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I tried the breakfast sausages and didn’t care for the flavor. I like the pork sausages we have here, that have brown sugar/maple flavoring instead. I didn’t care for the beef. I tried a burger at a restaurant near Victoria Station, and it tasted like Worcestershire sauce to me. Yuck! I don’t eat fish or seafood, nor lamb or veal... so I was limited to my choices. I tried a hot dog from a stand near the Tower of London, and it had no flavor. I like Chinese food, but didn’t get to eat at any Chinese restaurants on my travels. One afternoon, I had a great meal at an Italian restaurant across the street from Harrod’s.

I took a lengthy bus tour of England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland and Northern Ireland in 2006. Because it was a tour group, we were given a set menu to choose from. About the only thing I was able to eat were the chicken, beef, or pasta dishes, since much of what was offered was fish or lamb. When we visited Salisbury, I managed to find a stand in the market area that was selling pulled pork and dressing sandwiches. It was excellent, but never found anything like it again on the tour. When we were in Belfast, I ordered the steak dish. It was so thin and overcooked, I couldn’t eat it. I like my steak rare.

When we got to Ireland, I had hoped to be able to have some Corned Beef and Cabbage, which is a traditional Irish dish here in the U.S. But I was totally surprised to find that there was none to be found. I guess that they’d never eaten it in Ireland, but only picked up the dish once they’d gotten to America.

But it wasn’t just those countries that I didn’t like the food. My oldest son and I flew into Brussells before joining up with my tour in London. We took the train to Brugge where we stayed overnight. We went out for lunch, and I couldn’t find much on the menu that I liked. I ordered soup and frites. I discovered that day, and during the rest of my time in Europe, that most of the soups are strained, and don’t contain chunks of meat or vegetables as they do here.

We rented a car and drove into Holland to visit the town my Dad had been born in. We only stayed overnight, and had our evening meal at the hotel we stayed at in the town. I ordered a beef dish and found the meat fatty and tough. I’ve been in Paris twice, but never ate at any nice restaurants, mainly because my time there was limited. I had a great chicken dinner while on an all-day tour to Normandy from Paris. I did try the French Onion Soup and was disappointed. I’ve had better tasting Onion Soup here. I basically enjoyed the breakfast buffets offered at most of the hotels we stayed at on the tour, and would have preferred more of a buffet option for the rest of the meals we were provided in the tour package.

Squash is a traditional side-dish at Thanksgiving and Christmas here. It can be tasteless if it isn’t spiced up. Most people cook it in a casserole using such flavoring as brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, honey, or some other item.

I definitely agree with you that our palates are accustomed to what is put in front of us as we are growing up. I’m one of those people who when I go out to eat at a restaurant, I usually order the same thing I had the last time. I’m not an adventurer when it comes to food.

Just to show you how bad I am when it comes to food, I went on my first, and last cruise last December. It was only 7 days and to the Mexican Riviera. First of all, I can think of many other places I’d rather go than Mexico, but the trip was offered me by an old friend who lives in Arizona. She had already booked the cruise for herself and thought it would be a chance for me to see if I liked cruising. Being on the water wasn’t the problem, and I didn’t get seasick once. My friend, who had already been on 11 other cruises ended up being seasick the last night of the cruise.

I didn’t like the food on the ship either. Again, I was limited in what I could eat, and what they did offer was too gourmet for me. Although they offered chicken and beef as an optional choice to the menu each day, one can only eat so much of that. I ate at the outdoor grill a couple of times, but one can only have hotdogs so many times. I tried the pizza on the ship and it was bland to me.

The buffet was okay, but you couldn’t get warm toast in the morning. It was usually rock hard, and the iced butter wouldn’t melt. At the other meals, most of the dishes offered on the buffet were of a Mexican flair, and contained corn. I have diverticulitis and can’t eat corn, although I love it. We had two traditional Mexican meals during the port tours we took, but the food screwed up my stomach so much, I ended up having to take an extra Nexium on those nights. The best meal we had on the ship was at the specialty steak restaurant. You had to pay extra to eat there, but it was well worth it.

