Seagrass, have you ever tried ordering from Parker's? They have some great products. Their fish and chips are fab, though they sell out instantly, excellent selection of pies, sausages, cookies, et al.

https://www.parkersbritishinstitution.com

Elizabeth, I believe the one from the UK enables you to pour in your own granules.

Slider to 6:54 on below vid. (i.e. why not one's own charcoal too?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NsR_jCimHU

...As for the varicose, research sonovein compared to anything in the U.S. and see for yourself.. Could be that the FDA is lobbied by U.S. doctors along with those who market vein-removal procedures, for fear of competition. Just theorizing.

Bookwoman, i like Janmie Dodgers, but not $43 worth! I wonder if Taste of Britain in Devon has them?

They do! https://atobritain.com/shop-in-store/ (see under Biscuits).

@Zalco/bring back Sophie! holy moly!!!I gave up trying to get decent "brit" food. I am from the East Midlands, home of Stilton and pork pies. OMG black pudding!! please tell me it's good!!

schoolhouse, Curvy Kate (https://us.curvykate.com/)

Decent Brit food, that exists? There's so much I wonder about from there, but food seems so grey when I see it on tv? I must need to see it in person?

Everyone everywhere has fond memories of familiar food from their youth and regions of origin, here and abroad. Having said that, I don't think British food started to get particularly palatable until enough years had passed following its joining the European Community to allow Continental chefs and foodstuffs to arrive, get established, and become better known. Before then, British food was known to be greasy, overcooked, and not that good. Conventional advice for visitors was to get by on either greasy fish and chips, simple pub food. or, if in London, go to Soho for Chinese food.

Bevthebrit, I have liked everything I have tried. I am especially fond of their pork pies. I must confess that I do not eat black pudding, though. The owners are super nice and accomodating. You can connect with them via IG.

Rob, There are some incredibly good English chefs out there. English home cooking is fantastic and has unfairly served as the butt of many jokes.

Elmer, You may want to take a peek at Elizabeth David's work. It predates the Common Market, much the less the EU ( just checked, she barely predates the Common Market, so you win, but look at her anyway :-)

Mind you, I am not British. My mother grew up in a British Colony, and attended British schools.

Although I can't comment on either water filters or varicose veins, as a 'Brit' or in my case English I feel that cooking in the UK has improved immeasurably. We still picture the sludge served up as school meals or as a result of WWII rationing, the era in which I spent my childhood; it didn't come to an end until the mid-50's.

Of course there are many fast-food outlets (KFC MacD's etc) turning us into a fat lardy nation but so many young chefs/cooks with a dedication to wholesome food are found in every town running bistros, pop-up eateries, pub kitchens and so on.

Zalco's mention of a 'British Colony' is a reminder that there are thousands of restaurants run by world-wide communities of people bringing their national dishes to a wider and appreciative public.

I really believe you cannot beat British beef, lamb, local cheese, the huge range of fresh fish, apples, pears, beer, cider . . . and yes Bev, Melton Mowbray pork pies . . .

I'm sure there are some great chefs (Nigella Lawson, Jamie Oliver, etc.), and comfort food for some, but on the whole English food isn't a highly sought after cuisine. There must be a reason there aren't English restaurants in the same numbers as Italian, Mexican, etc. Even the tasty stuff (not haggis or jellied eels or kidney pie) is meat and potatoes. Bangers and mash, shepherds pie, cottage pie. Brown, brown, and more brown. It's not exactly eye-catching.

It's a lovely land and I adore the Great British Baking show, for instance, for the scenery and confections as much as the personalities, but I'm less certain it'd be as entertaining were it based on the savory dishes.

Love crumpets, if that counts 😉

Thanks rob, I bookmarked that site and will browse later.

The thing about the bras I bought at Simply Be, was not only the UK size FIT, but the make and design of the bras were spot on. I know the USA equivalent of the J size but when you find something that works, you like to stick with it. sigh.

I learned to like good beer in the UK, something that I had not acquired a taste for prior to our trips there. I love your cheese, teas, scones and jams. I dream about your potted Blue Shropshire with whiskey, and White Stilton with dried apricots. Your hard cider is delightful, I also love your pubs. Recently purchased a lovely decorated pillow from Marks and Spencer. I find very creative things from UK vendors on Etsy.

My son keeps sending British food jokes and pictures to me and his sister, of the horrible food he has gotten there. Maybe it's because he lives near a base that it's so bad? I've never eaten their food so have no idea myself, other than the Americanized versions here. Looking forward to a trip there next year or the year after or the year after...whenever I am able to go. I was hoping for next year but not sure that's going to happen now.

