Archive for the ‘street food’ Tag
“You’re going to swell up like a tick.”
–Work mate when he heard about the Chippy Challenge.
“No, he did the same thing with kebabs, last year…he’ll be fine.”
–Another colleague, in response.
Actually, I lost weight, starting the year at 178 lbs (12 stone 10 or, for the metric-minded, 81 kg) and spending most of the last 6 months dead on 154 lbs (11 stone even or 70 kg). This was grand, as I drank more this year than usual and ran only about the normal amount (maybe even less than, but I haven’t tallied the runs yet). I would highly recommend this diet at least to those who normally live on the 2013: Year of Kebabs Diet. I’m looking forward to seeing what drifting back toward normal alcohol and food intake will do to the weight.
Of the 126 qualifying meals, 75 were at a chippy, 40 in a pub, 3 at the house, 1 at a Dutch fish stand, and 7 others (cafes and dining halls).
I didn’t travel much this year so geographically they are pretty tightly clustered around home and work. I nailed a couple in mainland Europe and a few down at the southern coast, as well, but I had 36 each in Oxford or Swindon so I have favourites in those two localities.
Top 10 in Swindon:
Top 3 in Oxford (Chippies in Oxford are generally shit, but seek these out):
The 5 most dreadful:
Best 5 of the rest:
[The Chippy Challenge: to eat more fish and chips in 2014; see original post for details.]
Fish: cod
Sides: none
Evaluation: Recommended by one of the professors at our group meeting today, it was worth visiting just to see the old Citroën van they use as a chippy. And, really, only for that. Still hungry after getting mugged by The Bear, I went by the van and ordered a batch of goujons which were light and perfectly cooked, granted, but entirely without flavour.
Days since last: 0 (The Bear, Oxford)
Map link.
Monthly consolidations/compilations: January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
An old acquaintance has secured Kate Bush tickets (first of 22 shows — which all sold out in 15 minutes — is tomorrow), one of the more heavily hyped items of late with several pages of bits in yesterday’s Observer and a documentary on BBC4 last Friday. Since she and partner are travelling from Los Angeles, I feel compelled to give some wholly unsolicited tourism options for any down time they have on the trip. Most of these are from the blog, so almost all of them require no extravagant expense (depending on what and how much you decide to eat and drink along the way). Not at all comprehensive, please add your own suggestions for my next trip down the Big Smoke.
Pubs: The map above is my London pub tally through 24 August 2014 and if you click on the picture it should take you to the UK-wide map from which this was gleaned. The pushpins are more accurately located than Google has them but some of the pubs are now gone. If you see one you are likely to want to visit, I have an entry for it on this site now linked to the pushpin on the map but haven’t bothered to include links on the map (so you would have to come back here to search for them). Some of my favourites are:
The Bree Louise: great selection of beer and cider near Euston Station
The Lyric is pleasant enough and you can peer out at the former Red Lion where the Communist Manifesto was mostly written.
I owe the Lord Nelson another visit after their hospitality during the London Marathon. Likewise the Rose of Denmark. The night before the race, we were also thoroughly entertained at the Flowers of the Forest.
Ladbroke Grove is the part of West Kensington where the Clash were holed up in the early years and you’ll find the Kensington Park a fabulous watering hole in the neighbourhood. Another pub with a bit of a punk history to it (and great Thai food on the menu) is the World’s End in Camden.
One of the most beautiful pubs I’ve seen in town is the Blackfriar. If you want to go to just one for atmosphere, this is it.
The East End has a few worthy boozers, too. I really like the White Hart with it’s Jack the Ripper connections and proximity to the London Hospital where John Merrick (the Elephant Man) lived out his days. Just up the road you’ll also find the Blind Beggar where Ronnie Kray shot George Cornell (Kray Brothers, Piranha Brothers, and Kemp Brothers fans should make time for a beverage here). Dinsdale.
Cemeteries: These are a particular favourite of mine and Jackie’s and we’ve done the Highgate tour several times. London has a bunch of good ones sprinkled around, and you could do worse than to stumble upon the Bunhill Fields (wiki here) and leave a penny at Blake’s site for the ferryman. Highgate East is free and very good, but Highgate West requires a tour guide although the hassle is well worth the cheap fee and the advanced planning. Closer into town, Kensal Green is also truly awesome and a good way to kill a few hours.
