London’s Best Fish and Chips: A Food Lover’s Guide to the City’s Crispy Soul

 

The Gospel According to Batter and Oil

Fish and chips isn’t just a meal in London—it’s religion with a fryer. Forget the tourist-trap stands pushing soggy fillets under flickering neon. Real fish and chips is a love story written in grease, wrapped in paper, and eaten standing on a curb while the city roars past. Culinary travel here isn’t about Michelin stars; it’s about malt vinegar dripping down your wrist while you wonder why this simple marriage of cod and potato tastes better than any gourmet travel dish with three sauces and a foam.

Food tourism often gets packaged as food and wine tours with polished guides and curated bites. But sometimes the most profound culinary experiences come from food and culture that grew out of necessity. Fish and chips was never meant to be fancy—it was survival fuel for factory workers and dockers. Yet here it stands, a global symbol of comfort food, the cornerstone of every food lover’s guide to London.

The truth is, fried fish and fried potatoes were culinary immigrants before they became national icons. Jewish immigrants brought the frying technique, and the Belgians, ever the potato lovers, nudged chips into the mix. The British just perfected the art: wrapping it in newspaper, selling it cheap, and making it democratic.

A foodie vacation in London isn’t complete without chasing this humble dish across boroughs. Call it a food holiday with extra crunch, an epicurean adventure without white tablecloths. You want authenticity? You’ll find it where the oil’s been bubbling for decades, where vinegar stings your nose, and where the queue outside is long enough to test your patience—and your hunger.

---

A History Wrapped in Newspaper

Before Instagram, there was grease-stained paper. Fish and chips thrived long before food tourism was a hashtag or gourmet travel became a badge of honor. In the mid-19th century, fried fish stalls and chip shops became the cheap, filling backbone of urban Britain. Working-class families queued for their weekly ration, and this dish quickly transformed from immigrant oddity to national obsession.

Picture Victorian London: soot-stained skies, horse carts clattering over cobblestones, and an industrial city that never seemed to rest. Fish and chips provided a quick, hearty meal for pennies. It was the food holiday of the masses, long before flights to Ibiza or culinary experiences in Provence. The dish symbolized food and culture woven into everyday survival.

At its peak, there were over 35,000 chippies across the UK. Even wartime rationing spared fish and chips—it was considered essential to morale. Imagine soldiers returning from the front, lining up for a greasy paper parcel that tasted like home. That’s food as culture, as comfort, as a reminder that sometimes survival tastes like fried cod.

Food and wine tours often overlook the beauty of fried simplicity. But a food lover’s guide to London has to honor fish and chips’ role in shaping Britain’s culinary identity. This isn’t just about epicurean adventures in a modern metropolis—it’s about recognizing that food tourism should respect the working-class heroes who gave us something this enduring.

A foodie vacation chasing fish and chips is less about Michelin pomp and more about finding the places still frying the old way. No gimmicks. Just hot oil, fresh catch, and potatoes that still taste like potatoes. You don’t need wine pairings when you’ve got malt vinegar and a cold lager.

---

Why It Still Matters Today

London’s skyline may be shiny now, its culinary experiences often tied to tasting menus with waiting lists longer than a bank holiday queue. But fish and chips refuses to vanish. And thank god for that. In a city where epicurean adventures often mean spending half your rent on dinner, this dish keeps its stubborn working-class roots.

Why does it matter? Because food and culture aren’t just about trends. They’re about memory, identity, and comfort. Fish and chips is the edible time machine that takes you back to childhood seaside trips, to late-night walks with grease-soaked fingers, to moments when a simple meal could feel like a feast.

For food lovers chasing culinary travel, this dish is the great equalizer. Politicians, rock stars, tourists, and taxi drivers all line up at the same counter. It’s democratic dining. No need for reservations, no wine list, no sommeliers. Just paper, salt, and the sizzle of oil.

Epicurean adventures don’t always involve foie gras or truffle dust. Sometimes it’s about finding the perfect balance: crisp batter that shatters on first bite, tender white fish steaming inside, and chips fat enough to make you believe in carbs again.

For anyone on a foodie vacation, the pursuit of fish and chips in London is more than a food holiday—it’s a rite of passage. It tells you more about food and culture than any high-end meal could. Because here’s the truth: if a city can’t fry a piece of fish right, why trust it with anything else?

---

The Anatomy of the Perfect Plate

Let’s break it down. A true food lover’s guide to fish and chips means knowing what makes it tick. Batter is everything. Too thick and it’s wallpaper paste. Too thin and it won’t hold up. The sweet spot? Golden, crisp, a shell that keeps the fish hot but doesn’t overpower it. Culinary experiences hinge on that balance, and you’ll know it the moment you take a bite and hear that crunch.

The fish—traditionally cod or haddock—should flake with minimal effort. Anything mushy or rubbery means you’ve been conned. The chips? Forget skinny fries. You want big, fat, potato-forward slabs that hold salt and vinegar like a sponge. This is gourmet travel stripped of pretense, a dish where simplicity demands perfection.

Don’t forget the sides. Mushy peas may sound like punishment, but when done right, they’re comfort in a scoop. Curry sauce—a British chip-shop quirk—is its own epicurean adventure. And then there’s pickled onions, pickled eggs, or if you’re brave, pickled gherkins large enough to qualify as a weapon.

