We meet again

London, England It’s always a thrill to connect with friends June and Alan when we’re here. Today was all about having a lovely lunch at The Ivy, and generally catching up.

Unfortunately, one of our foursome is currently in the hospital, not having a lovely Sunday roast dinner. But never fear, we visited him to bring some joy into his otherwise bleak day. During that short but meaningful visit, I was able to do a comprehensive assessment of the English National Health System, which one reads a lot about in the U.S. media.

Yes, it is definitely failing.

My conclusion, based on an in-depth study of four separate patients, is that something is terribly, terribly wrong. Either the NHS is very poor at selecting suppliers, or they are trying to stretch supplies well beyond the breaking point. I mean, just look at these pathetic socks!!!

Our friend wasn’t the only one crippled by failing footwear. By this one metric alone, the U.S. system wins much higher marks. We have a drawer full of lovely hospital socks…though we do have bills to accompany them. Regardless, we were appalled.

Otherwise, it was a great pleasure to rub noses with dear friends and chew over events since our last visit.

P.S. Congratulations to blog followers Sue and Pamela for getting so close to the answer to my puzzle about where we will be visiting for the first time.

Now if they could just connect the “64,” “Abbey Road” and “Liverpool” dots , it should be easy.

Don’s Food Corner

At one time The Ivy was a quasi-exclusive West End restaurant that served as a watering-hole for theatre people. A few years ago, however, the London restaurant was sold and today there is are several outposts scattered around the UK. They all feature very pleasant decor, pleasant service, pleasant food and surprisingly pleasant prices.

Today’s visit was to an Ivy in the London suburb of Blackheath.

The restaurant emphasizes traditional English fare, modernized.

Since this was Sunday, the featured meal was the Sunday Roast as you would find at virtually every traditional British restaurant and most pubs as well. So, that’s what I had.

The Sunday Roast ALWAYS includes slices of roast beef, although today they offered a chicken alternative, which I thought was a compromise on tradition so I didn’t have it. The roast beef ALWAYS comes with roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, and a big pitcher of gravy. There usually would also be a side vegetable and a serving of “mash” — usually of some root vegetable like turnip or parsnip. The Ivy followed this tradition perfectly. The beef was pink and tender. The roast potatoes were crisp on the outside and tender on the inside, although I suspect there was deep-frying assistance. The Yorkshire pudding was equally crisp on the outside and tender inside. The gravy was thick and rich. The mash was indeed some type of root vegetable. And there was a nice serving of green beans amandine.

This was a refined Sunday Roast, but it ticked off all the boxes and it was nice to visit this British classic on our first Sunday here.

Jo had a duck liver pate to begin. Then she went on to chicken Milanese, which is a close approximation of her favorite dish — Weiner schnitzel. This version featured a fried egg on top and a side of truffle sauce.

June, a strict pescatarian, had a Scottish smoked haddock patty with a poached egg on top.

I can’t comment about the taste of either of these dishes because I was not offered any samples, and since this was a rather sophisticated restaurant, I didn’t reach over with my fork.

Alan had to make do with a hospital meal. He didn’t go into detail but apparently he was unhappy about it. That meal, too, went untested by me. Just as well.