A brief history of the Urban Adventure:
I like the sound of Urban Adventure. It just oozes city travel fun. For the last 10 years or so we’ve done a series of what we call Urban Adventures – really short trips to cities simply to be tourists, see what’s what, and taste what the city has to offer. These are really the only times we allow ourselves to be tourists. Anyone that knows us knows that we generally hate what tourism has become and tend to do our traveling in longer, slower, more casual and respectful bites.
Over the last decade or so of our travel escapades, our Urban Adventures have taken us Valencia (Spain), Venice (Italy), London (England), Paris (France), Munich (Germany), Barcelona (Spain), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Singapore, Rome (Italy), Pisa (Italy), New York, Austin, Seattle, Portland, Denver, Washington DC, Chicago, and a few others and they all seem to take pretty much the same form.
We book dirt cheap, last-minute flights, find a place to stay right in the heart of the city, and we walk…a lot. We usually try to hit most of the bigger tourist attractions that are suggested by so-called travel experts – sometimes just to walk by to be depressed by the crowds, but often we do go in if they are of serious interest (or not crowded or free). We find street food, small bars, take public transit, and try to do what locals do for food and drink. Then, poof, we’re out. These aren’t long trips. They are simply chances to feel the vibe of the city and the people.
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Where this time?
It was time to return to London. It’s been a while since we were there last…like 22 years or so, so we thought the time was right and we kinda wanted to see what had changed over the years.
Why London?
Bagels. That’s it. We wanted bagels…and maybe some dumplings, Indian food, and something with a little spice; all things we can’t really get where we are. Yes, there is like one bagel place where we live, and a little bit of Indian food, but it is all pretty dissapointing. And proper dumplings? Yeah, no. We crave what we can’t have, I guess.
To paraphrase someone I don’t know: “Sometimes someone a dumpling comes into your life that changes everything. Raises the standards, makes you laugh and makes you feel like you. There is something about him that dumpling that you can’t put into words and even though you’re not with him that dumpling, you don’t want to let him that dumpling go.”
That, is how we feel about certain foods.
See, we were watching some random TV show that had an episode about a bagel shop and we looked at each other and said, “Let’s go get bagels.” That’s how it works for us now. We have a glass or two of wine and make pretty ridiculous decisions that we usually cancel and often regret. Not this time.
Initially, we started shopping last second flights to NYC to get our fix from any number of fabulous bagels. We even found a quick in and out for like $400 each. Not too bad. We rationalized the expense by dreaming of bagels and New York pizza and having a good day in the markets. But, then we had a thought. Did London have good bagels? We’re only like 2 hours from London by plane and the flights are like $40 round trip. Oooo, and no jet lag. Plus, maybe we can spot Larry the cat. More on this later.
Giddyup! A quick in and out gastroniomic Urban Food Adventure in London was planned. And this one was going to be all about food.
What were the highlights?
Yes, we wanted to try a few bagels, but we also wanted to take advantage of what London has to offer from a spice perspective. We miss actual spice and flavor sometimes. So, we went on the hunt and we definitely found.
Din Tai Fung
Our first experience with Din Tai Fung was in Singapore. It is a Taiwanese restaurant chain specializing in hand rolled dumplings and all other things yummy and Asian. When in Singapore, we would go as often as possible to get our spice on. Well, as luck has it, there is a Din Tai Fung in Covent Garden. Reservations made. Steamed broccoli with garlic, spicy noodles, and chili soup dumplings were consumed. Tiger beer and lemongrass tea were poured down our throats, and a few other things were sampled that made our toes curl. Memories…in the form of flavor. Needless to say, we went twice during our 48 hour stay.
Indian Street Food
We found an awesome little Indian street food stall just off Leicester Square. Apna Adda. It was strategically located right next to some sort of gentleman’s club that seemed to cater mostly to homeless guys. And, if that wasn’t creepy enough, the door man gave each of the guys in the long line waiting to get in a healthy squirt of what we can only hope was hand sanitizer. No matter. We had tastebuds to burn. To call this place humble is an understatement. Only, like, four tables, a couple guys, and a couple sauce stations. That’s it. Food made to order, served in styrofoam bowls, and shoveled down with plastic spoons. To drink? Yeah, they don’t have water…but a Fanta will do. Seriously, some of the best flavors we’ve had in a while.
Yes, We Had Bagels
The famous one, Beigel Bake Brick Lane Bakery was the winner. It’s really old, really famous, and never closes. Seriously…24/7 bagels. It’s so nondescript that it was quite easy to miss. However, when you have few old women feverishly schmering behind a counter and a huge guy in front actually directing traffic in a safely yellow vest, you know you’ve found the one. There were more. Brick Lane Bagel Co. and others. But Beigel Bake was the star. Dark, blistered crust and chewy enough without being bread-y. It was a good bagel. Definitely top 5 in our travels.