Food tourism often highlights elaborate plates, but fish and chips is about mastery of basics. It’s where food and culture meet in a fryer, proving that epicurean adventures don’t have to be dressed up to be memorable.

For anyone planning a foodie vacation in London, treat this dish as a benchmark. If the chippie nails it, chances are the rest of the menu is worth exploring. If not? Move along. Culinary travel rewards the discerning, and bad fish and chips is culinary sin.

---

10 Hidden Gems for Fish and Chips in London

Forget the glossy “Top 10” lists that keep showing the same three tourist traps. Here’s where the real food holiday magic happens. Each of these hidden gems delivers culinary experiences worth the queue, the grease, and the calories.

1. The Golden Hind, Marylebone – Serving since 1914, proof that old school is still the best school.

2. Rock & Sole Plaice, Covent Garden – Slightly scruffy, deeply authentic. Tourists stumble here, locals return for good reason.

3. Poppie’s Fish & Chips, Spitalfields – Retro décor meets serious frying skills. A food lover’s guide must-visit.

4. Kerbisher & Malt, Hammersmith – Modern twist without losing tradition. Sustainability meets epic crunch.

5. Sutton & Sons, Stoke Newington – Family-run, famous for both traditional fry and creative takes.

6. Toff’s of Muswell Hill – A London institution where locals swear loyalty.

7. Golden Union, Soho – Classic done right. Perfect for pre-theatre indulgence.

8. The Fryer’s Delight, Holborn – Old-school décor, no-nonsense service, fish that speaks for itself.

9. Seashell of Lisson Grove, Marylebone – Long queues, fresh catch, and chips worth the wait.

10. Masters Super Fish, Waterloo – Rough around the edges, big on flavor.

Each spot is a reminder that gourmet travel doesn’t always involve reservations. Sometimes epicurean adventures happen under fluorescent lights, with Formica tables and a queue of taxi drivers. That’s the beauty of food and culture—you never know where you’ll stumble into greatness.

---

Beyond the Fryer: Food Tourism in London

Fish and chips may be the anchor, but London’s food scene has grown into a full-blown culinary travel destination. Street markets like Borough and Camden deliver epicurean adventures daily, from Ethiopian injera to Filipino BBQ skewers. Food and wine tours crisscross the city, offering curated bites and cultural insights.

Yet fish and chips remains the gateway drug for food lovers. It introduces you to the rhythm of London’s streets, the way food and culture intertwine, the balance between old and new. No foodie vacation here feels complete without at least one fried pilgrimage.

And here’s the kicker: chasing fish and chips often takes you into neighborhoods tourists skip. That’s where the hidden gems of London reveal themselves—quirky pubs, vintage shops, unexpected street art. That’s the beauty of culinary experiences: they’re never just about what’s on the plate. They’re about context, surroundings, and the stories that stick long after the grease has gone.

So treat fish and chips as the opening chapter of your food holiday. Use it to navigate London, to connect with locals, to understand the stubborn soul of a city that still clings to tradition even as skyscrapers loom overhead.

---

Conclusion: The Crispy Soul of London

In the end, fish and chips is more than food. It’s history wrapped in paper, culture served with vinegar, and identity fried golden. For anyone chasing culinary travel or planning a foodie vacation, it’s a dish that tells the story of a city better than any guidebook could.

Forget the over-curated food and wine tours for a day. Take your epicurean adventure to a greasy counter, order without ceremony, and let the fryer do the talking. You’ll taste London’s past, its stubborn traditions, and its enduring love for the simple things.

This food lover’s guide wasn’t just about where to eat—it’s about why eating here matters. Because food tourism isn’t always about Michelin stars. Sometimes it’s about a battered cod, a pile of chips, and the smell of malt vinegar in the air. That’s real food culture. That’s real London.

So go out there. Find the hidden gems. Take the bite, hear the crunch, and let it remind you why you travel in the first place. Share your favorite chippie in the comments, pass this guide to a fellow traveler, and remember—every food holiday needs a little grease.

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenhegger

Article first published as Book Review: Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger on Technorati.

The Time Traveler's Wife is one of my favorite books with its story of tortured and near impossible love. Her Fearful Symmetry also concerns tortured and impossible love, but of a slightly different type. Instead of Time Travel, this time the impossible element is the afterlife and what one ghost does to effect many lives.

Her Fearful Symmetry is set in London and what better place for a ghost story than right next door to Highgate Cemetery? As the story opens a woman dies and she leaves her London flat to the twin daughters of her own estranged twin sister. There are many dark secrets lurking here and there and many mysteries that go unexplained.

The bulk of the story is about the twin girls, who are twenty years old and yet never seem to have escaped childhood. They still do that whole twin thing of dressing alike and they are so close that even sleep in the same bed. As part of the dead Aunt's will, the twins have to live in her London apartment for one year. While there they meet a couple of eccentric neighbors and the ghost of the dead Aunt.

All in all they like being haunted pretty well. With the help of the ghost's old boyfriend, who lives downstairs, they are able to communicate using a Ouija board and automatic writing. Soon they spend a lot of time talking to the ghost-as anyone might.