Farther afield but still in the London confines, the Necropolis Station is worth trying to find. Near the Waterloo Rail Station, this was a dedicated rail stop that shipped 10’s of thousands of small pox corpses out to the suburban cemeteries. Also, if you find yourself at Chelsea Bridge (see the music entry, below), there is another Victorian cemetery nearby we haven’t visited yet but have shortlisted.
Food: Okay, you can probably find more palatable things to eat, but nothing will be more quintessentially London than a bowl of jellied eels soaked in as much chilli vinegar as you can stand…and it comes with a little plate on which to spit the wee bones. Trust me on this one. Go to the Borough Market because if you chicken out there is a ridiculous spread of other food to go for, as fresh as you might ever hope for and reasonably priced (considering the floor show that goes with it).
English food is generally dreadful although I am really fond of blood pudding and fish and chips. If you are from the southeastern U.S., as the catalyst for this note is, you might find yourself more at home dining in the Brixton Market where people know what pimento cheese is and the greens and black-eyed peas are cooked in artery clogging levels of salt pork. Just pick a street stand and start eating; don’t worry, the contact high you get from the pot smoke everywhere will keep you munchy enough to try everything (wear loose clothing for the trip).
Music sites: More than any music site in London I am ashamed of NOT going to is the house where Joe Meek had his weird studio and eventually killed his landlady before committing suicide.
Look out, kid, there are sites I have been to that are pretty good such as Savoy Street in front of the Savoy Chapel where Dylan dropped cards while Subterranean Homesick Blues played in the background. You might also want to pop by number 3 Savile Road, the Apple offices where the last Beatles performance occurred, but under no circumstances should you do the Abbey Road walk of shame (better to just leave some graffiti on the walls outside the studios where, keeping with the Kate Bush theme, Man With the Child in His Eyes was recorded). Also, here’s a Werewolves of London location near the Kensal Green cemetery and not far from Sid Vicious and Johnny Rotten’s squat.
Not London, just my Christmas card pic a couple of years ago, but musical
Clapham is an easy tube stop and the Clapham Common is a great and very large park to kill an afternoon around. Squeeze fans might go to the Clapham Junction station and get Up the Junction stuck in their heads. It’s not a long hike from there to Chelsea Bridge where you can look out over the Thames toward Battersea Power Station (The Pink Floyd’s Animals should come to mind) and settle into a brilliant Waterloo Sunset. Classical music fans can find Jimi Hendrix’s place (which had previously been Handel’s place) at 23 Brook Street while you can find the scene of one of the more annoying brain worms, Come On Eileen, at Brook Drive on the opposite side of the Thames.
Here are two websites that give pretty good music tour ideas. First, Music Like Dirt has a map if you just want to find something near you. The Shady Old Lady has a much more comprehensive site and a lot of other categories to choose from but you are on your own for mapping.
Dr. Who just started again, and I do try to hit Who sites out here in the provinces. Below, you’ll find a screen shot of the Google Earth map of Dr. Who scene sites in central London taken from http://www.doctorwholocations.net/ (download the file DrWhoLocations.kml to load into G-Earth and maybe a more useful map overlay — I’m using OpenStreetMap for mine).
For movie sites in London, try the map at https://moviemaps.org/cities/4 which, though far from comprehensive it does give you some touristy ideas, and a map.
Other recreation: I do not recommend Boris Bikes except maybe in the Square Mile on the weekends (the City is abandoned by 6pm Friday). They are cheap, sturdy, and fun but you can get yourself killed on them as well.
Depending on your interests overlapping a bit, I would highly recommend hashing in the city. London hashers are a friendly lot, take you to the most interesting pubs around, and if you aren’t careful you might even get a little exercise while trotting around the back alleys and through tunnels and up and down streets you might never otherwise venture. They have a centralised calendar of events here but sometimes it is irregularly updated; I have never been disappointed by a London based hash…here are some of the individual kennels’ pages:
London HHH
City HHH
West London HHH
South London HHH (SLASH) … say, ‘hi,’ to Testiculator if you go here or, for that matter, any of the others as he seems to hash a lot.
I weaseled into the 2012 Challenge (100 Yellow Beers in 100 Places) because it involved beer and then, quite drunk at the end of that year, decided to mock the 2013 Challenge (50 Burgers in 50 Places) because it didn’t involve beer. I also wanted to mock the other participants because, as fat Americans tend to do, they threw themselves into the gorging challenge with the gusto Brits plunge into drinking contests. [Is it any wonder I’m trading up from the blue to the red covered passport?]
