Dining in London: Fish & Chips, Sunday Roast, and Roast Duck

It's lunchtime at the Camden Market and there are many attractive options, but I'm thinking fish & chips.  I walk right by Poppies Fish & Chips and the smell draws me in.  Poppies is named after Pat "Pop" Newland, who started in the fish & chip business in 1952 when, at age 11, he got a job cutting up copies of The Daily Mirror to wrap fish & chips.  Eventually, he got his own shop and now offers traditional fish & chips with either cod or haddock.  I choose cod and chips and enjoy the feast.

Cod & chips

The next truly British dining experience that I seek out is Sunday Roast.  The Sunday Roast developed during the reign of King Henri VII in 1485, serving a Sunday meal of roast beef, roast potatoes, and accompaniments such as Yorkshire pudding, stuffing, vegetables, and gravy.  I enjoy this meal at one of our favorite wine bars in Leicester Square, the Cork & Bottle.  This Sunday Roast features roast sirloin of beef, homemade Yorkshire pudding, gravy, duck fat roasted potatoes, and seasonal vegetables, accompanied by a glass of merlot.

 Sunday roast

With everything

What a feast!

Next, another great roast, roast duck!  Long before chickens became the favorite poultry dish, duck was plentiful and roast duck was very popular in England.  Duck breeding suffered during the world wars and never recovered.  However, roast duck is readily available in London and I head out to find one.  A quick search brings me to the Gold Mine on Queensway, just north of Hyde Park, a street with several roast duck restaurants.

The window displays ducks waiting to be consumed and I order one, along with a plate of assorted vegetables and a Tsing Tao (Chinese) beer.

Gold Mine

 Duck and vegetables

 All together

I enjoy great variety in my London dining and all the meals are fabulous, each in their own way.