The ghost is the star of the show, but she gets some serious competition from the OCD upstairs neighbor and the old boyfriend's umpteen thousand page dissertation on Highgate Cemetery. There are walks among the many historical tombs and environs of the cemetery itself.

Since Audrey Niffenegger lives in Chicago that is where the twins come from. And since she is a guide at Highgate Cemetery, she is familiar with the foxes, rundown walls, and unusal tombs. There is also a good deal of talk about how the American twins have a hard time adjusting to life in London and the way the British speak and act. She doesn't mention my favorite bit of Brit Speak aluminum (al-u-min'e-um instead of a-lum-a-num) though she does say A to Zed rather a lot-or maybe that was just reader Biabca Amato using her own South African logic.

There are a lot of balls in the air in Her Fearful Symmetry, a lot of characters with a lot of things to change in their lives. I found that I liked most of the people in Her Fearful Symmetry, though I didn't like the ghost. Even as she lay dying in the opening scene she was a nasty bit of business. There is one big shock that really caught me by surprise and one big shock that I was able to see a couple of miles off. I like them both.

The ending was not all that I would have wanted. I thought there might have been one or two more twists to be had, and that finial scene was a little flat. Overall I liked Her Fearful Symmetry, but I didn't love it.

The Chance of A Lifetime

Well, maybe that is a slight exaggeration, or maybe not. I'm not as young as I once was. Among the countless things that I still want to do in the days that are left to me is spend a bit more time in London and do Voice Over work there. As we all know, no one from America moves to London seeking acting work, everyone from London moves to America to get a job. But one of my old Blog Buddies does voice over work and she invited me to London do a bit of Voice Over.

Well, this is the kind of thing that you can base a movie on-the poor sap's one chance at greatness, or at least mediocrity. This was some time ago, last year, in fact. I have had many months to save and plan a trip back that glorious place I so like to think about-London. But the rest of my life, well, it has not gone well at all. So there is no money, and barring something extraordinary happening, there will be no trip to London this October for me. However, it was so very nice of her to offer this chance to me.

I am still doing a few of the voice exercises and I think my voice is better than it was. But I have not put in any serious study of late. I have too many irons in the fire, as always. Ah but the idea of London and working, even doing background voices, would be amazingly cool. Of course, my London thoughts go beyond the work and into seeing those sights I missed last time and using my nifty digital camera that I did not have on the last trip. Blogging from London, well, the mind boggles.

If I still have any readers here-Hello! I plan on writing a few more posts over the next few weeks. But my plans seldom go as I expect.

Anyone who would like to donate to the Send Me To London Fund feel free.

Joe Queenan's London

The great cities of the world are best thought of in terms of flora and fauna. San Francisco is a hyacinth, Rio de Janeiro a bromeliad, Cario a flowering cactus, Detroit a burning bush. London, by contrast, most closely resembles a Venus Flytrap.-Joe Queenan

I just finished reading Queenan Country, about writer Joe Queenan's travels around Great Britain and why he likes the people of Great Britain while, at the same time, insulting them at every turn. Queenan's Country is filled with such sites as The Second Smallest Cathedral in England and The Worse Musical of All Time. He also prattles on rather a lot about Tribute Bands, which I have to admit, have always been a bit of a mystery to me as well. Elvis impersonators, sure why not, but fifty year old nobodys pretending their the 20 year old Beatles? I've never really liked that.

Anyway-Joe Queenan spends a bit of his book in London, mainly talking about how much he hates the likes of Elton John, Paul McCartney, and Andrew Lloyd Weber, but occasionally mention actual sites in the great city. So I thought I would look a few of them up and see what I could find out about them.

The Widow's Son-This curiously named pub has a sad story. In a cottage on this site lived a widow, her only son a sailor. He was due to return home on Good Friday and asked his mother to bake him some hot-cross-buns. Sadly, he never returned. Nevertheless every Good Friday his mother had a new bun waiting. Each year a new bun was added to ones she had kept from previous years. Sounds like my kind of place, old and kind of creepy.
Animal Burger

The Tea Hut on Blackheath-Since the l950s the hut has been used by passing motorists, lorry drivers, cabbies, locals, suburban clubbers on their way home from town, courting couples and motorbike and classic-car enthusiasts alike, the latter on Tuesday and Thursday nights only. It's open 24 hours a day, and serves Builders' Tea and the kind of hamburgers Ben Elton once talked of, made of hooves, snouts and eyelashes but heavenly when you've had 10 pints of Old Peculiar down the hill in a Lewisham boozer.

Eel & Pie Shop in Peckham-Didn't find anything with a quick Google and it is possible that this shop has gone the way of all good things, if you consider eels and pies good things. I'm sure you can still shops selling these odd sounding bits of business if you tried.

Canary Wharf-Canary Wharf is a thriving space and vibrant business district-at leas according to their website. I'm not sure that Joe had redevelopment in mind though, I'm guessing he liked it the way it was the last time he saw it, and who knows when that was. Seem to be a lot of tall building in London's Docklands these days. Not that there's anything wrong with that. . .

Battersea Park-Any place that has a museum on the grounds called The Pump House Gallery desevers at least a smal side trip. My own memories of Battersea Park are mainly my surprise at seeing the Peace Pagoda, I like the whole idea of a Buddhist shrine in the middle of an English garden. There are also lots of plants and animals as one might expect in a large city park.

