking so much, I’d probably have gained five pounds.

We went to our second Brick Lane place last night. I had cooked two nights in a row (lamb steak and swordfish) and was ready to try something new. We went to Aladdin, which gets good reviews. It was good Indian food, but I’m not certain that it was all that different or better than Indian food we could get in Montclair. I am sure that there is sublime Indian food over on Brick Lane and I’m going to find it!

One of the odd things about the restaurant scene here is that everything seems to have multiple locations. The most ubiquitous is Pret-a-Manger, which is a coffee and sandwich/snack place that purports to be healthy and is literally everywhere (think Starbucks in Manhattan). Nearby or next door is almost always an Itsu, which is a Japanese fast food sort of place. They have be owned by the same conglomerate. But even small places that you wouldn’t think would have other locations often do. There is a bar and restaurant near Judie’s office called Slug and Lettuce. With that name, you’d think they would have trouble staying in business much less expand. But as I was wandering around, slightly lost, after trying a shortcut from Borough Market and ending up in a warren of lanes, I turned a corner and there it was–another Slug and Lettuce.

Another slight surprise: You think of England as a tea-drinking country, but you can’t tell that from the overwhelming number of coffee shops, some obviously chains and other that look like little hole-in-the-wall places, but probably have multiple locations (I wonder if that is true of Brooklyn Coffee, across the street from our flat?). There must be tens of thousands of baristas in London. It is almost impossible to walk a block and not find a place that will make you a cappuccino.

Enough blithering. TIme to get out and explore some more.