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British food gets a bad rap but I don't really get it. Fried fish, potatoes, roasted meat, cured meat, meat pies, lots of puddings and sweets, not to mention the Indian food. What's not to like? I'm going to the UK in October and I'm pumped for the food.
I've heard it's because they invaded every country on the planet for their spices and decided to use none of them
No, you're thinking of our grammar.
We didn't just steal the spices, we stole cooks too. Eg, our first curry house was 1810, run by a Bengali chap. So we didn't piss about with traditonal English dishes to get our spice fix, we just went out for a ruby instead.
I was going to defend us by pointing to how some of the most popular places to eat here are focused on spicy foods (curry houses) but when I thought about it more... you're right :(
The most popular dishes there are usually the less spicy ones (but they taste really nice and would probably taste even better if they were more spicy)
If you're bringing cash, bring it in 20s and below. 50s aren't used much at all as they arouse suspicion - many smaller places will flat out not accept them.
Hope you enjoy the trip :)
I remember people used to say £50 notes were easier to forge compared to the others. Not sure if that was because of something about the note itself or because people saw them less and weren't as used to them. Either way people became wary of accepting them. Plus it can be a pain to make change, especially when a lot of people pay with card now.
Are you from the UK? How are you using lemmy.zip?
Also, I never pay with cash so this might be why but I have never heard about the 50p thing, Is that true or are you saying it to mess with tourists?
I think it's more the £50 notes. Much like using a USD100 note in the States, it's a bit big for most daily purchases.
I ended up dumping most of mine on a couple expensive souvenirs in shops expensive enough that they'd deal with it or breaking them in banks.
I am such an idiot for thinking pence and not pounds...
Was about to say, £s not pence :) 50s will also out you as a tourist, if nothing else does. Whereabouts are you planning to visit? Just London for the touristy stuff or going for more of an explore?
As mentioned above, electronic payments are now the norm here and have been for ages. Shouldn't have any problems using a phone or contactless card to pay in most places. Chip/PIN covers most everything else & when you get prompted to insert the card as a security check after trying contactless.
Swipe & sign is possible last time I checked, but pretty much defunct with chip/PIN being readily available. Cash only places are rare and usually associated with food or drugs.
.zip isn't blocking UK access via apps/api, but it is for browsers. I like VPNs and supporting my home instance, so here I am :)
I'm already in the uk, but with a question as silly as mine it makes sense why you thought I would be another tourist
Nah - I just can't address a question to the right user, you're all good haha
Nope, it's true. When I went for the first time a couple of years ago, my bank decided I needed more £50 notes than anything, and I got several "Wow, it's been a while since I've seen one of these," comments when I used them.
Also, fwiw, depending on where you're heading in the UK, cashless payments can be way more prevalent than they are in many places. I've been to multiple bars in and around Manchester that just didn't accept cash, and would bring out a card terminal to tap for every £2-3 beer I ordered.
On the other hand, bring a coin purse or something with you, because when you do use cash, you'll get a ton of coins back, and it becomes a pain to have rattling about in your pocket real quick.
Best place to have fish and chips is near or on a beach in overcast weather. It's a vibe. Pasties are definitely worth trying if you like pies and things. Greggs is worth a look. I think a lot of the bad press on our food is because so much of it doesn't go for any kind of presentation, it just happens.
Greggs is my biggest cultural shock ever. I couldn't find anything remotely edible there but locals keep praising it.
I like the fried chicken baguette, the mexican bean flatbread thing and the katsu slices but I don't think they do those anymore. The steak bakes are alright too