Did we have other food? Yeah. We had some grab and go pizza for the first time in, like, forever. We found a great little wine bar for some Southern Rhone reds and a few bites of cheese. We visited a couple pubs for pints and peanuts, and we had probably the best airport food ever in the form of a Turkish shakshuka with fried eggs and feta. Yeah, in an airport. It was awesome.
More On London
Things Have Changed
As we discussed earlier, it’s been over 20 years since we were in London last, and things have definitely changed. First, there were so many people. Everywhere. Last time we visited was during the Christmas season and we thought it was packed. But now, no comparison. Tourist areas are overwhelmed, important shit is blocked off from getting close for security reasons (or simply to keep the hoards off the stuff), and everyone has mobile phones. So, there are more people, and everyone is taking pictures of everything.
A quick search showed that London tourism as doubled in the last 20 years, from 20 million a year to over 40 million. Add a couple million more residents in the city over the same time and you have a city that is dramatically busier than it was before. And it shows.
See, I think travel has become too easy. 20 years ago it would cost $800 to fly to London from the US. That’s about $1500 in today’s dollars. But now? If you put just a tad of planning in it, one can fly from the US to London for about $600 (cheaper from NYC or Atlanta, etc). And, instead of a couple flights a day from a few different airports, you have hundreds if not thousands of flights going everywhere. I’m basically saying travel is easier. Lodging is about the same. Food is more expensive, but, adjusted for inflation, most things are the same if not cheaper than they were back then. Easier travel equals more people. Then you have the Instagram crowd and the “we live for experiences” people…all taking the same picture of the same things and posting them on the same sites as thousands and thousands of others…you know, to be cool and different and sexy. “Look at me! “#boyfriedsofinstagram.
Anywho…rant over. For now.
The only thing we really wanted to see was Larry the cat. He’s the cat who lives at No 10 Downing Street. He’s kind of a big deal around there. Years ago, one could actually walk the street, but not now. Security. But, what’s that? There he is. We got our glimpse. A cat. In London.
Life changes. We went from being museum and theater people, and “Let’s go see Big Ben, the cathedral, the bridge and the Crown Jewels,” kind of travelers to people who simply want good food, not to be crushed by the masses of tour groups, and to maybe spot an Instagram-famous cat before settling in for for the night with a good glass of wine. We can dream.
Random Thoughts and Useless Observations
- London is expensive. Yeah, I said it’s mostly kept up with inflation and all from a general travel perspective, but it’s spendy. We’ve gotten used to 2€ coffees and 4€ wines. Well, not here.
- Food is everywhere, and it’s really, really good…just not the British food. Indian, Italian, French, Thai, Chinese, Syrian, everything.
- Camden Town is cool, in an interesting, tattoo and piercing kind of way.
- There seems to be a lot more options for the theater these days. They aren’t exactly original, but options are plenty.
- The street art scene is dissapointing. Not the art, itself. It’s fabulous. But there’s no respect from the douchebag taggers. Rarely did we see a good piece of quality street art that wasn’t tagged. Assholes.
- I continue to be a champion of public transportation, and the Underground is still one of the best. And, no more tickets…just tap and pay…genius. I hear it’s starting to suffer from lack of funding, but it gets us where we want to go. I mean, jesus, can you imagine a few million more cars on the road in London? Oh. Yeah, you can. It’s Los Angeles, but I hear if you add one more lane…that’ll fix it. (quick travel nerd fact: there are actually 5 million more cars in Los Angeles county – population 4 million – than in London – population 9 million)
- More on the ease of travel: It’s now completely possible to live without cash. We did. Credit cards are everything. We spent a few days and didn’t use cash once. No ATM. No change service. Just the phone. Tap and pay, baby. That said, it must be a lot harder for panhandlers. I mean, I’m generally a giver, but if you don’t have cash, and the guy begging doesn’t have Venmo, life gets challenging.
- Open air markets have gotten so much better over the years. They are everywhere and they are awesome. Any food you want provided by artists and artisans. Why go to restaurants when you can have street food all day every day?
- Another trip to the Tate Modern reinforced the idea that I really don’t understand art. I mean, yeah, I get it and I like it. But the structure of who decides what’s worthy of museums escapes me.
- Sadly, the richer the country, the bigger the people. Future anthropologists will be so confused when they study this period. Today, wealth equals generally fat people mixed with even richer people who are artificially skinny…in really nice leggings. It’s a paradox worth discussing some other time. But everyone will have crocked necks from constantly looking down at phones.
- And, hey, how many times do I have to say it? Headphones, people. Headphones. I don’t need to hear your music or conversation in public.
