My parents were in town a few weeks ago and I spent the weekend showing them the most legit english restaurants I could find. Took them on Friday to the Harwood Arms, the first gastropub in London to get a michelin star. Had a scotch egg as an appetizer (hard-boiled egg, wrapped in ham, deep fried, salted.) That's fucking english. My dad had fried oysters which were served with a seaweed tartare sauce, really fucking good. For the mains, my dad and I each had lamb, my mom had a filet. The lamb won out. Pub food is pretty much the opposite of molecular gastronomy, it tends to be red meat in some sort of gravy, and lots of fresh vegetables. Other upsides: awesome beers and it was lunchtime and I wasn't in the office.
Sunday I took them (FC came too, and drove in his tank, I mean, commander) to the Yew Tree Inn. It was a pretty long drive, hour and change, almost all the way to wales, but probably worth it. The building it was in was probably the oldest non-church building I've ever been in. The chef is Pierre White, who used to be an up-and-comer back in the day but then he burnt out and retired to the english countryside. Now he has this one restaurant which mostly prepares food killed locally. By men with guns. I had roast venison, was really fucking good. Don't remember the appetizer, which means it was, apparently, forgettable. Worth the drive, although given the time it took it was probably a one-time experience.
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