London Dining - Harrods / Yo! Sushi / Jerusalem Tavern

The following is a summary of my culinary adventures in London last November (2004). There are scattered travel, site seeing and theatre notes as well, but mostly it is all about the food.

Harrods
We spent the morning wandering around Knightsbridge and getting lost in Harrods. Speaking of Harrods, what in the hell is a Krispy Kreme stall doing in the food halls at Harrods? I know, I need some rare teas, a bit of caviar, some jamon serrano and oh yes - one of your original honey glazed?!?!?!?! What a disappointment - sometimes I am embarrassed to be a colonist.We had an unremarkable lunch at the Knightsbridge Cafe (I think I consumed more second hand smoke than food) - though, oddly enough, they had a dressing on their salads that was a pretty strict adherence to a traditional vinaigrette. I wouldn't travel over there for some salad dressing, it was just funny to have something like that sitting next to a toasted ham & cheese sandwich. We skipped tea (sadly) in favor of a light snack at Yo! Sushi.

Yo! Sushi
What can I say? This chain is popping up all over the place - and for good reason. What it lacks in terms of variety and quality, it more than makes up for in convenience and fun. For those that haven't been, you sit at a counter, like a 50s style American diner. In front of you is a water tap and embedded in the counter is a well containing pickled ginger, wasabi and soy sauce. All of the sushi parades by you in individual containers that continuously flow along the bar on a conveyer belt. We tried some salmon and tuna sashimi as well as a variety of rolls, some fish balls, and udon noodles. The tuna sashimi was a little suspect, but everything else was passable (remember, this is take out or "fast food" caliber sushi). We had more fun scoping out the dishes as the shuttled around the bar than we did eating the food, but I guess that is why you go to Yo!. All-in, it came to about 10 pounds per person, which is expensive for what it is, but in London, it costs you nearly that much to cross the street, so go figure. BTW - the one pound per person charge for water (still or sparkling) is a bit excessive, don't you think?

From Yo!, we headed to the Silver Vaults. I don't know how I missed this little treasure when I was living in London, but the Silver Vaults are a very unique experience. I am a little hazy on the history here, but the current version is in the middle of the legal district, where approximately 40 silver merchants have set up shop in the old vaults. Some specialize in serving pieces, others in flatware, etc. Anything and everything you could ever want to find in sterling silver is available for purchase there. It was a very interesting diversion. From there, we wandered through the old diamond district and made our way to the Jerusalem Tavern.

Jerusalem Tavern
Thank you again to those that made this recommendation. The tavern is very small - two tables up front, four stools at the bar, one table on a riser and two more tables in back. When we walked in (with Harrod's bags in hand) we felt like complete outsiders (anyone remember that scene from the Blue Oyster Bar in Police Academy?) but after a few pints of St. Peters, we got it all worked out. Jerusalem Tavern serves St. Peters ales - which are unlike anything I have had before. I tried both the Cream Stout and the Spiced Ale.

The Cream Stout was served cold and nearly flat, was dark as night, and was a great combination of chocolate nose, with a creamy/chewy mouth feel and a slightly sweet but clean finish (warm on the way down too, at 6.5% alcohol). The Spiced Ale was also very dark and smelled like a winter pie - all cinnamon and allspice. The finish on this one was somewhat more bitter and tighter than the cream stout - I didn't get a chance to ask the bartender, but it tasted something like juniper berries on the finish. All-in, a great place to get in out of the cold - and a perfect recommendation for a drink before dinner at St. John.