Elephant & Castle-Elephant and Castle has always been an important traffic junction and was once known as “the Piccadilly of South London”. Another place that a lot of cool stuff seems to be happening. Food and Drink, Entertainment, Dancing, Shopping and old buildings to look at, who could ask for anything more? Of course, to me it looks kind of scary on the map, TWO round abouts that close together-oh the humanity.

Southwark Cathedral-The Church of England, what a great sound that has to it. They say there has been a church on this site since AD 606, got love those Brits, always have to remind us that while we study history they lived history. But that's alright, I love old churches just as I love all old buildings. Of course, it's hard to take them seriously after watching shows like The Vicar of Dibly all these years.

The West End-which is funny as Joe Queenan hates musicals in all forms and fashions, yet seems to go out of his way to attend them. Me thinks he doth protest too much. London's West End is London's Theater District, where all the misicals that Joes loves to hate are playing. But there's all kinds of other cool stuff in the area, China Town with Lee Ho Fooks, Mayfair, and Soho, all the places any well dressed American Werewolf would want to be seen.

And that wraps up my little mini London Tour by way of Things Joe Queenan Likes in London.

PR: wait... I: wait... L: wait... LD: wait... I: wait... wait... Rank: wait... Traffic: wait... Price: wait... C: wait...

Still Thinking London Thoughts

I miss the hustle and bustle of London. The parts of London I like are all the Touristy bits. People who live in London don't spend much time round the tourist traps. I saw mostly other Americans in my travels to London, and I will likely see more Americans on my next trip, wherever that may be.

As always it is a question of money and time and sorting out what to see and what to do. Times are hard at the moment, but I am still reading my London Travel Guides and thinking about seeing those London Attractions that I missed out on and that are new since I was in London all those years ago.

There are still more London Thoughts and more London things to see and do.

London in The Snow

The biggest snowfall to hit London in 18 years idled the city's trademark red buses and Underground trains Monday, stranded thousands of airline passengers, and raised the vexing question of why a predicted winter storm caught authorities so unprepared.

Transit officials had nearly a week to get ready, but they failed to keep things running normally in the capital, which was buried under more than four inches of snow overnight and another four inches in the afternoon. -AP

London doesn't get a lot snow, and it didn't take much to shut the old town down. We like to think that we are a modern people who can cope with anything, well, anything but snow. Here in Texas it doesn't take much more than an icy road to close down all the schools and keep people home from work. So not going out into the snow covered streets of London makes perfect sense to me. The silly people who are skiing and sliding down hills on cardboard, that sounds like a good plan to me.

I have never understood people who live in places where there is snow all winter long. A nice dusting once in a while and enough to make a snowman is all the snow that I need. Facing those fresh mounds of snow everyday would drive me mad. Still, I think I would like London in the snow. Great photo ops for all those familiar sites that we seldom see with a layer of snow on top. A trip to Highgate Cemetery might be a good idea. All those moldy green tomes with a bit of white as an accent.

I'm not as big a fan of the cold as I used to be, so I'd likely just look out the window once in a while and catch up on some TV.

Paris in London-Paris Hilton's British Best Friend

"For five seasons I was stuck doing this character," Paris Hilton said about The Simple Life. "It was kind of hard always having to play that character when it's not who I am."

Paris Hilton managed to hit the front pages of many British tabloids by doing what she does best-getting attention for being hot. Paris Hitlon went braless in the cool London air with predictable results. Of course, a semi-naked Paris Hilton is not newsworthy in America; a topless Paris Hilton is hardly news in the U.S. anymore. But in London, Paris Hilton's boobs still get a lot of attention.

Paris Hilton is working on becoming the Queen of Reality Shows. She is in London to promote her British reality show on ITV2, Paris Hilton's British Best Friend. Having watched one or two of the the U.S. version of Paris's Best Friend, it should be fun to watch. Paris Hilton seems to be one of those people who isn't acting, what you see is what you get.

Or maybe not. Paris Hilton seems to work pretty hard to live the easy life of a poor little rich girl. It's kind of hard to believe she's a closet genius when she steps out into the cold wearing nothing but an oversized nylon. It's all about getting attention, and no matter what else you care to say about Paris Hilton, she does know how to get attention.

London Home Exchange

House swapping is believed to have developed in the 1950s, but rose to prominence in the 1970s as more people got involved and considered it to be a viable vacation option. Some estimates indicate that 15-20% of travelers are participating in some form of house swapping. Summer is traditionally the peak season for house swapping, due to families traveling during summer vacations and house swapping allows families to try out a location for a short period of time.
-Wikipedia

I've always liked the idea of saving a bit of money by doing a holiday home exchange, but my home would need some serious cleaning before I would want to offer it in a home exchange. The idea that someone would travel across the world and spend a couple of weeks camped out among my odds and ends while I was camped out among there's is kind of interesting.

It is fun to read some of the listings for vacation exchanges, a lot of people seem to want to travel to Sydney or New York, so I guess if you have a home in Sydney or New York then you'll do good on the whole home exchange front. But I also found people in London that wanted to home swap with people in New Mexico and just the USA. There are a lot of home exchanges for California as well.