However, as burgers are particularly shitty in England (the few that aren’t are far too pricey to justify) I requested a substitute dining experience: the kebab. I have been hooked on the spitted elephant leg of spiced meat (I hope it’s meat, anyway) ever since my post-doc years in Amsterdam — in Holland, look for a ‘shoarma’ place to get a decent kebab: they usually aren’t to far from the coffee shop you wake up in.
I was aware that even my unhealthy lifestyle might be challenged by attacking this task too eagerly — to eat 50 of the dreadful things in 50 different places in a year — so I set a pace of one per week (with the option for a bonus kebab here and there) to ensure I finished well on the distant side of the goal line. A kpw (see one of the posts for an explanation) shouldn’t be too hard, should it? But, the pace was toxic and I have been looking forward to a break from this effort for months, now, and may not have another ‘bab before summer now that it’s over. I still enjoy them and have a good database started of who serves a decent one but enough is enough.
So, it may come as a surprise that I am continuing the street-foodie effort into 2014 not so much as part of “Wiley and Brownie’s Annual Challenge” but more due to my own OCD issues. Therefore, 2014 will be the year of Fish and Chips, with special efforts made to visit any with amusing names (such as A Salt and Batter-y, Frying Nemo, or the Codfather). Cod, haddock, pollock, what-have-you as long as it used to swim before it got battered and deep fried…at least one every seven days (minimum 52, probably closer to 100), no repeat venues, a brief report here and add the place to a Fish and Chips map (like the Kebab map that started with the 2013 Challenge, below):
The map so far
Oxford area (near enough to work)
Swindon (near enough the house)
2013 Kebab List:
[*kpw = kebab per week for 2013, as noted in an earlier post and the 57th entry for the 2013 Challenge and, note…I shall explain the 53 week year below†.]
This is how the 2013 Challenge Ends, not with a whimper but with a crappy döner and chips. It’s not as greasy as the photo looks but the chilli sauce is bland (good structure but no flavour) and the meat was incredibly salty. For £4.50 I would have liked some of the veg, too, but that’s probably why the other stands were crowded and this one wasn’t. Happy New Year, though. Taking a break from the kebab for a while….
===================================================
†Brief Explanation of the 53 Week Year just completed
“Kebab Per Week” was a bit of a misnomer from the start as I counted the week from Saturday-to-Saturday inclusive, an eight day week that overlaps with the ones before and after so that, technically, I could have two kebabs as many as 15 days apart and still have one per week. The longest spacing was 10 days, though, and I went over ‘bab quota a few times.
The other issue is that the first and last weeks of 2013 had five and four days, respectively, by that definition, so the year had 51 ‘full’ weeks sandwiched by two short ones. This way my liberal definition of a week was tempered by a Sharia count of the number of weeks.
[*kpw = kebab per week for 2013, as noted in an earlier post and the 56th entry for the 2013 Challenge]
The year is winding down and walking home from the bus station after a short day at work I took the opportunity to hit the last of the Town Centre kebaberies, Korky’s Takeaway on Fleet Street. It was early for them and the pre-Christmas drinking crowds had not yet descended so the guy didn’t much notice I was there while I inspected the sad, damp piles of wilted salads and onions. This is atypical even in shitty kebab shops, so I didn’t expect much of the sandwich (and shouldn’t according to the inspection report, either)..
Wrong. It was quite nice. Gamey, like lamb but more so like mutton, the texture was surprisingly more like meat than chewy connective tissue. The flavour was that of freshly barbecued slices albeit straight from the steam table. The chilli sauce was respectably spicy and the tomatoes and chillis (the only veg that didn’t disgust in appearance) were brilliant. Even the pita from a bargain-sized bag was alright. [Full disclosure: I had not eaten anything since biscotti at 6 in the morning.]
Cold out, I was ready to head off to a rendezvous at the Beehive but first took my choice of booths to listen to Christmas Carols on the tele while my host returned to his smart phone. Merry Christmas, everyone.
