Areas of your city that would shock outsiders/visitors w/ preconceived notions

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by muppet

I think a lot of people expect this from London


And that this is the cuisine


http://www.worldhum.com/travel-blog/...food-20090624/

Worse yet, it's breakfast. In America, that might be a picnic lunch (probably potato salad rather than mashed, though and the beans wouldn't be straight out of the can--most people "doctor" them somehow.

[iheartthed]

Things that surprised me about London the first time:

-Pubs close super fucking early.

-Fewer British accents than I imagined. Many accents were non-native English accents, so if I were to close my eyes and listen it would've been hard to tell in some cases that I'm not in a major American city.

-How expensive it is to ride the tube.

-The tube was/is not 24 hours.

-People actually like riding buses there. Buses are maligned in American culture, even in places like NYC. There is a much higher tolerance for buses in London than in New York.

-It was both safer and more dangerous than I expected. The first time I visited, I noticed signs everywhere in central London pubs warning of "bag snatchers". You would never see that in New York. OTOH, wandering into places that were rough around the edges never seemed quite as hair-raising as some of the more dicey areas in American cities.

-I had fish and chips at some pub that was (I think) in either Knightsbridge or Belgravia, and it was the best fish and chips I'd ever had in my life. I don't even like fish and chips, but I thought it sounded like something I should try on my first trip to London.

-Random neighborhood Chinese restaurants in London were better than in New York. (But New York's neighborhood Chinese restaurants are mostly disgusting, so not a high bar.)

-Cold summers relative to North America. The first time I went to London was during August, and people were wearing leather jackets. I would've worn one too if I had known to bring one.

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

-Cold summers relative to North America. The first time I went to London was during August, and people were wearing leather jackets. I would've worn one too if I had known to bring one.

Er, in San Francisco in summer I've been known to wear a parka. Today the predicted high is 65 degrees and the low is 53 degrees and it's quite windy (but sunny) so it feels more like autumn in the arctic.

So when you say "North America", I think you need to be more specific and at least exempt the Pacific Coast which is subject to similar ocean currents to what Britain is but on an even grander scale.

[llamaorama]

I eat that for dinner sometimes(sausage, beans, mashed potatoes), but breakfast, that's super weird. You'd make a lot of dishes dirty by microwaving the instant potatoes and canned beans and sausages all separately first thing in the morning, no thanks.

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by llamaorama

I eat that for dinner sometimes(sausage, beans, mashed potatoes), but breakfast, that's weird.

I do too but the "sausages" are hot dogs (vs "bangers") or hotlinks and, again, it's potato salad rather than mashed.

Americans have never understood the British attachment to pork and beans out of the can even though the popular brands even in Britain are American (Heinz mainly). Is it a WW II thing?

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by Pedestrian

Er, in San Francisco in summer I've been known to wear a parka. Today the predicted high is 65 degrees and the low is 53 degrees and it's quite windy (but sunny) so it feels more like autumn in the arctic.

So when you say "North America", I think you need to be more specific and at least exempt the Pacific Coast which is subject to similar ocean currents to what Britain is but on an even grander scale.

Pretty much everywhere except San Francisco/PNW.

But yes, San Francisco is also cold AF during the summer, and I was also surprised by that when I first visited.

[muppet]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

Things that surprised me about London the first time:

-Pubs close super fucking early.
.

Yep pubs closed early at 11pm during the war for the 'Blackout' (switching the lights off in the city so it would be harder to locate where they were bombing), but that was never rescinded after it ended, when they noticed how much better society functioned. However over the decades this led to a binge-drinking culture straight after work, starting off much earlier.

In the late 90s they eased restrictions so they could stay open all night if they paid for it, though most usually closed at 2-4am. However, more and more Millennials are drinking less and the city's 8,000 pubs have now dwindled to 3,500 (and clubs have halved to about 500). The early closing has returned this last decade, this time without govt encouragement. A similar thing with the supermarkets, who were almost all 24 hrs until recently as demand fell, thanks to online shopping.

Basically the slack's been taken up by restaurants and cafes, who boomed by 6,000 new establishments.

