Family visiting from London - what food is better here?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would also focus on chefs more than cuisine. It might be nice to go to one of Jose Andres' restaurants, for example.

THIS!

Also, breakfast at a diner or basic restaurant.

Oyamel is great for haut cuisine Mexican.

China Chilcano also would be quite different than what they could find there.

Perhaps not Jaleo or Zatinya as they are so close to Spain and Greece, but if they don't travel there than perhaps those.

A really good local coffee shop would be better here.

Much better coffee shops in London so don't go out of your way. Of course they may want coffee anyway. Good quality American cheese is fine but I wouldn't get too excited.

Definitely Mexican, Southern, BBQ, other Latin American and maybe Korean. Steakhouse or burger place good. Pancake place. Not Thai, Chinese or Japanese unless they particularly want to. Bagels better here.

Definitely skip the bagels here if they are also going to NYC!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Burgers, southern food (either Ruthie’s or even District Biscuit in Del Ray), BBQ, sushi and Mexican.

Burger places are all over the uk. Five guys is all over London.

Yep. This became a joke between my husband and me when we were in London and, to a lesser extent, Paris- everywhere we went, there was a Five Guys! We thought it was the funniest thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pizza? If they’ve ever been to Italy, I’d skip pizza here.
But second Tex/mex or Mexican.
Barbecue

American pizza > Italian pizza. There was a big NYT article about that recently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for the tips! I should have mentioned that they will go to both NY and Chicago (but not west coast), so I will skip the pizza here.

I was thinking there may be good Ethiopian in England but maybe not?

I think they will be super-interested in Ethiopian. I took a couple of British colleagues to Dukem and they were totally into it.

[Anonymous]

Chick Fil-A at least once.

[Anonymous]

I’m from London. I’d say definitely Mexican and/or Texmex. Definitely burgers and maybe steak (not unavailable in UK but bigger and maybe better here). Ethiopian and Korean are not cuisines I have seen much of in the UK. Maybe pizza but prob not in DC.

No need for Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, French, Thai - there are excellent versions of these in UK. I agree with a PP that if they like food, focus on interesting chefs/restaurants rather than varieties and cuisines.

[Anonymous]

Cupcake poster here. I would 100% take them to Baked & Wired. Everyone I know locally has fallen in love with B&W.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would also focus on chefs more than cuisine. It might be nice to go to one of Jose Andres' restaurants, for example.

THIS!

Also, breakfast at a diner or basic restaurant.

Oyamel is great for haut cuisine Mexican.

China Chilcano also would be quite different than what they could find there.

Perhaps not Jaleo or Zatinya as they are so close to Spain and Greece, but if they don't travel there than perhaps those.

A really good local coffee shop would be better here.

Much better coffee shops in London so don't go out of your way. Of course they may want coffee anyway. Good quality American cheese is fine but I wouldn't get too excited.

Definitely Mexican, Southern, BBQ, other Latin American and maybe Korean. Steakhouse or burger place good. Pancake place. Not Thai, Chinese or Japanese unless they particularly want to. Bagels better here.

What's funny about the coffee comments is that both of you are wrong. The best spots in DC and London are very comparable nowadays. Not at all the case 10-15 years ago, when London was on the leading edge of specialty coffee, and there were only a few good spots in DC. But since then really good places have become common in DC and every big US city. And I don't mean Starbucks or Peet's or Compass Coffee. Places like The Coffee Bar and Peregrine Espresso.

Good to hear good coffee places very common in D.C. Unfortunately not in Bethesda yet. Another poster said they are actually better in D.C. the thing is they can get great coffee in London so would suggest going to something different here. Love the idea of a crab place as you don’t find that in London.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would also focus on chefs more than cuisine. It might be nice to go to one of Jose Andres' restaurants, for example.

THIS!

Also, breakfast at a diner or basic restaurant.

Oyamel is great for haut cuisine Mexican.

China Chilcano also would be quite different than what they could find there.

Perhaps not Jaleo or Zatinya as they are so close to Spain and Greece, but if they don't travel there than perhaps those.

A really good local coffee shop would be better here.

Much better coffee shops in London so don't go out of your way. Of course they may want coffee anyway. Good quality American cheese is fine but I wouldn't get too excited.

Definitely Mexican, Southern, BBQ, other Latin American and maybe Korean. Steakhouse or burger place good. Pancake place. Not Thai, Chinese or Japanese unless they particularly want to. Bagels better here.

What's funny about the coffee comments is that both of you are wrong. The best spots in DC and London are very comparable nowadays. Not at all the case 10-15 years ago, when London was on the leading edge of specialty coffee, and there were only a few good spots in DC. But since then really good places have become common in DC and every big US city. And I don't mean Starbucks or Peet's or Compass Coffee. Places like The Coffee Bar and Peregrine Espresso.

Good to hear good coffee places very common in D.C. Unfortunately not in Bethesda yet. Another poster said they are actually better in D.C. the thing is they can get great coffee in London so would suggest going to something different here. Love the idea of a crab place as you don’t find that in London.

Ceremony Coffee right at the Bethesda metro is very good.

[Anonymous]

Be sure to visit Ben's Chili Bowl

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Chick Fil-A at least once.

Take them on a Sunday and explain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would also focus on chefs more than cuisine. It might be nice to go to one of Jose Andres' restaurants, for example.

THIS!

Also, breakfast at a diner or basic restaurant.

Oyamel is great for haut cuisine Mexican.

China Chilcano also would be quite different than what they could find there.

Perhaps not Jaleo or Zatinya as they are so close to Spain and Greece, but if they don't travel there than perhaps those.

A really good local coffee shop would be better here.

Much better coffee shops in London so don't go out of your way. Of course they may want coffee anyway. Good quality American cheese is fine but I wouldn't get too excited.

Definitely Mexican, Southern, BBQ, other Latin American and maybe Korean. Steakhouse or burger place good. Pancake place. Not Thai, Chinese or Japanese unless they particularly want to. Bagels better here.

What's funny about the coffee comments is that both of you are wrong. The best spots in DC and London are very comparable nowadays. Not at all the case 10-15 years ago, when London was on the leading edge of specialty coffee, and there were only a few good spots in DC. But since then really good places have become common in DC and every big US city. And I don't mean Starbucks or Peet's or Compass Coffee. Places like The Coffee Bar and Peregrine Espresso.

Good to hear good coffee places very common in D.C. Unfortunately not in Bethesda yet. Another poster said they are actually better in D.C. the thing is they can get great coffee in London so would suggest going to something different here. Love the idea of a crab place as you don’t find that in London.

Ceremony Coffee right at the Bethesda metro is very good.

And also Grace Street Coffee Roasters on Old Georgetown Road

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Be sure to visit Ben's Chili Bowl

For the vibe, not the food, which is very much nothing special at all.

[Anonymous]

Salvadorean! I don't know of places serving pupusas in London. I like La Casita and have heard good things about Pupuseria Mama Emilia too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean, they are coming from London not the sticks, and everything is so global nowadays (we can all order kit kats from japan via amazon and giant sells wine gums). I like your tex-mex idea, but otherwise I’d just try to take them to good restaurants!

Aside: H Mart (may vary by location) carries zany KitKat flavors from Japan.

London has two Hmarts. I was super excited when I saw them. DH is from the UK.