"My son keeps sending British food jokes and pictures to me and his sister, of the horrible food he has gotten there"

I've found that the day in, day out common local fare can be bleak. The "international food" of any kind, easily found in all the larger cities and often prepared by chefs trained at or who've emigrated from these distant places, can be quite good. You know, the exotic food types from far, far away - French, Italian, German and Middle Eastern, as well as the more familiar kinds like Chinese, Indian subcontinent, etc.,

Not surprised that you chimed in, Elmer. If you need to eat international food to be happy, then go to those countries. We had delightful, fresh food in the UK. Most of our travel there has been outside of big city tourist areas. Farm to table is common. We traveled there on business and for leisure over many years. Britain, Wales, Ireland, Scotland....We've had worse food in France.

@seagrass_gw Cape Cod not surprised either.......you know there will be a response. "rolls eyes"

"Elmer. If you need to eat international food to be happy, then go to those countries."

My tone was intentionally exaggerated and tongue in cheek to a point, to be polite to any from the Isles. But I've always found the food there dismal. First visit on those shores was a tad more than 50 years ago, a miserable round trip ship ferry trip to England from the continent. I flew exclusively across the channel thereafter no matter in which direction until the tunnel opened. .

The food has gotten better for reasons I've speculated about but it is what it is. We have a number of long term English and Irish friends we've visited regularly over the years. They're all well travelled, have lived "abroad", and pretty much share our view about the food of their lands. I do like local beers, that's about it.

Elmer, one of those places was an Indian restaurant. During the pandemic last year I started watching a Youtube team from England. They travel to the U.S. a lot or did. They don't like our food very much and they always comment on how much better the food is in their country in comparison. I guess it depends on where you grew up and are used to. Also they mostly ate in fast food places here, so there's that.

Marmite or it's Aussie cousin, Vegemite. Most useful as a flavor booster in beef pot roast & beef stews. (Heaping teaspoon to a tablespoon, if you want to give it a try.) That's the limit of how I have used it, so far. (The concentrated flavor does grow on you as I have learned from licking the measuring spoon; I can see acquiring a taste for it as a spread, etc.)

I have tried bangers & was not impressed. However, I purchased the bangers at Aldi; I would/ will try them again (and again) knowing that there is a huge difference in the taste of any given sausage from brand to brand. Like brats. A local-ish meat packer makes fantastic brats that are head & shoulders above ALL of the others/ local/ national.

I think traditional British regional food is very good. But, due to crowding and poverty in the larger cities and limited access to cooking facilities, many working class and indigent people relied on cookshops for their meals or could only prepare food that could be cooked in a pan over a fire.

Rationing in World Wars 1 and 2 did even worse things to food in the cities, since quantity and variety was very limited. A whole cohort of young people didn’t really learn to cook tasty meals.

Now they’re getting back to traditional foods and things are improving.

Your mentioning the world wars reminded me of something.

Most Americans don't know that World War 2 food rationing lasted in Britain for nearly 10 years after the end of the war. Into the mid-1950s, far longer than anywhere else. In the US, it ended almost immediately with the end of combat but for sugar, which continued another year or two. Economic recovery in other countries (west of the Soviet block) was much faster and achieved much more.

There are some things I like about the UK and Ireland - mostly the people and so much that can be done in London - but to me, the recurring theme of national mediocrity in the UK (well beyond the food) is never far from view. Less so in Ireland, a much smaller country which has more profoundly adopted "European" practices and a corresponding outlook from its membership in the EU

My mother lived in England in the late '40s. Her parents in the US used to send her food parcels from Denmark, which you could order via a catalogue. Those of you who have read or seen 84, Charing Cross Rd. might remember Helene Hanff sending her bookshop friends in London parcels like this.

Elmer J Fudd your comment "recurring theme of national mediocrity . . . is never far from view" might be considered a tad harsh about the UK and Ireland.

Is this in comparison with the peoples of the USA? Apart of London and maybe Dublin have you spent time in other areas of the two countries other than as a tourist? Are you familiar with small towns, villages or the countryside in particular?

Of course your friends over here might be part of the sophisticated, well-travelled international 'set' in which case, as seen through their eyes, you may well be correct . . . I'm afraid I don't move in those circles.

"Is this in comparison with the peoples of the USA?"

No. Probably more in comparison with Continental European countries.

I'm pretty widely travelled in both the UK and Ireland, city and countryside. I've never lived in either country but I did live nearby on the continent for several years. I've spent the equivalent of very many months, certainly more than a year's worth of days, visiting for both business and pleasure. Including staying with (local) friends in their homes in various places, also in city and in the countryside alike.