[*kpw = kebab per week for 2013, as noted in an earlier post and the 55th entry for the 2013 Challenge]
At the end of a winter loop run along ridges above the River Kennet, I was cold and hungry and lucky to find a kebab stand open (the Kebab and Pizza House which I last visited a few years ago). Well, I SAY lucky but two hours later I a still chugging iced tea and water trying to lower the salinity of my blood. But, it was tasty, if not especially good for the blood pressure: the pungent flavours of mutton and, I’m guessing, rotting beef at least indicated meat was a major component and the sauce and veg were good. Not really worth rushing out to Marlborough for unless you are suffering from hyponatremia.
[*kpw = kebab per week for 2013, as noted in an earlier post and the 54th entry for the 2013 Challenge]
Across from the Royal Oak on Woodstock Road I was lucky enough to find Ali’s Kebab Van (the link leads to an article about Ali’s relationship with an Oxford college that is quite droll). It is easily the smallest of the vans I have yet tried and the one with the most retro look. Friendly guys and very good food although the older fellow forgot the vinegar on the chips (which were, nonetheless, sublime — fluffy within and crisp and sweet on the surfaces). The chilli sauce cleared my sinuses obstructed by the cold and the pub, the meat was moist but not oily and tasted of proper lamb. One of the best near the lab.
[*kpw = kebab per week for 2013, as noted in an earlier post and the 53rd entry for the 2013 Challenge]
I’m always knocked out by Fairford with its medieval layout and ancient buildings (albeit surrounded by modern estates due to the USAF presence at RAF Fairford a mile or so to the south). It isn’t exactly the sort of place I expected to find a good kebab or bad chips but I was in turn pleasantly surprised and sorely disappointed with my snack from the Fairford Kebab and Pizza house. The meat was a delight and didn’t sit very heavy (neither fatty nor salty) and the chilli sauce was functional-to-quite-good. The chips were not nearly so good, though, with about a third of their thickness a polymerised crust of oil from the initial blanching dip in the fryer. Oh, well, it was cheap and it took the edge off before the run back to Lechlade.
[*kpw = kebab per week for 2013, as noted in an earlier post and the 52nd entry for the 2013 Challenge]
Wow. When you commit to a long-term project you can grow weary of its demands. With luck, you will be reminded of what made it so compelling in the first place…I had just such a spot of luck tonight with my stop at Ahmed’s Kebab Van.
The chips were just barely caramelized and golden crisp and had to be deadly or at least stroke inducing (as in brain hemorrhage albeit a masturbatory stroke wouldn’t be out of order–yes, THAT good). The meat, not especially pretty, was abundant and just charred enough on the edges to give it a real barbecue flavour and the veg was crisp and wonderful.
Best bit had to be the chilli sauce (which is saying a bit since I already spewed over the chips). Smoky, with the texture of freshly pestled Mexican salsa and enough heat to rate high even outside this bland nation I would go back just for a bottle of it if I thought they would sell it to me. Awesome. Just…plain…awesome.
[*kpw = kebab per week for 2013, as noted in an earlier post and the 51st entry for the 2013 Challenge]
Jimmy isn’t great but I was into week 47 and I was there, so there you have it. I’ve visited before, roughly this time last year, but was thoroughly unimpressed for the most part. Don’t get me wrong, the guys are great (family business, too) but the kebabs are crap (if you need proof, just look at how many Rodbourne-ians are crowded around). Oh, well, ticked this week’s box, anyway.
[*kpw = kebab per week for 2013, as noted in an earlier post and the 50th entry for the 2013 Challenge]
Okay…I have hit 28 pubs in the last week (work out-of-town means fresh hunting grounds). I point this out for comparison since it took 46 weeks to minimally complete the 50 Burger Kebab Challenge. This was a stupid and frightfully unhealthy event to participate in and there are still 6 weeks in my greater quest to hit at least one every week this year. Madness.
The fare from Kebab Point was fine but I wouldn’t seek it out again. The meat was dry but the elephant leg it came from had all the appearance of a lard column so drained dry was probably a blessing. The meat was also spiced well and tasted vaguely of lamb so was probably made up less from connective tissue and more from some sort of mammalian meat.
The chilli sauce was brilliant but there could have been more. Veg, as is standard for the great British kebab stand, was amazing and could easily have been a healthy option on its own for a less adventurous diner.
Still, I wish I was finished with the project. But, there is a saying: “always do, after sobering up, what you said you would do while you were drunk.” I could escape this rule on some obvious technicalities, but I believe in the spirit, not letter, of the law. Speaking of spirits, a spot of Turkey might cut through the film this ‘bab has left on my teeth.
