The 5 best things I ate in London: August 2012

In this series, I round up the five best things I ate in a particular city or country. On the 15th (…or 16th) of each month I feature a destination from my past travels; on the last day of the month I recap the best of the last thirty days in Paris. Today’s 5BTIA comes from London, where I’ve been living for the last three weeks thanks to the Olympics.

I was a little worried about this month’s edition going into London. With the crazy hours I was working, would I get a chance to actually eat something outside the Main Press Centre or the bosses’ hotel? Was my food experience in London going to feature nothing but McDonalds, sushi, and boxed sandwiches?

Thankfully, it was not. Because after the Olympics ended, my recovery plan consisted of sleeping for 18 hours then eating 20 meals in a span of three days — and all of them were delicious. So by the end I was actually spoiled for choice for writing this month’s 5BTIA. But yeah, for a while there, it looked like this was going to be nothing but descriptions of McFlurries and tuna rolls.

1. Kaiserschmarrn, Austria House

Kaiserschmarrn (besides being a really fun word to say) is like a caramelized pancake, which is fried then served hot with fruit compote. The Austrian journalist I was sitting next to during this lunch declared this kaiserschmarrn better than his grandmother’s…though others disagreed it was that good. Regardless, I thought it was so delicious that this dish alone has officially put Austria on my list.

Kaiserschmarrn also represents all the food I had at national houses – from the post-sunset dinner (it’s Ramadan, folks) and fresh juices at Qatar House to the tagine at Africa Village and all the other varied ones in between. You have to love the Olympics for bringing the countries of the world to you.

2. Pimms, everywhere

I got the impression that Pimms is to the English what sangria is to the Spanish. It comes with chopped fruit, is served in a pitcher, and is perfect for summertime drinking. Pimms o’clock: my new favorite hour.

3. Sticky toffee pudding and vanilla pod ice cream, The Champion

My friend and I only popped into this gastropub for one last pint after a full day of walking around town, but after seeing their menu we knew we had to try at least one of their desserts. I usually don’t like any sort of pudding but this one was not too sweet, and served warm which went perfectly with the ice cream (vanilla bean: so heavenly). Definitely bookmarked this place to come back and try properly when I inevitably return to London.

4. Roast leg of lamb with braised fennel, spring greens and gravy, Duke of Cambridge

I was really impressed with the Duke of Cambridge, an organic pub in the neighborhood where I was staying. Yes: an organic pub. Everything was organic (obviously), right down to the cider; and where some ingredients were impossible to get organic, they were still sourced sustainably and eco-friendly. The menu seems to be different every day, so I’m glad I’m no longer living nearby or I would be flat out broke from coming here every night. Highly, highly recommended.

5. Olympic mascot chocolate, Main Press Center

Yes, there were other things I ate in London that probably deserve this spot more, as they were much more delicious and fulfilling than Cadbury’s version of the Olympic mascots. But none of them were nearly as cute.