Dog and Gun: True to it’s name

British cuisine has a bad rap.  No one ever says they are going to England for the food.  How could this really be the case with things like lamb pie, succulent gravy and lightly fried fish are national staples?  This past weekend we traveled to the Lake District and northern England and committed indulging in only British fare.  Here are a few samplings from my favorite pub in Keswick, the Dog & Gun.  Todd got their famous goulash, which was fantastic, but undersalted.

Famous goulash! Fantastic. Needs salt.

Honestly, it was delicious.  Though I’m not a big fan of peas, I really enjoyed all of my meals, English breakfasts included.  Even a fast food meat and onion pie near the train station in Penrith was delicious.

Sunday roast: Mash, veggies, beef, yorkshire pudding (like a chunk of bready goodness).                                                                                       Not enough gravy.

What are the roots of this negative British culinary reputation?  I actually had this conversation today with someone.  Likely this stems from war time when the country was rationing every ounce of nourishment and had no capacity to focus on cooking.  I would imagine hunkering down in an air raid shelter during WWII, no one was thinking, “Man, that was a bland dinner.”

So I’m here to say, British food is misunderstood.  It’s delicious and I’ll be having a lot more while I’m here in London this year.  And don’t forget that Indian, one of the best cuisines of all time, is in fact considered British cuisine.    Cheerio.

Hi!  My name is Amanda from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and I am excited to join Epic Portions.  For the next five and a half months, my husband and I are living in London.   I hope to document this experience through food – the good, the bad and the weird.

So far I’ve been in London town one week and have already had some food highs and lows.  One of my more positive experiences combines two cuisines I adore – Mexican and Indian.  This mash up seemed suspect so I had to try it.  I choose the warm, flour tortilla filled with tandoori chicken, grilled paneer, topped with a tikka masala sauce.  I then added chana masala (chickpeas), pilau rice and crispy onions.  The burrito was finished with Raita (Mint yoghurt) and then expertly rolled in tin foil and packaged for me to take home.  In a fast paced city like London, the “take away” shops are buzzing around lunch time with a bit of Seinfeld soup Nazi mentality.

So how was it? Verdict: delicious and satisfying.  Even better, Bombay Burrito delivers and I will have many opportunities to indulge in different combinations in the future – even on those rainy London days that I can’t fathom leaving the house. They offer tacos, salad bowls and curry bowls as well, all mixing different Indian flavors with the Mexican plating.

I’m excited for the adventures in food in and out of London over the next few months.  Yelp, food apps and other online tools make it easy for you to find exactly what you want to eat and within a comfortable travel radius.  Deliveroo and other services will bring basically anything you want to your front door.  Stay tuned for more on this culinary exploration.