vinouspleasure
Distinguished Member
- Joined
- Jul 16, 2007
- Messages
- 1,289
- Reaction score
- 25
Just returned from a week long business and pleasure trip to London. I've spent a lot of time in London but this was my first visit in about seven years and my first business trip.
Yesterday I found myself wandering from one end of Jermyn street to the other. This is a five minute walk but I stopped at just about every shop...about a 3 hour stroll. As has been noted here, the current unfavorable US exchange rate magnifies the expense of the goods for sale. N&L had beautiful shirts for $66 but they were picked over and I didn't care for what was left in my size. There were no other sales and I didn't buy anything of note.
I did speak to a lot of people about shoe pricing and quality. Without naming names, the general consensus seems to be that Lobb is overpriced for the quality delivered. The curve in the hockey stick in terms of price and quality seemed to be C&J...in particular the hand grades which most people felt were every bit as good as lobb and green. I considered a trip up to manchester but in the end, didn't want to spend a day (and the expense) of the trip.
The women in London are lovely. I work in NYC where we have no shortage of beautiful women but the London women on the whole seem more fit, dress better, have a better understanding of how to apply makeup and wear tighter, more suggestive clothing. And of course, there's that great accent.
I'm happy to report that the food in London has improved 100%. The Indian food is already better than we have in NYC. If it improves another 100% and prices (or exchange rates) fall about 30%, it could rival NYC...perhaps thats not fair...maybe the top restaurants would have to improve 50% but the shear breadth of great NYC restaurants and ethnic food s hard to match. I did taste something that was pretty close to a croissant (and something that looked like a bagel.) Had very, very good fish and chips in a restaurant...here's something that I don't understand, London is fairly close to brussels...and paris, two of the great french fry cities of the world and they still serve these hard, tasteless fries.
The wine lists I saw were better priced and more interesting than most NYC restaurants. We did eat at a top Indian restaurant ($104/pp prix fixe, thank god it was expensed) and the wine list, while interesting, was a poor match for the fare. And I noticed that the beer is now cold...how odd...when did that happen?
Yesterday I found myself wandering from one end of Jermyn street to the other. This is a five minute walk but I stopped at just about every shop...about a 3 hour stroll. As has been noted here, the current unfavorable US exchange rate magnifies the expense of the goods for sale. N&L had beautiful shirts for $66 but they were picked over and I didn't care for what was left in my size. There were no other sales and I didn't buy anything of note.
I did speak to a lot of people about shoe pricing and quality. Without naming names, the general consensus seems to be that Lobb is overpriced for the quality delivered. The curve in the hockey stick in terms of price and quality seemed to be C&J...in particular the hand grades which most people felt were every bit as good as lobb and green. I considered a trip up to manchester but in the end, didn't want to spend a day (and the expense) of the trip.
The women in London are lovely. I work in NYC where we have no shortage of beautiful women but the London women on the whole seem more fit, dress better, have a better understanding of how to apply makeup and wear tighter, more suggestive clothing. And of course, there's that great accent.
I'm happy to report that the food in London has improved 100%. The Indian food is already better than we have in NYC. If it improves another 100% and prices (or exchange rates) fall about 30%, it could rival NYC...perhaps thats not fair...maybe the top restaurants would have to improve 50% but the shear breadth of great NYC restaurants and ethnic food s hard to match. I did taste something that was pretty close to a croissant (and something that looked like a bagel.) Had very, very good fish and chips in a restaurant...here's something that I don't understand, London is fairly close to brussels...and paris, two of the great french fry cities of the world and they still serve these hard, tasteless fries.
The wine lists I saw were better priced and more interesting than most NYC restaurants. We did eat at a top Indian restaurant ($104/pp prix fixe, thank god it was expensed) and the wine list, while interesting, was a poor match for the fare. And I noticed that the beer is now cold...how odd...when did that happen?
