London Calling!
Say hello to Big Ben! It is one of the world’s most iconic images, and certainly one of the most photographed as well. It was all part of some great London adventures I have had, which begins with some of the world’s most iconic fish’n’chips, and ends with a greasy food debacle!
Let’s head to London and check out the food!
Time To Eat!
I was lucky enough to spend a lot of time in London while working on various TV projects, and while I was there I got to eat at one of the city’s great restaurants!
The Sea Shell Of Lisson Grove!
I love fish’n’chips, and no one makes a more traditional English version than this place!
After the First World War, dining rooms at 35 Lisson Grove opened for business preparing and serving cooked fish. It was from these humble beginnings, the restaurant we know today was born. Named, ‘The Sea Shell’, in 1964, before moving to its present location on the corner of Lisson Grove and Shroton Street, the Sea Shell has developed into a leading purveyor of fish and chips.
The desire to provide Londoner’s with the very best fish and chips played an important role in establishing the reputation of the restaurant. That early vision and purpose made The Seashell of Lisson Grove into a fashionable restaurant that rapidly grew from a twelve-seat fast food bar into Londons busiest and best known fish and chip restaurant.
My son Jeff was with me, and I dragged him to The Sea Shell to have some food with me.
You see, there is nothing better than traditional fish ‘n’ chips, and The Sea Shell made them better than anyone…
Oh how I love fish’n’chips!
If I was there, I’d dig into some of their classic fish’n’chips and taste the unique flavor of London!
Sadly, the future of London’s iconic fish’n’chip shops is in question now due to skyrocketing prices…here is that story:
Let’s hope that measures can be taken to ensure a bight and tasty future of this British staple!
I also went to London with my daughter Jessica – her first time there – and we wandered many classic London streets like this one:
We were on the prowl for London’s famed street markets, like Camden Town, Notting Hill, and this one at Covent Garden:
My Street Food Debacle!
It was at one of these London street markets that I had my street food debacle…it all began when I came across this street food vendor:
They were serving delicious deep fried shrimp and crab claws – that’s right, DEEP FRIED SHRIMP AND CRAB CLAWS…boiled up in this fiery cauldron of grease:
Of course, I just had to have some, and so I ordered a freshly fried container of them – perfectly deep fried SHRIMP AND CRAB CLAWS:
It was a great deal, about five bucks for an ample-sized container of fried shrimp and crab claws, with a delicious spicy mayonaise….look at how delicious they look!
I loved them! THEY WERE SO GOOD!
As you can see, they were very busy, the chefs were making a ton of them, and they always had a ready supply for anyone who came by…
I enjoyed them SO much that an hour later I asked my daughter to go BACK and get some more with me! Right, nothing wrong with getting one more order of FRIED SHRIMP AND CRAB CLAWS, right?
As I walked up, this time we were approaching form the other direction, and I found myself BEHIND the cooking tent…and I noticed something…take a look at the picture below – notice the stacks of white boxes at the top of the picture?
As I walked up to them, I saw that they were sitting outside in the sun, in direct sunlight, and water was draining from the boxes into the gutter…yes, they were thawing their shrimp and crab claws in the hot sun…and then I looked at the box labels:
SECTIONED AND FORMED SHRIMP PIECES AND CRAB PARTS, MADE FROM WHITE POLLACK!
Yes, I had been enjoying NOT SHRIMP AND CRAB CLAWS, but a nicely designed, sectioned and formed PASTE comprised of pollack, egg white, seasonings, binders and chemicals…all formed into little cute shrimp and crab claw SHAPES…sure, they were shrimp and crab claw FLAVORED…and they were sitting outside melting in the sun all day…
And you know what? Since I’m in typing these words now, I lived through the experience just fine, so I say you pay your money and you take your chances, and you end up with much better anecdotes for sharing later! My daughter had a good laugh, we bought a bunch of cool stuff at the street fair, so I say: fry me up a sequel anytime, London!
Another terrific On-Air Talent, Kevin Pereira was there as well, filming a fun bar segment with our London Correspondent, Alex Sim-Wise…
Sim-Wise was a delight to work with – you can click here to see more of the story, along with the great segments we filmed in Tokyo as well:
Back in Los Angeles, I didn’t have fish’n’chips, but I did have an amazing fried fish sandwich:
What a delicious meal in a bun!
Click here to see how LA has a “Smorgasberg” filled with great food!
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Categories: Exotic Travel, Food, food blog, Food Review, London, Memoirs, Pop Culture, Recipes, Restaurants, Travel, Travel Adventures, Travel Memoir, Wacky Food
Good day
Great post, just wanted to know if you could share the name of the vendor and location where you bought the DEEP FRIED SHRIMP AND CRAB CLAWS.
Thanks.
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Hi John, we had amazing fish and chips at a restaurant in Covent GArden. The best ever! The crab claw debacle is funny – a real con!
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Indeed Robbie – now that I am living in New York (my wife’s show moved there) I am researching the best fish-n-chips in the city!
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I am sure you are loving NYC.
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Love the fish and chips. My friend from Sheffield, England has only found one restaurant in New England that ‘passes muster’ on fish and chips. We ate there, and it was really good!!
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I am about to find the best fish’n’chips in New York – wish me luck! Thanks for commenting!
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Yes! I’m wishing you luck. You’re welcome, John.
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We can still get inexpensive and excellent fish and chips here in Spain, thankfully. Too bad you found out the truth about the shrimp and crab claws! But maybe it’s good you did. Fortunately, it doesn’t get too hot in London. You just couldn’t do that here.
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Darlene, I am still here so I think I dodged a bullet!
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I grew up in London and also Cornwall (both areas known for incredible fish and chips). I can’t comment on the fish part personally (allergic) but my family are all longstanding fish eaters and I know they say that when they are done right, there is nothing better. I’m sad to hear that The Sea Shell is facing an uncertain future; I hope it survives (I know it well). As for the shrimp debacle … I’m horrified, haha! Well done for surviving it!
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I hope so as well…I was there years ago before a kitchen fire closed it for months, and with the pandemic, all restaurants have struggled to get back on track…it seems that many of the smaller, less expensive restaurants are suffering from high rents and energy costs – it’s a tough business to make money in the best of times!
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John, I was ever wary of ‘street food’ in London, and almost NEVER ate it. (Except for salt beef sandwiches or beigels)
You are right about the Sea Shell, some of the best fish and chips in England. (Though I could find you better in Yorkshire, some south coast towns, and even some parts of Norfolk)
The Sea Shell is unlikely to close down, but the prices have hiked up considerably. Basic fish and chips would now cost you £22 a portion there ($28). That kind of pricing is only acceptable in London, where wages are high, and tourists are spending money.
By comparison, our most popular local fish and chip shop in the nearest town to Beetley charges £6.20 for fish and chips. (£8) That is to take out only though.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Thanks for that Pete – terrific insight…it’s such a delicate balance between value and cost of staying in business – with high energy costs and supply issues, everyone is struggling…
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well, as long as you enjoyed them…..)
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HA! Indeed I did at the time but the “melting in the sun” image will never be forgotten…
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Good looking kids, John. Glad you didn’t get sick on the “shrimp and crab claws”.
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Yes indeed – and bravo to you!
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