Voted the best breakfast 2009 by The Guardian
This is best place for breakfast according to The Guardian UK, with such an endorsement and recommendation from a news agency with over 150 years history…NO way I should missed this for anything in the world, right?
According to Guardian and I quote “It’s insanely grand and glam – and it transforms breakfast into a fabulous event. We adore the granola for days of health, and the crispy bacon rolls for days of decadence. Small problem: the joint is so rammed with celebs we can’t eat for star-spotting.” Unquote.
So if there are three things I must do when I am in England…it must be fish & chips, English tea and English breakfast (I mean the actual real breakfast not the tea with the same name). But what exactly is English breakfast? When I was studying and living in the States, I was introduced to the hearty American breakfast…but this?
I must say I am certainly not disappointed by my first English breakfast in London. (We had something similiar on the flight but obviously there’s nothing much worth mentioning here) All thanks again to R, who came over early to meet us and take us out for breakfast at the famous Wolseley in Piccadilly. Well, I certainly did not see any celebrities, (maybe it was too early at 10am for them to get out of bed?? Hello? Mr and Mrs David Beckham? but i did find and meet English Novelist Arnold Bennett here) but really I wasn’t even paying attention because this is indeed one swanky classy restaurant…
From the outside it look pretty much like any other pub or restaurant but the moment you step inside. WHOA…but pay attention, pay close attention! The dark marble interiors, high ceiling that rises 30ft up, the classic slow-spinning English ceiling fans, chandeliers from the 1930s, a open seating that spans both sides of the wall and with a cool early summer breeze, everything simply make up for a classy swanky see-and-be-seen grand dining hall.
The current restaurant sits on the former car showroom for Wolseley cars and housed vaults for Barclays Bank but has somehow turned into the talk of the town over the years for the food they served and the people who are making them. The celebrity chefs (Chris Corbin and Jeremy King) behind this inpressive joint are working hard to bring many more ambitious dining concepts to London and New York. The food at Wolseley however is more of regular home cooked goodness that every Englishmen can enjoy at any time of the day but if you’re in the mood for something fancy, there’s always the generously-priced caviar omelette to pamper yourself with.
Here you find Arnold Bennett
I ordered a true classic in English breakfast with brown toast and tea, while J had grilled Kipper with mustard butter (what the heavens is a kipper?) and to R, Kedgeree was her preferred choice (pardon me?).
Kipper is actually herring – split, dressed, salted and smoked, often eaten for breakfast in UK. An ancient recipe apparently as old as the Icelandic age. It must also be one of the most oil-rich fishes I’ve ever had or seen. It is like having a fish braised in its own oemga 3 and 6 rich oil – just oozing from within but it is also one of the most bony fishes ever. The reason the meat peels off most easily (with a dozen soft bones or so each time) must be due to the smoking process I thought. Fish lovers may be delighted by the texture but for everyone else you simply need patience and lots of it to truy appreciate the kipper for breakfast.
If Kipper is a classic English dish past down through the ice ages then Kedgeree would represent the marriage of two ancient civilizations. An Anglo-Indian dish of spices, basmati rice, fish flakes, eggs and butter. I must admit this dish has more appeal than the bony kipper.
My English Breakfast with roasted portobello mushroom, bacon, black pudding, baked beans and English sausage
So we had our breakfast, enjoyed a wonderful morning chat and yes I tried my first black pudding – which is basically a blood sausage (unknown to me there will be more of it to come on this trip). Texture is kind of like mashed tofu not bad but I am definitely not crazy over it…yet. But the sausages are really good though. I remember vividly its crispy crust and juicy fillings – oh…so very nice! And the scambled eggs? I still prefer the ones at Bill’s Sydney. They are the best ever! =)