Also the tube's open 24 hrs over the weekend, though many complain it's been a few decades too late now that nightlife is dying. The demand is still there to roll it out across the week, though London would find it hard to implement due to the way the rail was built (they need about a 3hr turnover time to clean and check the trains, and there are often only two rails to park on). About 1.6 million people work at night and 65% of the population is active at night -work, errands, shopping and socialising.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by muppet

Yep pubs closed early at 11pm...

Wasn't that partly the reason why London developed such a huge after hours club scene?

[muppet]

Yep, but all fruitless now. Millennials prefer to drink less, dance less -though there's a big resurgence in 'retro' illegal raves among Generation Z. Pubs and clubs have been closing at record rates, every nightlife district is becoming a smoking shell.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by BEER

Scarborough Bluffs along the water are beautiful. To be honest, I have had no idea about them.

There are quite a lot of areas on Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, Lake Huron (probably Lake Michigan too) that are similarly beautiful. I didn't think the region had places like that at all so was pleasantly surprised when I saw them for the first time.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by muppet

Yep, but all fruitless now. Millennials prefer to drink less, dance less -though there's a big resurgence in 'retro' illegal raves among Generation Y. Pubs and clubs have been closing at record rates, every nightlife district is becoming a smoking shell.

It was my generation that largely fueled that era. I wish I was able to visit there in the early 90's.

[suburbanite]

Wish I got to experience that version of London as well. I definitely had a better experience when I went on my own and visited some long-standing (and hard partying) locals, but still had the feeling that I had missed the peak and was catching the nightlife on the downslope.

[Crawford]

Sorry, British food is bad, and really all native Northern European food is bad. I'm German, and freely admit most German cuisine sucks. At least Germany has decent bread, coffee and wine, though. A random Italian region has more interesting food than all of Europe north of the Alps, excepting France.

And you'd have to be a total idiot to not know that a gigantic global megacity has a broad diversity of cuisines. But who goes to London to eat Thai food costing 3x that of LA and not nearly as good? London isn't a great eating out town, at least not for a first tier megacity relative to cost.

[hipster duck]

Originally Posted by Crawford

Sorry, British food is bad, and really all native Northern European food is bad. I'm German, and freely admit most German cuisine sucks. At least Germany has decent bread, coffee and wine, though. A random Italian region has more interesting food than all of Europe north of the Alps, excepting France.

I think that the local food in Baden is good. It's right across the river from France and has the same climate as Alsace, so it's not going to be like you cross the Rhine and the food goes to shit. Wurttemberg is also good, and in Bavaria it's okay. Somewhere north of that, where Catholicism tapers off, food starts to turn into something more like basic sustenance than something to be celebrated.

That said, what northern European cuisine lacks in fine dining, it makes up for in things like local pastries, desserts, cheeses and alcoholic drinks.

[Fresh]

Maybe the two things that might shock outsiders to Sydney is (a) how Asian it is and (b) that the harbour/downtown/beaches area only makes up a small portion of a sprawling metro that consists of about a billion nondescript streets looking like this

https://www.google.com/maps/@-33.812...4!8i8192?hl=en

I guess that's true of lots of places though.

Oh yeah, probably also be shocked at how expensive it is and why you're paying $35 for a packet of cigarettes.

P.S I thought the food was great when i was in Baden-Wuttemberg too

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by Crawford

Sorry, British food is bad, and really all native Northern European food is bad. I'm German, and freely admit most German cuisine sucks. At least Germany has decent bread, coffee and wine, though. A random Italian region has more interesting food than all of Europe north of the Alps, excepting France.

And you'd have to be a total idiot to not know that a gigantic global megacity has a broad diversity of cuisines. But who goes to London to eat Thai food costing 3x that of LA and not nearly as good? London isn't a great eating out town, at least not for a first tier megacity relative to cost.

i’ll second all that, with the exception of the now long running local british food revival at gastropubs and the like, for example st john, hereford rd, etc.. i always make a beeline for the inventive local food at those joints around london. in fact fergus henderson is a chef hero of mine, he’s kind of their tony bourdain. he’s the snout to tail guy. i had a couple pints and nice chats with him both over there and here in ny. cool guy. so there’s that.