My Dad was a great cook. My Mother was mediocre. I was a picky eater growing up, but my tastes have expanded over the years as has my waistline. Because of various health reasons I have had to cut back on a lot of things I used to eat. I love the boneless Buffalo chicken wings that Applebee’s Restaurants make, but unfortunately they don’t like my stomach, and I have had to cut them out. I don’t eat fast food very often, only go out to restaurants rarely, and usually cook simple meals for myself at home. I can and do cook for my family, but that is usually only on the holidays, since we live away from each other.

I am sorry that you did not have a great experience with the beef, again like everywhere there is good and bad.

Personally I am very picky with steak and have on more than one occasion refused a steak as being too over done even though I did state ‘blue’ or very rare. It is always best to say immediately in an English restaurant how you want your steak though they normally do ask and emphasis rare as many people seem to think rare is either medium rare or medium which in my book unless it is a very very prime piece of meat will be tough. The Aberdeen Angus Steak Houses dotted around London serve a reasonable steak; nothing remarkable unless you have their best steak on the menu but for chain not bad.

Regarding the sausages yes we tend traditionally to go for herbed pork sausages that are not in least bit sweet and we tend if for breakfast serve them with brown sauce similar to your A1 brown sauce but a bit thicker. Children tend to like tomato ketchup or as we tend to call it tomato sauce on sausages. When I visited the States and found out about maple syrup on sausages I loved that taste and continue that at home but conversely I also like very hot English mustard on sausages. Again I am certain that if you asked a restaurant would serve you maple syrup with your sausage.

I know the type of pork you mean normally referred to in Britain as roast pork with stuffing in a roll or bap or baguette. Often served with a couple of spoonful of apple sauce. Pork does not often seem to appear on restaurant menus as many people seem to think of it as either high in calories and fat or worry about it being cooked properly at a restaurant and therefore may end getting food poisoning, my theory anyway. Maybe as simple as because compared to beef and lamb it is a cheaper meat people tend to order the more expensive and something they do not have everyday when they go out for a meal.

I love roast lamb or lamb shank but prefer my own home cooked to what most restaurants serve up. The same for chicken, chicken in restaurants always seems dry to me but I cook mine slowly in foil with sage and onion stuffing and serve it with cranberry sauce not very English the cranberry but dad and I prefer that to bread sauce the traditional English accompaniment to roast chicken.

I prefer my meat roasted to grilled (broiled) as I think this keeps it moist, makes it tender and you get a better flavour. I tend to cook it without any sauces or marinades but always serve it with a sauce or gravy made from the meat juices and some form of stock cube or granules etc. The exception to this is if I do a stew or casserole and again I prefer to cook this slowly either in the oven or a slow cooker (crock pot).

I must admit I prefer things made with wheat flour rather than corn the exception being flour tortillas but they do not seem to have that strong corn taste that I am not keen on so that limits me with a fair amount of American/TexMex type dishes.

I love curry and not too hot chili (beef and kidney beans) served with plain and horror above horrors to an American and most Brits a starchy almost stodgy rice. I tend not to drain my rice as a prefer lumps to grains.

Pasta I like spag bol, and my own sort creations made from left over meat from Sunday roasts.

As you do not like lamb then a great British favourite is out though many people use beef not lamb for it shepherd's pie. It is basically minced (ground) meat and thick gravy with mashed potato over the top a knob of butter and grated cheese if you like. Fry the meat off with some flour and make a thick gravy (or if cooked meat left over from the roast meal just add the gravy) cook in the oven until the top crisps. Traditionally if using beef you add mixed veg mainly carrots and peas and it is called cottage pie.

I think like most countries the best way to try to the food is actually go into someone's home and get a home cooked meal and talk to them on what you like and dislike. We found this very helpful in the States staying at a B and B though all we had there was breakfast apart from one evening when they gave us what us Brits call supper a snack before bed. They talked to us about American food and terminology which helped a lot because often just looking at a menu does not really tell you what you would get and sometimes you miss something by not knowing what is meant by the name or description. For example you used the term pulled pork not a term that is familiar in Britain though personally I think it sums up what pork often becomes when slowly roasted.

Often in a Chinese restaurant duck will be served in similar fashion as pulled pork normally referred to on the menu as crispy duck and pancakes.

Sorry if I have bored you but I do feel my country has much to offer in food if you know where to find it and what to ask for. I wish I had met you in 2006 and could have shown you some good English food and maybe even cooked you an English meal myself.