A quick searches find that there are worldwide exchanges and property swaps seem possible to just about anywhere you'd want to go. Paris seems to be a hot vacation home exchange site, though the people in Paris seem to want home exchanges with people in Italy or California. There seem to be a few adventurous types who do house exchanges and want to go anywhere at any time. Must be nice to have that kind of freedom. I tend to feel a bit trapped myself at the moment.

Of course, it would be different if I had a vacation home swap, if I had that extra house by the lake or in the country. If I had enough money for a vacation home, would I still be interested in the whole house swap thing? Sure, if I had enough money, it would just mean that I could do all the holiday home exchanges I wanted and see more of the world.

London Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

I really wanted to make a video of London while I was there earlier this year but I didn't had any camcorder, so I took pictures instead. In fact I took more then 3000 pictures and put them all together in less then 2 minutes.
-David Hubert

Just saw this video and really liked it. Reminds me of my own trips to London where I would stop every three steps and take another couple of photos. There is something about London that makes you want to take a few thousand images and always remember what the city was like when you were there. I was using film in the good old days when I went, so I only took a few hundred photos of London and not a few thousand. But when I go back, I'm sure that I will be using up a few gigs of memory cards to capture all the stuff I will want to capture.

In the meantime, I like this little bit of video with it's hype active feel of that great city of London.


London (harder, better, faster, stronger) from David Hubert on Vimeo.

London's Best Spas

I like the idea of a London Day Spa, take a couple of hours and relax-get a massage, have some hot rocks put on your back, sit in a sauna until a good sweat builds up. London Spas are a good place to get your nails done and have your pores cleaned. Spend an hour at a London Spa getting a manicure? How about an hour getting a Indian Head Massage?

Well, I'd like a bit of time in a London Spa in a steam room and than a quick dip in a cold pool. I've always liked that whole Roman Bath kind of spa experience. Tepidarium Warm room - Caldarium Hot room - Laconium Hottest room. A series of hot, dry air rooms, which vary from moderate to intense heats. Designed to relax the muscles and relieve the pain of rheumatics.

I really like the sauna-a 'dry' heat treatment in a wood-lined room with a temperature reaching 90 C, designed to bring about perspiration to cleanse the body of impurities. I am not an expert on spas, but I have enjoyed the occasional sauna and massage.

I've always been a fan of aroma therapy as well. Some London spas aroma steam rooms giving 'wet' heat, generating temperatures of 65-70 C. The climate has a very high humidity and the steam is enriched with essence. Designed to soften the skin, cleanse the pores, calm the nervous system and relieve tension.

Spa London has something I have never tried-an ice fountain. The Ice Fountain creates ice flakes to rub all over the body, stimulating the circulation and cooling the body. Well, I guess that would do it. I think it might be fun, as long as one of those hot pools is somewhere nearby.

Acupuncture originated in China more than 2,000 years ago and is offered at Dao today in London. I have never tried acupuncture, but I like the idea that the body can be healed with a few taps of a needle on the right spot. I think I'm more likely to stick with the hot rocks. Hot stone therapy uses smooth water-heated basalt stones and carefully applied to key points on the body. This direct heat relaxes the muscles, which means that the massage itself is more effective and intense than it would be otherwise

A trip to a London Spa would be a good way to relax after a hard day of sightseeing, or maybe before a hard day of sightseeing.

Below is a list of some of London's Best Spas, in no particular order.

Spa London
York Hall Leisure Centre, Old Ford Road, Bethnal Green, E2 9PJ

Beauty Works West
Lambton Place, Notting Hill London W11 2SH

Dao
41 Parkway London, NW1 7AH

The Sanctuary
12 Floral Street, Covent Garden, WC2E 9DH

Agua at the Sanderson
50 Berners Street London, England W1T 3NG

Mandarin Oriental
66 Knightsbridge, SW1X 7LA

Spa Illuminata
63 South Audley Street . London . W1K 2QS

The CityPoint Spa at the City Point Club
1 Ropemaker Street EC2Y 9AW

Incredible You
40 Moreton Street London SW1V 2PB

Berkeley Spa
Wilton Place Knightsbridge London SW1X 7RL

Elemis Day Spa
2-3 Lancashire Court Mayfair London W1S 1EX

Pacifica Day Spa
1 Courtnell Street, Notting Hill, London W2 5BU

Bloww Salon and Spa
4 Regent Place, London, W1B 5EA

Urban Retreat
5th floor, Harrods, 87-135 Brompton Road, SW1X 7XL

London's Best Christmas Pudding

Christmas pudding is the dessert traditionally served on Christmas day. It has its origins in England, and is sometimes known as plum pudding, though this can also refer to other kinds of boiled pudding involving a lot of dried fruit.-Wikipedia

What makes for a great Christmas Pudding? That's a matter of taste, of course. Christmas Puddings have made notable appearances in a couple of my favorite shows. Bob Cratchit is scandalized at how much a Christmas Pudding cost in Scrooge and The Vicar of Dibley has to eat way too much Christmas Pudding as she eats her way across Dibley.

