A hungry man is an angry man

Me belly full, but me hungry. A hungry man is an angry man.
Bob Marley ain't never lied when he said that. Although I know that he was talking about social justice, that lyric is so fitting for my food situation in London. (I just heard Brother Bob spinning in his grave)

When I found out that I would be responsible for feeding myself during my semester in London I was shook. Although I'm no fan of Amherst cuisine, it is convenient and there have been many times when I've missed going to Val (the cafeteria), sitting down to some horrible mac and cheese with my friends. But on the bright side, I love grocery shopping. It combines two of my favorite things: food and shopping. And the fact that I live close to not 1 but 4 supermarkets makes my time here a little more worth while. Food shopping has opened my eyes to London society...

Tesco the grocery I frequent the most is like the supermarket version of Duane Reid. Pretty ubiquitous with reasonable prices. All members of London society shop there. Students, professionals, parents, kids, etc... If they don't have what you want you could always go to the Sainsbury. Sainsbury tends to be larger and has more of a selection, like Pathmark. (well not like the Pathmark at Restoration in Brooklyn). But the largest variety supermarket I've seen since being here is Marks and Spencer, which in truth is more of a Target. They have it all- clothes, housing goods, groceries and if they could incorporate a pet shop in there I know they would. Rounding out the list is Waitrose, which is like the higher end Manhattan grocers, Dean and Deluca, Citarella or Trader Joe's. Waitrose is a little pricer, but their store brands are quite cheap and good quality. And its the only place where I can find toaster waffles.

With all this grocery variety you would think that London would have their food game on lock. WRONG! The Brits don't seem to believe in apple sauce as anything but a side of their meat loaf. No graham crackers are found in the British isles, or Easy mac. While there are numerous instant noodles to choose from, I can't get my hands on cup noodles. But these folks sho nuf know how to hook up some jam. And the US needs to get our Fanta imported from the EU. Some kids come over hear to drink and get wasted, I came here to have a steady supply of Fanta.

Even eating out isn't too bad. Since the sun never set on the British Empire until about the mid-1960s, London is the second most diverse city in the world (the first being NYC! Shouts to Queens, the most diverse county in the world). This diversity equals a plethora of cheap eats, especially Indian, Chinese, Thai and Caribbean. And Kebab spots abound. Not like I'm a fan of kebab, but I do have a weakness for fresh fries. The Middle Eastern/Indian men who have a corner on the fried chicken spots make a mean order of chips. The one time I went to a chippie (a fish and chips place), the chips were a disappointment. Womp-womp. Never again will I eat native British food.