[*kpw = kebab per week for 2013, as noted in an earlier post and the 48th entry for the 2013 Challenge]
2013, the Year of the Kebab is winding down and with only 8 weeks remaining and a couple of short trips planned it should be easy to make the weekly quota. Should be easy, but my experience in Stroud last Sunday showed the way the late opening times typical in the genre can ruin the plans. So, with week 44 still to tick off I opted to make the short trip to Highworth for a post-work run, cider at the Cellar, and kebab at the Highworth Kebab Shop.
The Highworth fellows are quite nice and piled loads of stinky lamb onto crisply carmelised, salt-and-vingared chips for me. The meat was divine (you actually want it to be a bit gamey) and sauce and veg perfect. I wandered over to the town centre to change clothes under a tree near the Globe and to tuck into the meal. A light drizzle started just as I finished…autumn….
[*kpw = kebab per week for 2013, as noted in an earlier post and the 47th entry for the 2013 Challenge]
There was a Fire Fighter’s “industrial action” (a strike, in American parlance) Saturday night so precautionary actions were urged; for instance, all lab work was suspended in the Chemistry Department during the stoppage. And, Essex Fire and Safety gained international attention with their campaign to minimise incidents related to drunk cooking:
I had already planned on a takeaway for Sunday after the Devizes Half Marathon, so didn’t need the fire brigade’s suggestions. At the Chick-O-Land, not far from my stop for the bus back to Swindon, they piled generous portions smothered in a great — and unusually hot — chilli sauce atop chips that were crisp and caramelized and more than welcome after the rainy run. As the meat portions refried on the griddle a gamy reek of mutton wafted my way promising me a real sheep treat.
I returned to the bus stop to looks of self-righteous scorn from the finishers of the race heading my way. Of course they were well within their rights and may even have felt obligated to cast a disgusted glance at this laggard that shoveled this unhealthy repast down with such abandon — except that this laggard had finished so far ahead of them that he had time to run for a pint 1/2 mile away from the finish, changed clothing on the street while waiting for the pub to open, had another pint on the return trip, and collected this feast after my own finish. I may not be that healthy, but I’m reasonably fast.
[*kpw = kebab per week for 2013, as noted in an earlier post and the 45th entry for the 2013 Challenge]
This is a tasty kebab from Moredon Charcoal Grill but first let me tell you of the path to it. Back in the early days of the Burger Challenge (or, with my waiver, the Kebab Challenge), I scouted some kebab places using Google Maps and found a doozy on Wingate Parade off Northern Road in Swindon, Shapla at the time of the photo but subsequently the Masala Express. The food might have turned out to be dreadful, but with eye candy like this hanging around on the street I felt I must go:
Google Maps has since driven their Street View Vehicle back down Wingate Parade for an updated view but the neighbourhood seems just as charming (it appears that the Mayor of Swindon recently made a warmly received comment about these folks, as reported in several regional newspapers):
After work and on my way to the G-Had Hash House Harriers site, I zipped in for a lamb donner (as it is spelled in their on-line menu). “We don’t do lamb donner,” I was brusquely informed. So, I continued on…
…looking for signs of the trail I knew would be prelaid somewhere nearby and, therefore, making a loop into the Moredon neighbourhood. Good choice, too, as the meat, while gristly and salty, was flavourful and the homemade chilli sauce was excellent. The veg, as tends to be the case, was fresh and better than you can probably find in your grocer’s. I polished this small portion off and returned to the trail hunt finally sated.
[*kpw = kebab per week for 2013, as noted in an earlier post and the 44th entry for the 2013 Challenge]
I was in Chippenham to run a few miles and hit the Sir Audley Arms, but first I wanted to make a stop at Reg’s Kebab just down the hill from Chippenham Rail Station. The shop had been recommended by the barmaid at the Pack Horse back when the 50 Burger Challenge was still in its infancy and I have to admit she knows her food-for-drunks.
The Western Arches, a rail bridge, is just around the corner and there was a nice place to sit, enjoy the delicacy, and watch the traffic in its shadows. The meat had more structure than many plops of döner I’ve inflicted on myself lately and the veg was fresh and crunchy. The entire meal weighed in at just over a pound (this was a “small”) and slowed my pace quite a bit.