London Christmas puddings

Harrods Christmas Limited Edition Pudding (£49.95)

Harrods only made 300 limited edition Christmas puddings, so they could put extra special attention into making them perfect. Filled with Harrod's own oak-cask brandy, each pudding contains 6 silver coins and comes in an individually numbered ceramic bowl. Presented in a velvet gift box.

LA FROMAGERIE Christmas Puddings £17.00 6 - 8 servings
Made exclusively for LA FROMAGERIE to a traditional recipe, it is brimming with dried fruits including Agen Prunes, Lexia Raisins, Stout, Brandy and lots of spice. Pour over brandy, ignite and enjoy with lots of fresh cream or brandy butter. N.B May contain traces of nuts.

Selfridges Ultimate Christmas Hamper (£69.99)

Embrace the festive season with vigour this year with the mini Christmas collection in this Christmas Hamper. As a bonus, each Selfridges hamper features a festive yellow cracker, which gives you a chance to win an Anya Hindmarch handbag! Includes Selfridges Christmas pudding 450g.

Waitrose Christmas Puddings (£12.99)

Waitrose Richly Fruited Christmas Pudding is topped with glistening pecans, brandy-soaked cherries and strips of orange peel, you do not need a jolly sprig of holly to make this pudding look good. The website lists 25 different Christmas Puddings, while supplies last.

Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Heritage Christmas Pudding (£9.99, 454g)

Made with vine fruits, cherries, ale and sherry, with a festive touch of spice. Comes in a bowl with muslin and a threepenny bit. The traditional recipe comes with a traditional tale – the 13 ingredients represent Jesus and his 12 disciples. On the same page is a cranberry jelly and a sherry trifle. Makes me think of London.

Tesco Finest Vintage Christmas Pudding (£11.99)

A few years ago there was a taste test in which Tesco's Christmas Pudding beat out 13 other puddings from more upscale shops. The people have spoken, this is London's Best Christmas Pudding. This is a lovely moist pudding, soaked in sherry and cognac.

Marks & Spencer Christmas Pudding (£7.99, 907g)

One of the rare puddings made with beef suet (most shop-bought versions are vegetarian), this is one for those who like their pudding glossy, sticky and dense. The traditional dark appearance has an edge of bitterness from stout and treacle. High on booze, it still has other interesting tastes coming through.

London for Free

London for free includes the many parks and public spaces that fill the city. Trafalgar Square is free to visit, though you might want to buy some corn to feed the gazillion pigeons that hang out there. London's parks are beautiful places and it is easy to wander through one on your way from one great London attraction to another. Among my favorite London parks-
Saint James Park
Regent's Park
Hyde Park.

Many of London's world class museums are free and are a great place to get out of the weather. My favorite of London's free museums is The British Museum, famous for it's mummys and seemingly unlimited catalog of amazing items. Other great free London museums include
Imperial War Museum
Natural History Museum
Science Museum

You can see Big Ben, Tower Bridge, and St Paul's Cathedral for free. Most tour books have excellent walking tours which will lead you by a lot of the famous London attractions. For me just being in London was a fairly exciting event, so wandering around aimlessly and taking photos of everything in site was a good, free activity for me. It is better to have a plan of action though and map out a few of the must sees before you spent too much time just walking. There is a lot to see and do in London, and it's a good idea to think about what you want to do.

A few websites to find more London For Free Stuff-

London for Free-a nice site that is well laid out and has a wealth of information on all things free in London. Walks, Outdoor Activities, Indoor Activities and London Day Trips.

London4Free-a lot of interesting information on the many free things to do in London. Also covers such things as cheap places to stay in London, cheap things to eat in London, and cheap travel to London and around London.

Free London-From Time Out London. Lots on info on free things to do and discount things to do in London. A fun site to wander around and see what's on.

Big Ben Happened in London 1859

what happened in London on September 7th 1859

You gotta love Google Trends-this is just the type of oddball thing that pops up from time to time. When those Recite Song Lyrics Shows were all the rage a while back, you could count on all the songs being in the top ten of Google Trends. Lots of games show type questions end up on Google Trends.

The Clock Tower owes its existence to a fire in 1834 that destroyed most of Parliament. A commission was set up to choose a new building design from 97 submissions and a clock tower dominated Charles Barry's winning plan. The clock swung into action in 1859.-UK Parliament

What happened in London on September 7th 1859, the next logical questions is who cares? Well, it seems the answer is that Big Ben started keeping time on this date. Or about that time anyway. The 1859 part seems to be fit, the September 7th-not so much. But I like the whole idea that London is on Google Trends. By the way, Big Ben is not the clock's official name, the proper name for Big Ben is the Great Bell.

What happened in London on September 7th 1859 was number two on Google Trends and must have been a trivia question on a game show or a morning show. Of course, with all the Trendy blogger such as myself looking for something to blog about-we are keeping this silly question on Google Trends and not finding any answer to the question.

What happened in London on September 7th 1859? Beats me.

Cat Power Covers David Bowie fo Lincoln Ad

David Bowie has always been one of my favorite really odd performers. I've always admired someone that put an album out every year, whether he needed to or not. And lets be honest, there were a lot that he didn't need to. But the one or two tracks that were good, well, they were really good. David Bowie was born in London and London Boy is a collection of some of his earlier works.

