English brekky

I bloody LOVE England! So, okay, it's a wee bit cold (40s when I was there last week) but look how well they feed you first thing in the morning! Two kinds of pork on one plate? Take that, Wheaties!

My friend M. took me to Tom's Deli in Notting Hill, a deli owned and operated by Tom Conran. (He's the son of Sir Terence, a well-known restaurateur, designer, and all around imaginateur who many credit with resurrecting London's culinary reputation.)

Now that we've got that name dropping out of the way, I can tell you about my brekky, which is considered a traditional English version:

1) eggs on toast (yeah, okay, no eggs. I'm allergic, remember? But I had the grilled toast.)
2) bacon (though not the American kind, dubbed "streaky bacon." English bacon, also called "back bacon" or "Canadian bacon," is less fatty, more like a ham steak, and it comes from the loin.)
3) sausage (often called "bangers" -- you deduce the origins all on your own, folks, this site is PG)
4) a crisp-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside hash brown potato cake
5) baked beans
6) grilled tomatoes
7) grilled mushrooms (these last two to prove they care about your fruit and veg)

I can feel it. All you gluttons out there are slowly turning into anglophiles. Well, jolly good on you, I say!

p.s. On my trip I also learned two other life-altering things: that Innocent fruit drinks kick Odwalla's scrawny American butt, and the hard-to-pin-down location of Madge's country estate. Oh yeah. You know you want to know. Watch out, Us Weekly!

Tom's Delicatessan, London, 226 Westbourne Grove, Notting Hill, (011 44 20) 7221 8818

Comments

[Robyn]

So how 'bout about dinner in London, Catherine? Was it Moro?

[Catherine]

Robyn -- (eek!) Yes! I was sooo jetlagged and drugged (phobic about flying + Xanax = muddled brains) so I've only got a few photos, the menu and about 1/3 of a memory to go on. Stay tuned...but it was delicious. Well worth it.

[clare eats]

ooh!
If you like this imagine yummy brekkies like this but with Awesome weather?
This of course is Sydney!! Plus lots of other good stuff ;)

[Sam]

i think the hash brown part is an American anomaly but the rest looks good (not forgetting the poor, rejected egg, how could you?).
You can join my English-food-isnt-so-bad-afterall-see campaign now.

And clare is right about the food in Sydney too. One of the best breakfasts in my life was had there. It was an Ozzie twist on a brit breakfast with bacon and ricotta, ooh yeah.

[Catherine]

Yes, girls, we are in agreement. I love Sydney. And I love English food, too -- I'm with you, Sam! (You can keep your marmite though.)

[Franz]

have you got photos of tom's deli?

[Catherine]

Franz -- sorry, just of the food. Remember, my brain was boggled from all the Xanax...