Where might Trifle be served?

[MotiSen]

Hello Brits, Scots, Welsh, Irish, etc! My 11 yo son and I are on our way to UK 8/29. I have done extensive research, gotten our britrail passes, hop on hop off passes, tickets for the London Eye, hotels in London, York and Leeds so we can see more of UK, etc.

Just one question. Where can I get trifle? I tried it once about 15 years ago, and thought it amazing. Is it common on dessert menus?

Any other advice about UK-specific foods you could recommend us to try would be appreciated.

Thanks!

When in York, you need to Eat Ebor Ice Cream & have tea in Bettys Tea Rooms

Surely not! She said she's researched extensively and so would of course know the British way of writing dates...

You mean the correct way used by the rest of the world.

OP

Don't get fish and chips in London, wait until you are in Yorkshire and make sure they are cooked in dripping not oil. If you can take a day trip to Scarborough or Whitby you will get some decent chips.

Toad in the hole confused a Canadian friend - sausages cooked in a Yorkshire pudding.

Agree to getting trifle in the supermarket to eat in your room, Marks and Spencer used to do good ones and some similar type puddings such as chocolate trifle. It's not something I have seen on a menu for years but something my mum made on a regular basis.

How are you travelling in Britain? If you are going by train upgrade to first class to have a meal (or snack depending on train company and time of day) served at your seat.

Have an 'Afternoon tea' somewhere one day as well. Some of the posher hotels in London do good ones - it's not just a cup of tea it is sandwiches, cakes, scones occasionally a glass of champagne and don't be scared to ask for more cakes.

Also don't just thing Downton Abbey type food there are some great Indian restaurants and take aways.

Kinder eggs might interest your 11yo. They are illegal to import to the US so don't take any home, basically a chocolate egg with a toy inside.

Helpful link to trifle recipes - you might want to buy some kitchen scales to take home to make trifle.

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/christmas-trifle

Squirms, you've done an excellent job of introducing the OP to our British sarcasm and sense of humour - well done .

For Fish and Chips in Leeds, I recommend "Brian's" in Headingley. It has a restaurant attached. Best eaten with strong tea and bread and butter. (NB - fish and chip shops are often just takeaways).

Definitely wait till you come up north for fish and chips, I'm led to believe they don't do mushy peas with them down south. Don't be tempted to get them from a pub, get them from a proper fish and chip shop. The only acceptable drinks to have with them are a cup of tea, dandelion and burdock, irn bru, cream soda, shandy bass or tizer... Accept no substitutes.

I would also second a suggestion upthread to go for a proper curry, you'll have no problems finding a decent curry house in London or Leeds.

Actually Murgatroyds is also gOod for fish and chips in Leeds.

Traditional food is often served in pubs- for atmospheric pubs in Leeds try The Adelphi, Whitelocks or The Town Hall Tavern in the city centre. A bit further out, the Cow and Calf in Ilkley is a good destination for a roast dinner. Many places only do roasts on Sundays, lots do it as a "carvery" (buffet style with a choice of meat carved for you).

If you are travelling to Leeds by car, stop at Blacker Hall farm shop and cafe (about 20 mins south of Leeds off J39 of the m1 motorway), for very good local food and trad English meals. Whilst you are on that part of the world, The Yorkshire Sculpture Park is well worth a visit (not for food, for sculptures and the parkland, but the restaurant is not bad, if a little pricey).

Definitely wait till you come up north for fish and chips, I'm led to believe they don't do mushy peas with them down south.

They also leave the skin on! I would suggest any drink made by Ben Shaws is suitable with fish and chips.

Ring them and check to see if Simpsons in Picadilly do trifle. Good English food, at a price, otherwise.

Other English restaurants,
Canteen v near the Eye
Shepherds, marsham st, expensive, near Westminster abbey, been a political and debutante restaurant for ever
Boisdale (Scottish, not English, ) expensive but v good, food from the estate
The Trafalgar tavern, Greenwich, eat their whitebait, Dickens mentions it in I think our mutual friend
Fortnums and mason fountain room. Good food emporium.

Other Engkish / UK food
Cheese, esp Stilton ( blue) Paxton and Whitfield on Jermyn St great cheese shop
Kippers ( smoked herring) great breakfast dish, esp with scrambled egg, if you upgrade your tickets to first on the train to York or leads, at breakfast time, you may well be offered kippers or haddock
Financial haddock'. With poached egg, good breakfast dish
Porridge.

Scottish tablet, hard fudge
Summer pudding. Summer berries inside bread soaked with juice. Much much nicer than it sounds
Treacle tart or treacle pudding, golden syrup puddings served with syrup, cream, custard or ice cream
Betty's fat rascals, at Betty's in York if Harrogate. Huge rock cakes.
Maids of honour biscuits if you go down to Richmond
Staffordshire/ derbyshire oatcakes, oat pancakes for breakfast.
Scottish oatcakes, hard oat biscuit eaten with cheese, or honey it jam
Marmelade. Tart / sour orange jelly ( amps jam) eaten with toast
Marmite. Dark yeast savory spread eaten on toast. Divides nation, some like it, some hate it " its a marmite thing"
Malt loaf, sticky tea bread.
Sosa bread, Irish non yeast bread

Enjoy

• amps, aka *sosa, soda

Aldo, saffron cake from Cornwall
Welsh cakes, like fruit griddle scones, nicest off the griddle fresh and hot, but also available in packets from marks and spencer
Chicken tikka and chicken balti, Indian, the latter invented in England. V v traditional now.