Cat Power is not from London, they are from Miami. But their cover of David Bowie's Space Oddity is really well done. The new Lincoln commercial has only a snippet of the song and I have not found the full single anywhere, if there is a full single. I don't know if they are running this in London, I don't even know if they sell Lincolns in the U.K., but I like the song and thought I would share it here.

Westminster Abby London

Poets were buried or memorialized around Chaucer in what became known as Poets' Corner. These include; William Blake, Robert Burns, Lord Byron, T. S. Eliot, Thomas Gray, Gerard Manley Hopkins, John Keats, John Milton, Nicholas Rowe, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Thomas Shadwell, William Shakespeare and William Wordsworth.-Wikipedia

As a photographer I was a bit disappointed with many sites in London. The rules for Westminster Abby are much like the rules for other Royal or Historic Sites in London-Photography and filming (pictures and/or sound) of any kind is not allowed in any part of the Abbey at any time. Which makes it kind of hard to get those cool shots of the statue of Shakespeare in the Poets Corner. You can buy postcards with pictures of just about anything you would want. But that is never exactly the same as taking your own image, even if it is the same as a million others who have come before you.

Westminster Abby is more than a spot to take photo-its a totally amazing place with too many wonders to take in. The tagline says From 1065 to Today and that's a pretty long time. You used to be able to make brass rubbings here as well, but a thousand years of people making carbon copes has taken its toil on the brass plates. The Abby is still a working church and so there are Services here if you would like to attend one.

Westminster Abby is a London must see. The building is amazing and awe inspiring. Westminster Abbey is usually open to visitors from Monday to Saturday throughout the year. On Sundays and religious holidays such as Easter and Christmas, the Abbey is open for worship only. There are several types of tours available-Audio Tours, Guided Tours, and Verger-led Tours. Allow several hours & include seeing St. Margaret's Church & Jewel Tower. If you love architecture as I do, then make sure you don't miss a visit to the Abbey.

Bates Gentlemen's Hatter London

Edward Bates Ltd have supplied stylish hats and caps to discerning gentlemen from their enchanting Jermyn Street shop in London since the turn of the century.
-Bates Hats


There was a scene in Are You Being Served where Captain Peacock showed up to work wearing a Homburg Hat and he was only allowed to wear a Bowler. This bit of silliness went on throughout the show, until the ancient Young Mr Grace wandered by and told Peacock he shouldn't wear a Bowler-he should wear a Homburg.

Bates Hats is the kind of London shop that Captain Peacock would have gone to get either a Bowler Hat or a Homburg Hat. Hats, of course, just aren't what they once were. All we have to do is look at old photos or watch a film from the 1950s and we can see that wearing a hat used to be required. Indian Jones is about the only hat wearing hero still around-and he is supposed to be a throwback to those glory days anyway.

I've heard that JFK killed the hat, as he didn't like to wear them and everyone wanted to be like him. Of course, The Beatles didn't wear a lot of hats either. Though John Lennon was found of a number of hats, they were not exactly formal hats. The 1960s changed everything-hats were just one more casualty along the way.

My own love affair with hats has followed a winding path from Cowboy hats to Greek Fisherman caps to my latest-a sort of Sandown cap. Mine is a Stetson Cuffley Cap Made in England. The kind of thing you might see in an old John Wayne movie. Bill Cosby wore one in a short lived Sit-Com based on One Foot in The Grave. Cosby was way too nice for the part.


At any rate, Bates Hats is one of the London spots that you can wander by and feel as if you have fallen through yet one more time warp. Hats-expensive quality hats-are what you'll find at Bates. So go in and have look-you never know when a hat might be just the thing you need.

Edward Bates Ltd, 21a Jermyn Street, St. James's, London, SW1Y 6HP
Opening Times - Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, Saturday 9.30am - 4pm
Closed between 1pm and 2pm, Sat only.

Make a Bleach T-Shirt-London Style

I found this cool little BBC Video on making a Bleach T-Shirt and thought it was pretty neat. I like anything that looks like even I can do it. Of course, I want to make my own London Bleach T-Shirt. Something like MIND THE GAP spring to mind. I have an old Mind The Gap t-shirt, so it might be time to make one of my own. The usual London suspects would make nice bleach London t-shirts-Tower Bridge, Big Ben, The London Eye, a Double Decker Bus, a Phone Box.

A t-shirt with Big Ben and LONDON on large letter would be easy enough to do with the bleach method, of course, it wouldn't be in color. But I'm sure it would be easy enough to rough out the word LONDON with some kind of a marker.

I like dark t shirt and I like London, so it's a match made in heaven.

Home House London

Home House is London's most exclusive 'Private Members Club' offering personal service in all areas of the House. The House, with a long and colourful history; offers members the opportunity of being part of something special in the heart of London. -Home House

Is there anything more British than a Private Club? In the U.S. a Private Club is usually a bar with exotic dancers and brass poles here and there. The closest thing that comes to mind in America with a British Private Club is something like the Masons or the Shriners-where there are various and sundry rules about getting in-or at least, there used to be.

Home House is old-the same as the United States-In 1776 James Wyatt was commissioned by Elizabeth, Countess of Home to build a house at 20 Portman Square. But it wasn't until 1999 that it became a Private Club for discerning clientele. There is said to be a very long waiting list to become a member of Home House and you do need to know someone who is already a member to join.