My British friends are university educated, middle class professionals. Like others of their ilk, they're all keen travelers (much more so than Americans are) and most have been all over and done all kinds of different things. A few work colleagues I knew and worked with were from slightly higher class perches (which never meant squat to me) but were normal in most respects. One whom I'd met but didn't know well had a hereditary peerage and was a member of Lords.

Thank you Elmer. It does sound as though your UK friends/colleagues are/were what we over here often call Guardian readers and therefore very likely to hold the opinions you describe . . .

British newspapers as explained by Jim Hacker (Paul Eddington) on Yes, Prime Minister

Vee, I’m a Guardian reader, and I disagree with Elmer as much as you do. I’m sorry he had such miserable experiences here. I wonder why he bothered to keep coming back.

rob, Curvy Kate didn't have my size in J. :(

Few miserable experiences, mostly good ones. When I travel I try to be open to both plusses and minuses of what I see - that's the definition of being "critical" that's not the definition that refers to saying negative things. Rather, it's the one where experiences and observations are noted, both good and bad.

The English friends I think we're closest with, with whom we've visited and travelled with frequently and communicate with at least monthly, we've known over 30 years. I think they're quite politically middle of the road. Neither lockstep Labourites nor Conservatives. Maybe Lib Dems but I think rather not tied to party positions because they tend to look at questions independently, issue by issue. Pro Europe, anti-Brexit, pro business but pro reasonable and affordable social legislation and programs too. We love them dearly and find their views to be quite moderate and thoughtful. They were more exercised and upset by the whole Brexit fiasco than any other political issue that's come along during the time we've known them.

I think it's sadly become the case in the UK as well as in the US that people like name calling and to paint others with labels and assume that if A, then B, C and D when really political generalizations like other generalizations trivialize and ignore the prevalence of human nuances.

I've mentioned negatives, there are plenty of positive opinions and experiences we've had in the British Isles too. Don't overreact.

Boy, could you imagine @Elmer J Fudd at a party? Or would it be a "soiree"......

Back to the OP’s question, I love Zoflora cleaner. I have a friend that always brought me some every year. I finally found it on Amazon!

Bevthebrit, I would not be in his circle of friends.

school? Really? I'm that size. Must be like here, shortages..

It's totally how I knew about Curvy Kate

It was a size on Simply Be that regularly sold out too. I began to buy even when I didn't need them just so I'd have some. I think I still have two new ones never opened. Pretty Secrets - Sophie style - UK size 42J.

I'll keep the web site bookmarked and check back every so often.

Best!

I guess I better start stocking up!

"Bevthebrit, I would not be in his circle of friends."

Have you spent a lot of time or lived in the UK and had experiences that differ from mine?

“but to me, the recurring theme of national mediocrity in the UK (well beyond the food) is never far from view.”

Doesn't seem to chime with “Few miserable experiences, mostly good ones.”

Whenever I find someone's comments to be condescending or snide, I pretend they are being spoken with Thurston Howell III voice from Gilligan's Island. Then they become hilarious!

Haha, Elizabeth! Or a cartoon voice! I do the same.

I have lots of favourite British food. For a snack I like Branston pickle on cheese. Yum!

Re: Long rationing in Britain. One of our English friends recounted taking his mother shopping while visiting back home (near Bristol). They'd come home with groceries and his mother would immediately start her next shopping list: Butter. When he asked her why, it was definitely rationing-related. She said, "Because I can."

For those who like to be amused, here's one instance I recalled immediately that you can further laugh about.

A colleague and I arrived on a rainy winter day for a work visit of several days to a town about an hour outside of London I'd been to before, to a hotel I'd been to before. It was about noon, we were to check in and then meet the two individuals we'd come to see at a nearby pub for lunch.

We agreed to drop our bags in our rooms, freshen up a bit, and meet in 15 minutes back at the front desk. On entering my room, the extreme heat was apparent. It was very hot, certainly 80 deg F or more. The radiator had a thermostatic adjusting valve on it - I turned it and it turned freely, obviously broken. Back to the elevator to descend to speak to the front desk about the problem. While speaking with the clerk, my colleague came up and listened and said "Your room is too hot? Mine is stone cold. I tried adjusting the radiator valve and nothing happened. The heat is off and won't come on".

The front desk person apologized and said he would call the repair service immediately. Reassured, we left for lunch and the meetings of the afternoon. Returning to the hotel late afternoon, the plan was to relax a bit, go back to the pub for a beer in an hour and then go out to dinner.

On entering my room, I found it was still uncomfortably hot. I went back downstairs to the front desk. The same person was there that I'd spoken to hours earlier. I said the room was still uncomfortable, was the repair person on-site or expected soon? The conversation that follows as I best remember it.

