Mikel Merino (now playing for Real Sociedad)

[LoveItIfWeBeatU]

No sun in the Winter is a myth. If anything we get more blue sky sunny days in the Winter than the Summer. No heat is more accurate.

[High Five o]

No sun in the Winter is a myth. If anything we get more blue sky sunny days in the Winter than the Summer. No heat is more accurate.

 

[Interpolic]

 

[LoveItIfWeBeatU]

No sun in the Winter is a myth. If anything we get more blue sky sunny days in the Winter than the Summer. No heat is more accurate.

 

It bugs me. Another thing that bugs me, Matt LeBlanc said the thing he doesn't like about the UK is the food. What's he eating or not getting here that he can get in the USA?

[GeordieDazzler]

Class assist for u21's tonight

[ponsaelius]

No sun in the Winter is a myth. If anything we get more blue sky sunny days in the Winter than the Summer. No heat is more accurate.

 

It bugs me. Another thing that bugs me, Matt LeBlanc said the thing he doesn't like about the UK is the food. What's he eating or not getting here that he can get in the USA?

 

Is this a serious post? Variety and choice of food in America is far greater than here, due to the much greater cultural diversity and the easier access to ingredients.

[madras]

No sun in the Winter is a myth. If anything we get more blue sky sunny days in the Winter than the Summer. No heat is more accurate.

 

It bugs me. Another thing that bugs me, Matt LeBlanc said the thing he doesn't like about the UK is the food. What's he eating or not getting here that he can get in the USA?

 

Is this a serious post? Variety and choice of food in America is far greater than here, due to the much greater cultural diversity and the easier access to ingredients.

Its quite possibly the opposite. In the same way many Brits don't like foreign food he just hankers after the basic stuff he's used to. Like the Brit going to Spain and wanting egg chips and beans.

[ponsaelius]

I doubt it. The choice and variety of food especially in big American cities like NY or LA that somebody like Matt LeBlanc would be used to is obviously enormous. Try getting a decent Mexican, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese etc restaurant in the UK and it's difficult and it's likely that even the good ones in London won't be as good as your average one in America. It's a simple fact of numbers of people from those places in both countries, and the obvious geographical advantage in terms of access to ingredients within the countries' borders. That's before you even get into the plethora of fusion cuisine that exists in America due to 400 years of immigration and exchanging of ideas, that certainly does not exist authentically in the UK.

 

I can absolutely see why anybody who comes from a major US city would be disappointed with the quality and variety of food in Britain. That's not to say there isn't good places, or that there isn't world class restaurants, it's just they're harder to find or narrower in options. Certainly in terms of walking out of your door and walking into the first place you find.

[LoveItIfWeBeatU]

My comment has taken this thread way off topic. I wanted him to elaborate. Maybe he eats at Michelin restaurants usually. Maybe he eats burgers all the time. Maybe he loves Taco Bell which we don't seem to have. Most of the other chain restaurants are here. We don't know what he's not liking. I've never had a good Indian meal in the US.

[Hughesy]

Absolute nonsense about the variety and quality of food available in London compared to the US, even NYC.

 

London has one of the most diverse dining cultures in the world.

[ponsaelius]

My comment has taken this thread way off topic. I wanted him to elaborate. Maybe he eats at Michelin restaurants usually. Maybe he eats burgers all the time. Maybe he loves Taco Bell which we don't seem to have. Most of the other chain restaurants are here. We don't know what he's not liking. I've never had a good Indian meal in the US.

 

You've probably not had many in the UK either, since most 'Indian' food here is Bangladeshi and Pakistani restaurants who have anglicized dishes for British tastes and to more obtainable ingredients. Indeed it is essentially a British food in itself, and a success story of immigration. Exactly the kind of thing I'm referring to when it comes to the variety and types of food in the US.

 

[madras]

My comment has taken this thread way off topic. I wanted him to elaborate. Maybe he eats at Michelin restaurants usually. Maybe he eats burgers all the time. Maybe he loves Taco Bell which we don't seem to have. Most of the other chain restaurants are here. We don't know what he's not liking. I've never had a good Indian meal in the US.

 

You've probably not had many in the UK either, since most 'Indian' food here is Bangladeshi and Pakistani restaurants who have anglicized dishes for British tastes and to more obtainable ingredients. Indeed it is essentially a British food in itself, and a success story of immigration. Exactly the kind of thing I'm referring to when it comes to the variety and types of food in the US.