Home House seems to be one of those love it or hate it kind of places. My brother is one of those people that visits historic homes and says-Well, it was just an old house. I'm more easily impressed and I like the looks of Home House and the idea of a Private Club. The Home House website is fun to wander around in and I like Royal Alligator logo. There are meals to eat and rooms to rent at Home House, though you need to know someone to use them and I don't. Seems there are a lot of weddings and the like at Home House and if you happen to Rich and Famous you can always hire the place for a private party.

Home House London is one of the finest works of the 18th century designer, decorator and all-round architectural genius Robert Adam. Within the maze of 130 rooms you can sit quietly in a world of your own, discreetly talk business, or immerse yourself in a sociable buzz. At the hub of Home House is The Bison Bar – humming with news, views and gossip, and fueled by the energy of Europe’s greatest capital City.

You must be a member of Home House, or a guest of a member, to use any of the facilities. Just one more thing to add to list of things to do once I win the Lottery.

London and The High Seas

There is a lot of naval history and world history in London. The River Thames makes London a natural place for watery adventures. Spend a day following the Maritime attractions of London.

Take the 45 minute boat ride from Westminster Pier to Greenwich. No trip to London is complete without at least a short ride on the River Thames. The sights of the city line the shoreline and have a different character when seen from the deck of a boat. You'll past the H.M.S. Belfast, well worth a visit, and see the Tower of London. There is a chance that you'll have a chatty boat Captain who will point out the many odd and interesting things along the way-they like you to tip for this service. The River Thames is a busy place and the day we rode the river there was a boat moured next to the H.M.S. Belfast-our chatty Captain told that he knew nothing about this ship as it had just come in that morning, but he could tell us a bit about H.M.S. Belfast.

Greenwich is the home of Flamsteed House, the former home of the Royal Observatory. The Queens House is here, which was the model for the White House in Washington, D.C. The Cutty Sark is here as well.

Cutty Sark- Cutty Sark has travelled across the world, sailing under both the Red Ensign and the Portuguese flag, visiting every major port in the world through the course of her working life. Seems the Cutty Sark is closed at the moment for renovation and will be reopening in 2010.

Queen's House-The 17th-century Queen's House represents a turning point in English architecture. It now showcases the National Maritime Museum's fine-art collection and provides a unique venue for weddings, corporate and private events.

Trafalgar Tavern-In Victorian London there was one pub that represented the best of Britain’s naval might and cultural standing. A place where William Gladstone and Charles Dickens could be seen dining side-by-side. An oasis away from the industrial sprawl, but yet at the centre of an Empire. Exactly 170 years later the Trafalgar Tavern still stands in the Greenwich Maritime World Heritage Site, and it remains one of London’s most essential public houses.

Thames Flood Barrier- Together with the Barking Barrier and significant gates at the entrances to the old Royal Docks, the Thames Barrier is currently the responsibility of the Environment Agency's Thames Region. On the north bank of the Thames and with stunning views of the awesome flood Barrier lies a jewel in the crown of London's parks-Thames Barrier Park. Set within 22 acres of lawns, trees and uniquely contoured Yew and Maygreen hedges you can discover the delights of this urban oasis.

Talk Like A Pirate Day, Is It?

It be a great Tradition on this here date to Talk Like a Pirate. Talk like a pirate day has been around for lo these many years-as far back as 1995 by some accounts of the Old Timers. It be that greatest of great events in the otherwise hum drum life of land lubbers the whole world over to talk like a pirate.

A Pirate walks into a bar. He has a ship's wheel where his belt buckle should be. The Bartender looks at him and asks-"What's with the wheel?"

"Arrgh," The Pirate says, "That drives me nuts."

Ye mad lot what dwells in the Great Dark City of London had best be wary when you talk like a pirate. Until 1700 all cases of piracy by British subjects or in British colonies be under the jurisdiction of the High Court of Admiralty in London. What this highfalutin talk means is that Pirates who be captured be sent back to London and locked up in the fine prisons of Newgate or the Marshalsea before being sent for trial at the Old Bailey. Talk like a pirate, go to prison. Arr, me hearty they be dangerous fellows who surely talked like a pirate.

There be a great number of Pirates tried and executed in London. So be watching who you go about talkin like a Pirate to. It could be swinging from the gallows of the Execution Dock on the north bank of the Thames you'll be findin your fine self one birght and shinnin mornin.

Arrgh, I hates being awake that early.

There be a couple of fine Pirates from that great city of London-Captain Edward Low was born in Westminster, to be sure. And that fine female pirate Mary Read was born in London. They surely talk like a pirate, at least while they could still be talkin.

Arr, me hearty, there be a great granddaddy of all Pirate Books-A General History of the Most Notorious Pyrates and it became a best-seller. New editions came out each year after 1724. Written in London by the mysterious Captain Charles Johnson, it be based evidence of pirate trials, on newspaper reports and on interviews with sailors lucky enough to have met(been captured by) pirates. It be a grand and glorious book, so I be told. Don't know if they be talkin like a pirate, but they sure be spelling like a pirate.

Be gettin a Pirate Name all your own at The Pirate Name Generator.