Him-"No sir, I'm sorry. They're quite busy because of the weather but they'll be here Thursday afternoon"

Me-"I'm staying just two nights and leaving Thursday morning. Can something else be done? Can you give me a different room please?"

H-"No, I'm sorry sir, that's not possible. We're fully booked up"

M-"Maybe you could give me a room tomorrow that someone has vacated, let a new arrival have the room I have now?"

H- "No sir, I can't do that. It wouldn't be fair to give an arriving guest a room that's uncomfortably hot."

M-" Isn't that what you've done to me?"

H- "Yes sir"

M- "Let me ask, with my room too hot, and my colleague's room too cold, hasn't anyone mentioned this before? The problem can't have just happened in these two rooms. How about your room cleaning people, no comments from them?"

H- "No sir. I'm sorry"

I called my office, asked them to find me another hotel. On returning from dinner, a message was waiting for me, saying that because of some local event, no rooms were available in the area for the next two nights.

So I slept with my windows wide open and my colleague was given several extra blankets, having declined my offer to sleep in my room.. He showered the next two mornings in my room. I returned to that town many times but never again to that hotel.

I remember the hotel was part of the Trusthouse Forte group, its branded materials were in the room and the hotel public areas. It was a UK hotel operator of some size at the time. I just checked (having certainly remembered the name and location) and the high street located hotel has a bit over 100 rooms and is part of the MGallery hotel business. It's not a mom and pop operation.

I recall many other ridiculous incidents like this. Bad luck? No, I don't think so. I long ago reached my conclusion from experiences like this.

Ah, yes. *Attitude*

DH and I drove out of London one morning. I'd been sick overnight. We stopped at a roaside pub/watering hole. I asked for a cup of tea. The adolescent girl waiting table pulled a face, saying, "We don't DO *teas*!" I resisted the desire to go into the kitchen to see for myself that they had NO teabags and NO hot water. (Yes, it could have happened in the US, too, but I think only to a Yankee setting foot in the South.)

Elmer obviously you were unfamiliar with the story that was circulating back in the 60's/70's.

A group of mega-rich Arabs are discussing their sons.

The first Arab says " My son asked me for a train set so I bought him British Railways."

The second Arab says "My son asked for a building set so I bought him the Lego company."

The third Arab says "My son asked for a cowboy outfit so I bought him Trusthouse Forte."

Perfect. I don't recall that chain to have had other than a reasonable and somewhat up-market reputation at the time but of course I was a visitor and not a local. I'll name the hotel - it's the Castle Hotel in Windsor.

I'm currently reading Dominic Sandbrook's Who Dares Wins, the latest in his series of books on the social/cultural history of Britain. This one covers 1979-1982, and early on in the book he discusses exactly that scene from Fawlty Towers, as emblematic of the level of customer service that prevailed in England at the time.

Bookwoman, Fawlty Towers was based on a hotel owner of a hotel that John Cleese had actually stayed at.

I can’t remember the exact story but it goes something like this. The hotel owner wouldn’t allow briefcases brought into the hotel because he worried about them containing bombs. When asked why they would contain bombs, he replied that there had been some complaints about the service and staff. 😆

eta I’m now thinking of British food. I love Liquorice Allsorts. Yum

bookwoman, my conclusion is/was different. This experience and many others I've had isn't/wasn't always an instance of poor customer service. Which I agree has been a problem and while still present, is waning.

I've read it to be a demonstration of an ingrained assumption/acceptance of some level of mediocrity or disappointment to be encountered from time to time. The stiff upper lip, don't complain attitudes. I could be wrong. but I've seen the same "understanding" as the reaction of friends when encountering or later describing something that to me was astoundingly unacceptable.

Enough for me on this topic. A nice country with nice people, much to be said for it, punctuated with bizarre incidents from time to time that I haven't so regularly encountered elsewhere. But I'll observe a mistake that many Americans make, the assumption that the common language suggests common cultural attitudes and traditions, values, and the like. While some things may be similar (and derivative in both directions), the UK is a foreign country to the US. Many things are very different, as would be expected when comparing any foreign country to another. The language is common, that's the greatest similarity. Many other things are different, some very much so. As it should be.

And to be fair, our many European friends (Brits included but Continental types too) who have visited the US and often us in particular are often quizzical and less than impressed with things they encounter here. To which I often say, "You're right."

“You’re right.”

In my experience the English are masters at this. They laugh at their own flaws and never take themselves too seriously. My dad was the funniest man I’ve ever known.

Oh, another English product I love. Giles and Punch books/magazines.