I would love to tell you that I branched out so widely during this trip, but I haven’t. I have had Five Guys on five separate occasions, Slim chickens twice, and I think I have a medical condition where my body instinctively forces me to involuntarily walk to anyplace that sells pasta. I have had so much pasta. I have had fish & chips at a couple different locations in London and in Oxford…massive fan. It’s a classic here and they’re right for it, fish & chips is lovely. I only had one semi-expensive meal with a group which included some of the best asparagus & gnocchi I’ve ever had, but again with the pasta.
Pasta is almost religious to me, but to me the most spiritual of all pasta dishes is macaroni & cheese. It’s my favorite dish. (Isaac please if you’re reading this just stop. Stop now.) Mac & cheese makes me giddy. It’s the most comforting food, it’s hard to mess up, it contains my favorite ingredients and I have genuinely cried over a bowl of mac & cheese before. It’s just that special to me. I have bad news though, the macaroni & cheese I had in London was absolutely repulsive. I was disgusted, disappointed and have been on a hunt since the first week of this trip to find the creamiest, cheesiest mac & cheese available. This is where the good news comes in, I FOUND IT. I FOUND IT TODAY.
I don’t know if you all have noticed, but there is a chain called Greene King that has over 2,000 pubs in the UK. They all have different names, but the same personality, kind of like anyone named Karen. Except imagine if being a Karen meant you were nice, fun, exciting, safe, and felt like home. Greene King’s are elite, every single one I have been in has an amazing atmosphere and really good pub food. This one though, this Greene King, the Rose & Crown wins. If I could have given a hug and a kiss on the forehead to the cook at this pub, I would have. Simply because there was mac & cheese on the menu, and delicious mac at that. I was ecstatic when I ordered, because I have built trust with this chain. I just knew deep down that if anyone understands how important it is that this comfort dish is creamy & inspired, it’s Greene King. When the big moment came and our waiter brought us our food, I took one look at what was in front of me and grabbed onto Dru’s arm harder than I should have. Then, I said a prayer in my head blessing the cook, the food, my friends, the owner of Greene King, the Queen herself, hell I even prayed for the dogs that were allowed in the pub with us. Everyone deserved a little mention to the Lord above because I was finally eating macaroni & cheese that looked like it was prepared by an angel. Even better, it tasted holy too. I ate more than I typically eat, but I am trying to control the urge to go back this very minute and have the same thing for dinner. I love mac & cheese okay.
As childish as it may be, this was overall my most rewarding eating experience on this trip and I will never take it back. It was so simple and gave me so much joy, if you need some classic comfort food tonight, run to Rose & Crown. I seriously might be there.
Theatre in London U of A 