From New York to Old York

York, England Today we left London from King’s Cross to reach York, in the north. (Missed seeing platform 9 3/4, but we’ve seen it before.)

We hit the ground running, heading for the York Castle Museum, which mainly contains an assemblage of recreated slices of domestic and retail life of York during the 19th century. Stores and storefronts have been painstakingly recreated by a man who made it his life’s mission, and who did a spectacular job.

The exhibit goes on to the First World War and the the tumultuous ’60’s, also rendered in great detail. (I still shiver to think of having been alone in a room in Vienna with the car in which Franz Joseph was assassinated.)

By this point, we were really slowing down, so we sped through the part where the building had been a jail and a debtors’ prison. A more organized tour tomorrow!

Don’s Food Corner

We went rogue today away from traditional (or modern) British food and had Indian food. However, I think that Indian food is the second most popular cuisine in the UK.

The manager at the hotel where we’re staying is Indian and, after discussing our trip through India and all its delights (and challenges), he directed us to his preferred Indian restaurant. When we got there after going through the Castle Museum, he was there having dinner.

It turned out to be a Nepalese restaurant that also served Indian food. That meant that we were able to get a serving of Momo dumplings as as starter. These dumplings are finding their way onto “international” menus. I actually ran into a Momo dumpling food truck in Brooklyn recently. Yum. Today we ordered a fried pork version along with a tray of relishes — onion, yogurt, and mango chutney. A great reminder of our trip to Nepal. However, the most vivid food memory of Nepal was coming across the best pizza we ever had in a pizza place in Katmandu called Fire and Ice. Anyone who has ever been to Katmandu will know Fire and Ice.

After the Momos, we ordered some conventional Indian dishes: butter chicken and chicken korma. Both dishes feature a certain amount of cream. Today we were asked what level of spiciness we wanted, mild, medium, or hot. Fearful of what exactly that might mean here in York, we went for mild, whereas usually we would try medium. We were perhaps a little too timid, but we were able to taste the complexities of the sauces and their spices without being overwhelmed by heat.

The two dishes were rounded out with accompanying basmati rice, plain naan and Nepalese beer.

It was an Indian meal as we would have expected it to taste. Our hotel manager was right. But is there a recommendation for the best cream tea in York? Tomorrow we will try to find out.