Since being little, my trips have of course always been about the experiences, but it has also been centered around food. My family is a massive foodie family, and the food we consume while in a new place, or a place away from home, is a focal point. Even at home, food is always a topic of care and love, and we all enjoy cooking and eating together as a part of our daily routine. London is my personal favorite food city because it is the vegan capital of the world, and I am, in fact, a vegan, so this may be a little biased. Simply due to how much easier it is for me to eat here secures its place at number one. And then on top of that, all the food is phenomenal. The entire time we have been here I have only had two bad meals. One was the gnocchi from borough market, and the second was a bowl of white rice with like three pieces of cabbage and tofu on it, plus zero seasonings. Ever. Other. Meal. has been an absolute hit.
One of the first meals we had while we were here was at Seven Dials market before we saw Mousetrap. I chose a delicious-looking pasta place and had a basic tomato sauce with pasta. There was a little set-up behind the counter where the cook put together our food right in front of us. For my meal, I saw her scoop up pasta and warm it through, and then I saw her ladle some tomato sauce into it. While I think the 8-pound price tag for boxed pasta and tomato sauce was a bit high, it was absolutely amazing. It was quite a small serving, and due to the pasta being precooked, it was a bit soggy when I ate it, but the flavor of the tomato sauce made up for it.
The other most memorable food I have had also happens to be my favorite food I have had since I have been here and is now in my top five favorite food of all time, and that is the dairy free chocolate cookie ice cream from Anita Gelato. Ok, so I keep calling it ice cream and I need to stop doing that because I do think there is a difference, but because it’s dairy free I am not sure. Not sure if that makes sense, but in my head it does! Anyway, from the moment that gelato/ice cream touched my lips, I was sold. It was super dark chocolate with huge chunks of cookies in it. Basically, it was a dark chocolate cookies and cream, and I have never loved anything more. There was so much gelato pilled into the cone, but I still ate it all despite feeling so sick after because it was that good. I will never not think about and dream about this gelato until the next time I can have it. I would truly try and beg anyone, regardless of how much they like gelato or ice cream to try this place because it was universally agreed that this was the best gelato or ice cream or anything that any one of us had ever had. I will get off my soap box now, but in case I haven’t mentioned it, it was really good.
I think that food is such an interesting way to get to know a city, and London has such a variety that you can get food from every corner of the Earth in just a few square miles. Obviously, the experiences have been amazing, but the food has been one of the highlights. I will miss the ease of access I have to food here and the variety of delicious and never ending meals.
Theatre in London U of A 