 

If they Anglicize it for over here wouldn't they Americanize it for over there ?

[ponsaelius]

Of course they do. I never said that was necessarily a problem.

[madras]

Of course they do. I never said that was necessarily a problem.

So why would it be better or more authentic in the US ? ASlso which ingrediants are rare over here necessary in Indian cooking  ? Shit man we've had the banana for nigh on a millenia now.

[ponsaelius]

Of course they do. I never said that was necessarily a problem.

So why would it be better or more authentic in the US ? ASlso which ingrediants are rare over here necessary in Indian cooking  ? Shit man we've had the banana for nigh on a millenia now.

 

I never said it was more authentic. I've never even had Indian food in the US, and perhaps that is indeed a culinary blindspot for some cultural reason in terms of immigrants going there. I was simply pointing out that 'Indian' food in the UK is actually in many ways British food, and Anglo-Bangladeshi fusion food in itself. The kind of cultural melting that has happened a million times over in the US when it comes to food, and provided a very diverse cuisine.

 

The ingredient point is an obvious one. We are a small island with one specific small type of climate. That means if you want to make exotic food a large amount of ingredients have to be imported. Of course in a globalized world this is possible, but actually at the price point of delivering affordable food in a cheap restaurant (as opposed to a Michelin star restaurant) a lot of smaller restaurants will cut corners in delivering fabled authenticity. In the US this is less of a problem since they have far easier access to all climates within and very near to their borders.

 

Bored with this now. It really isn't much of a controversial statement for somebody to argue that food in terms of diversity and quality in the US is probably higher than the UK. It's an almost insurmountable inevitability in terms of geography and demographics. As good as London might be particularly at the top end.

[Deuce]

My comment has taken this thread way off topic. I wanted him to elaborate. Maybe he eats at Michelin restaurants usually. Maybe he eats burgers all the time. Maybe he loves Taco Bell which we don't seem to have. Most of the other chain restaurants are here. We don't know what he's not liking. I've never had a good Indian meal in the US.

 

*thomas klaxon*

[Hanshithispantz]

Agree with Sewely like. Actual British food is lush when done well, and in fact some of the best restaurants are 'British food'. Peace & Loaf, Blackfriars and House Of Tides are obvious examples. We also have a load of great restaurants from various other nations.

 

But we're still massively lacking like, in the same way Newcastle has some great places to eat but isn't a patch on London. The UK in general (including London) just doesn't have the same level of ridiculous variety as the US.

[Hanshithispantz]

But aye, nobody is going have a properly done crispy belly pork with black pudding hash and £15 veal stock gravy and be like "this is vile".

[loki679]

But aye, nobody is going have a properly done crispy belly pork with black pudding hash and £15 veal stock gravy and be like "this is vile".

 

Properly done gravy costs hundreds of billions.  That's why they're so stingy with it. 

[Guest Howaythetoon]

I once had traditional Somalian food in London, and Finnish food. It’s the tops for food of all origin like, often it’s little cafes/places to snack and eat or side street joints that provide the best food catering to their own demographic and not fully blown restaurants. The kind of food I prefer rather than some expensive chain or fancy restaurant proclaiming to be Lebanese, or Japanese or whatever. Dishes often cooked by Eastern Europeans... there was a lovely little food shop on Benwell a few years back, Polish, but they catered to Chech, Romania etc. and their sandwiches were to die for. It wasn’t a caffe, it sold food and other stuff, but they did these sarnies at the back. Probably closed down to lack of food licence. I’m sure they were home made and brought into the shop to be sold. My sis ran a caffe and she couldn’t bring hot food made from home into the caffe I remember that so I dunno if that was an issue as they sold hot and cold food. They did this weird stu like thing as well, fucking lush it was.

[Guest Howaythetoon]

I used to date an Indian lass, if you want proper Indian food, don’t go to a takeaway or a restaurant, go to an Indian family home. World of difference. Only problem far too spicey for me. Wor lass is Kenyan originally and she does an amazing biryani, their cuisine apparently heavily influenced by India and the Arab world. She uses lamb which I’m ok with, but not on the bone and I prefer beef. Only problem it takes ages to prepare and cook as there are so many ingredients and I’m not a fan of ghee, but it’s used for authenticity. Those eggs caramelised by whatever it is... lush.