[*kpw = kebab per week for 2013, as noted in an earlier post and the 42nd entry for the 2013 Challenge]
I had to catch a bus from Gloucester to the start of Beat the Bore, and on the way decided to fuel up with a kebab. The menu showed a choice between medium and large so I asked for a medium; “we only have small and large,” the fellow told me.
The small was plenty, though, considering how bland the meat and chilli sauce were (disappointing since the sauce was more like a salsa but might as well have been wet packing material). The cabbage was good and it was salty enough to encourage a stop for a beer at the Water Poet so you take your blessings where you can get them.
[*kpw = kebab per week for 2013, as noted in an earlier post and the 41st entry for the 2013 Challenge]
Curry Cottage fucked me over. After 3 years as a loyal customer, they took an hour and a half to deliver cold — yet burned — and greasy food. I have never had bad Indian food in England until tonight and this is the first time I ever had a less than superb meal from the Cottage. It only takes one, though.
The kebab was half the amount I got before, but that was probably a blessing. The salad was soggy but that was probably from steaming above the rapidly chilling order in the car of the driver as he chilled at some mate’s place, perhaps awaiting a ‘delivery’ himself. Jackie’s curry was congealed and salty. This was a huge disappointment.
Never again: we’re spoilt for choice in this part of town.
[*kpw = kebab per week for 2013, as noted in an earlier post and the 40th entry for the 2013 Challenge]
A friend at the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center in Athens, Georgia insisted on going for lunch exclusively at restaurants with a history of bad safety inspections; he claimed it gave him his super strength in battling off the other foul things he did to his body (let me state clearly that I considered Ron not only my drinking peer but, indeed, my superior; good boss). You would need restraints to keep him away from Best Burritoz: one of their shops continued to operate months after this story broke [“rotting vegetables were found when environmental health officers visited a town centre take-away”].
But, after a week off with mostly clean, healthy living and a little baseball on the side, I felt the need to replenish the cultures and decided it was time to get back on the Orlando diet. They had two choices on the menu for donner kebabs (donner, as in the ill fated, cannibalism-rife Donner Party, and not döner): the Medium and the Mofo. I opted for the meat and chips version (one size, no Mofo option). Surprisingly, it was one of the tastier treats I’ve had in a while albeit a bit salty and the fat ran for the first five minutes until the chips cooled and the bottom layer congealed enforcing portion control (I wasn’t going to eat that chip/grease pancake and the pigeons seemed pleased to get it).
[*kpw = kebab per week for 2013, as noted in an earlier post and the 39th entry for the 2013 Challenge]
Started my 10 day break with a run away from work, through the University Parks, north along the Mesopotamia trail to the Victoria and back toward the Plain where, four miles in, I realised how hungry I was (forgot to eat lunch). Noting the sign for the Kebab Hut on St. Clements, I decided to give it a shot.
The pita was fresh and rich with yeast and worth the price on its own. The veg was very crisp, some of it getting dumped in the cool tray from the salad centrifuge as the döner reheated: it was early and they were using up the remaining bits from the night before but it was light and delicious and not nearly as salty as I thought it would be. The sauce was spicy but not very hot; it was thick and rich and, like everything else in this treat, stood on its own merit. A very good find.
The Endless British Pub Crawl 
“You’re going to swell up like a tick.”
–Work mate when he heard about the Chippy Challenge.
“No, he did the same thing with kebabs, last year…he’ll be fine.”
–Another colleague, in response.
Actually, I lost weight, starting the year at 178 lbs (12 stone 10 or, for the metric-minded, 81 kg) and spending most of the last 6 months dead on 154 lbs (11 stone even or 70 kg). This was grand, as I drank more this year than usual and ran only about the normal amount (maybe even less than, but I haven’t tallied the runs yet). I would highly recommend this diet at least to those who normally live on the 2013: Year of Kebabs Diet. I’m looking forward to seeing what drifting back toward normal alcohol and food intake will do to the weight.
Of the 126 qualifying meals, 75 were at a chippy, 40 in a pub, 3 at the house, 1 at a Dutch fish stand, and 7 others (cafes and dining halls).
I didn’t travel much this year so geographically they are pretty tightly clustered around home and work. I nailed a couple in mainland Europe and a few down at the southern coast, as well, but I had 36 each in Oxford or Swindon so I have favourites in those two localities.
Top 10 in Swindon:
Top 3 in Oxford (Chippies in Oxford are generally shit, but seek these out):
The 5 most dreadful:
Best 5 of the rest:
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