• financial haddock , no , Finnan

Some would recommend Arbroath smokies, cold cured herring. I think life's too short, but that's just me.

Tea is lethal. Other beverages are available.

Yes, if you're in Marks & Spencer buying trifle get a packet of Welsh cakes too.

I thought Squirm was showcasing the best of British ironic humour in her well written post regarding the date. I personally wholeheartedly enjoyed it.

And by the way OP, the correct spelling is gravy. Your informant made a mistake back there.

Betty's Tea Rooms in York for a Fat Rascal there's nowhere like Betty's.

I can't think where you'd get a trifle served at the moment though... Other than at my Grandma's!

Tea is essential :) with a little bit of milk in the cup first, poured from a teapot. I like one sugar.

(It's what I miss most when I'm away from home!)

Fish & chips much better 'up north'; but you can get mushy peas everywhere (although regional variations include mushy pea fritters & mushy peas with mint sauce...).

Sunday lunchtime is traditionally the time for roast dinner. Many pubs do a special Sunday lunch menu instead of normal menu. Do some googling to get recommendations, as a bad Sunday roast is a thing of tragedy.

Sadly, the best British food tends to be home cooked. That's not to say we don't have good restaurants- but the really good British ones are few & far between.

Don't waste your afternoon queuing for Bettys. Hop on the train to Hull and get yourself a Patty Butty - lovingly fried mashed potato encased in a soft white bap. And then chips. With chip spice. Not American chips which are crisps. But fries. But don't call them fries. I went to Scunthorpe recently and asked for fries and the woman looked at me strangely.

I agree with waiting until your Up North before having fish and chips, my best ever were in Witby.

Definitely proper Afternoon Tea in a swanky London hotel, you normally have to book but a decent hotel concierge will find you somewhere.

Or what about this?
http://www.eatinglondontours.co.uk

I was going to suggest Murgatroyds in Yeadon as well Bike. OH reckons they do the best fish and chips ever.

For curry Akbar's or the Aagrah are usually reliable. Or you could venture to the UK's curry capital - Bradford and see what is on offer.

Leeds market sells some great street food from around the world. Not traditionally British, but delicious all the same.

Betty's has a branch in Ilkley as well as York.

DD always goes to the fudge shop every time she is in York. You can watch them making it.

We have some fabulous farm shops, but you really need a car to get to them. Blacker Hall near Wakefield, and Cannon Hall near Barnsley are excellent.

I saw trifle on a pub menu recently! I didn't have it, so don't know how it would compare with supermarket trifle .
It might not have contained jelly, which I personally think is nicer, but I'm sure that fact will be hotly contested!

It was in a Vintage Inns Pub - looks like there are lots of them around the country link

We had a nice roast beef Sunday lunch in the one we went to.

Definitely some of the best food in the UK isn't British.

You need to have a curry. I live overseas now and oh how I long for an English korma or tikka masala There is a large Indian & Pakistani community where I am now so their cuisine is abundent, but you can't get a proper korma.

I also like the My Old Dutch pancake chain in London? HUGE crepes served with anything from chicken curry to smoked salmon to banana and chocolate.

You can get some Tunnocks Tea Cakes for nibbling on (fluffy marshmallow on a biscuit base, the whole thing encased in chocolate).

Have a proper sausage roll somewhere.

Pork pie.

Yes to whoever said bread & butter pudding.

Try local ciders on your travels.

If you see any pop-up restaurants, try them.

Eat your trifle in front of a Come Dine With Me or Master Chef tv marathon.

Sigh... I miss home.

And a lot of it is British. I live in a rural area and we have a couple of pubs that do outstanding food made from high quality, fresh local produce.

I love cuisines from all round the world, but you can't beat a slow cooked lamb shoulder, rack of lamb, Barnsley chop, succulent steak, etc from our local area, along with fresh vegetables cooked al dente and in an imaginative way.

All I can say is perhaps you haven't been lucky enough to eat such nice British food.

I totally agree with NicknameUsed - locally produced, home cooked food from a good farm shop or "gastro" pub is excellent. Our local butchers sell the best Cottage Pie and sausage rolls DH says he's ever had, all locally produced meat.

Blacker Hall that Nickname and I have both mentioned (I don't know her, but know she's not far away) label their produce with how far it has travelled. They sell lots of ingredients, ready made pies and puddings etc and their very smart cafe sells gorgeous food, only shame is that they are not (habitually) open in the evenings.

Wow. Gosh. I will print this out, highlight and annotate. We will be there 10 days. I got the Britrail pass, and I'd been thinking we'd hop on hop off in small towns to have trifle to see sites of historic importance - but, looks like i will have bread and butter pudding instead, and that is fine by me. Will definitely wait to get to York or even Scarborough or Whitby for the Fish n Chips.