 

Spanish food, I love tapas and a paellla because it’s simple and you can pick and choose, but I find Spanish food kind of boring and samey samey. English food gets panned, but some of our dishes are the dogs bollocks. Best food... I’ve tried the lot, authentic African food be it East or North or West or South. Street food in Kenya, seeing a Goat topped in front of you, skinned, chopped up and cooked with all kinds of other stuff... They can mix all kinds of food that you would usually never have together seem like it all belongs together. Best kebab I’ve ever had was in Tunisia. Makes ours feel like fish and chips which is what it is really.

 

Anyway, Merino, talented player who I hope we see more of next season. I don’t think the midfield options we have suit his game nor our tactics. For me it’s Diame and Shelvey in the centre which is our best option for now as they are proving.

 

 

[ohmelads]

No sun in the Winter is a myth. If anything we get more blue sky sunny days in the Winter than the Summer. No heat is more accurate.

 

It bugs me. Another thing that bugs me, Matt LeBlanc said the thing he doesn't like about the UK is the food. What's he eating or not getting here that he can get in the USA?

 

Is this a serious post? Variety and choice of food in America is far greater than here, due to the much greater cultural diversity and the easier access to ingredients.

 

Only if you're comparing Newcastle to New York! London is as diverse as any city in the world.

 

I've only been to the west coast states but I wasn't impressed by the food. Perhaps you need to know where to go or perhaps it just depends on personal taste. I wouldn't say there's more variety there at all, unless you have a bizarre craving for bulgogi tacos and like your food smothered in lots of low-grade cheese, oil, and mayonnaise. Their Asian, Middle Eastern, French or Italian food is as unauthentic as ours is. Just like us, they cater it to local tastes.

 

There will always be different pros and cons. We have far more variety of Asian food, and with Europe on our doorstep we have much better access to subtle flavours like cheeses and cured meats and so on. But if you're into Tex Mex or southern BBQ for example then you'll obviously find far better over there. It all depends on what you're after.

 

Anyway, back to Merino!

[Guest Howaythetoon]

It’s always baffled me when people say the Brits can’t cook or have shit food. You can sample any world food anywhere in the UK, obviously some places are better than others but regardless of cuisine or taste or style we have it in abundance and as for English dishes... steak pie and chips? Howay man what’s not to like. Pie and mash, sausage and mash, fish and chips even. The yanks with their overdose of bacon and cheese... I’ve been to Paris, Barcelona and the food is nothing you can’t get better in London or even Newcastle. Proper food though if you want authentic cuisine based on locale, you have to go to the streets of certain countries. Bear in mind say Thailand a lot of their food is sold to how Westerners perceive Thai food to be, again you can get the same and better her. You have to go to a village to taste proper Thai food. A pad Thai, fucking hell I can make that and make it taste authentic or as if it’s straight out of Thailand. I made a Nigerian ‘curry’ last week based on a mate’s recipe, tasted the same as his. But he said back home the rice would be different and the spices would be fresher and basically it would never be the same as what his mum would cook back in his village. Anyway... bed time, I’ve got to be up at 7!

[Interpolic]

But aye, nobody is going have a properly done crispy belly pork with black pudding hash and £15 veal stock gravy and be like "this is vile".

 

Properly done gravy costs hundreds of billions.  That's why they're so stingy with it. 

[Greg]

I used to date an Indian lass, if you want proper Indian food, don’t go to a takeaway or a restaurant, go to an Indian family home. World of difference. Only problem far too spicey for me. Wor lass is Kenyan originally and she does an amazing biryani, their cuisine apparently heavily influenced by India and the Arab world. She uses lamb which I’m ok with, but not on the bone and I prefer beef. Only problem it takes ages to prepare and cook as there are so many ingredients and I’m not a fan of ghee, but it’s used for authenticity. Those eggs caramelised by whatever it is... lush.

 

Spanish food, I love tapas and a paellla because it’s simple and you can pick and choose, but I find Spanish food kind of boring and samey samey. English food gets panned, but some of our dishes are the dogs bollocks. Best food... I’ve tried the lot, authentic African food be it East or North or West or South. Street food in Kenya, seeing a Goat topped in front of you, skinned, chopped up and cooked with all kinds of other stuff... They can mix all kinds of food that you would usually never have together seem like it all belongs together. Best kebab I’ve ever had was in Tunisia. Makes ours feel like fish and chips which is what it is really.

 

Anyway, Merino, talented player who I hope we see more of next season. I don’t think the midfield options we have suit his game nor our tactics. For me it’s Diame and Shelvey in the centre which is our best option for now as they are proving.

 

 

 

Do you dislike butter?