[badrunner]

LA has a lot of surprises in store for visitors who aren't too familiar with the city. It's a city that rewards exploration, like no other.

I like to take out-of-state visitors up to the local mountains, either hiking or driving up the Angeles Crest highway. As the elevation road markers tick past 5000ft, then 6000, then 7000, they'll sometimes blurt out "This is the highest I've ever been in my life!"

• Video Link

[kool maudit]

Originally Posted by Crawford

Sorry, British food is bad, and really all native Northern European food is bad.

It's certainly unfashionable insofar as contemporary tastes favour lighter cuisines with more distinct flavour profiles, but I don't think its bad. It's well suited to its home region.

My "death row meal" would probably still be a British Sunday Roast with Yorkshire pud, and I have to confess a love of German weisswurst as well, along with schnitzel and similar dishes. In Scandinavia, you have to do a pretty hard day's work to require a Plankstek (a Hungarian import, tbh), but it's great if that's where you are. Pickled herring and cabbage on Danish rye, Jansson's frestelse, these are great things.

Pitepalt and reindeer with lingonberries! I mean, you can't move after it, but thats what the schnapps is for.

It needs to be dark and you need to be tired, and these are all terrible "on-the-go" foods, admittedly. They're never going to set the bustling world of global capitalism on fire. But every cuisine reflects its region, and Northern European food fits right in if you're here.

You don't eat pad thai on Walpurgisnacht.

[muppet]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

i’ll second all that, with the exception of the now long running local british food revival at gastropubs and the like, for example st john, hereford rd, etc.. i always make a beeline for the inventive local food at those joints around london. in fact fergus henderson is a chef hero of mine, he’s kind of their tony bourdain. he’s the snout to tail guy. i had a couple pints and nice chats with him both over there and here in ny. cool guy. so there’s that.

I think a good rule of thumb is to go to pretty much any pub away from tourist strips (which don't have to cater to returning clientele), or are a tourist attraction in their own right (gimmicky). The kind of places that have no discerning regulars. AVOID:





Flat roofs:



(except the Duck and Rice - a gastropub from Alan Yau that serves up tacky takeaway style menus but Michelin star style)




dead bodies /prostitutes /on fire/ dead prostitutes on fire



England flags (outside of the World Cup/ UEFA) -other UK flags are fine




And be wary of flower pots, sometimes a sign of a proprieters pride, or the last stab at marketing for a dying business (sometimes a pub that's eminently presentable outside is awful in).
Note the cheap ivy and mini-fir combo.





Badly matched exterior -eg mock Tudor with Georgian pastels, a sign the owner's an idiot




Megapubs -seriously why would they even bother




Sports (in general anywhere with a TV)




...although a new breed of upmarket 'sports bar' will surprise





anywhere with a slot machine


www.britishsilents.co.uk


and the people who use them


https://www.amazon.co.uk/Predator-Be.../dp/B0078XGZ4C


Oh and branded parasols - a grasping landlord/lady

[muppet]

Pubs generally have good food as sometime in the noughties they sold more grub than they did booze. In short the restaurant business now earns significantly more money, and a great deal of effort is put into designing and updating the menus from constant competition. I've been pleasantly surprised even in Wetherspoons (a dire chain), far flung provincial outposts and busy boozers catering to nightlife.

A good bet is 'airy' feeling places that diverted from the tradition of dark and dingy - a sign they're catering to new demands, and less likely to be sexually assaulted on the way to the loo


https://i.insider.com

www.i-escape.com/blog, https://thenudge.com





or tastefully done historicism/ preservation, once again a sign of sensitive stewardship



I'm, a bit wary of the one below, on left with TV in corner -sign of old-fashioned, undiscerning regulars.




Or mod cons -when spending this amount on rebranding they'll splurge on the menu too


https://static.designmynight.com/uploads/2019


https://cdn.theculturetrip.com


Also riverside pubs -to be able to afford the premiums or promote the air of gentility they won't stimp on food quality