Some Stuff I Ate in London, England

Halva stracciatella from Gelupo

Gelupo frequently comes up on lists of the best ice cream in London, and based on this one flavour — yeah, that makes sense.  Though it’s hard not to compare all future gelato to the mind-blowing stuff I recently had in Italy, for gelato outside of that country’s borders, this is top-notch stuff.  It’s rich and creamy, and the addition of halva to the classic chocolate and sweet cream stracciatella combo is actually fairly ingenious.  It works really, really well.

Roast turkey and fries from Tongue & Brisket

I mostly ordered this because it was Thanksgiving, and it was the only place I could think of that was serving roast turkey.  It turned out to be pretty tasty; the white meat was a bit dry, but the very tasty gravy mostly took care of that.  And the thick-cut fries were the perfect balance of crispy exterior and creamy interior.  The whole thing was a bit one-note rich, but I didn’t dislike eating it, that’s for sure.

Salt beef sandwich from Tongue & Brisket

Tongue & Brisket specializes in salt beef, so I pretty much had to go back to try the sandwich.  Salt beef is basically the British version of Montreal smoked meat, but with substantially less spicing (so it’s probably closer to corned beef).  At Tongue & Brisket, they serve it with mustard and pickles, and it’s tender, tasty, and satisfying.

Full breakfast from The Regency Cafe

I actually had a few full breakfasts while I was in England (I was there about three weeks), but the best one was from the Regency Cafe, and it wasn’t even close.  This wasn’t my first visit to this place, but I’m very glad I went back; every component of the breakfast was perfectly executed.  This place pops up on a bunch of lists of the best restaurants in London; it was absolutely packed when I went, and hey — what do you know.  Some places are popular for a reason.