The Sunday Tradition

When we decided to live in London for a semester, we did not want to lead an American life in England. Of course, we're Americans - proud to be and always will be - but we wanted to really live here and not be tourists for four months. So today we tackled a British tradition - the Sunday Roast.
Almost every pub - and a good many restaurants - feature Sunday roast. It's just what it sounds like - roast beef, usually served with Yorkshire pudding (not a dessert) and veg (not vegetables ... apparently over here, it's just veg.)
We've been looking around all week and gathering suggestions of where to go for our first proper Sunday Roast. So today, we headed for the 'burbs - to the little borough of Ealing - for lunch.
Ealing is a bit of a Tube ride from here but it's a pleasant one. When you get outside Central London, you start to leave the underground stations and actually see trees and green things as the train rolls by. We arrived in Ealing, then walked a few blocks down a picture-postcard street. Our destination: The New Inn.
First a little about Ealing. It's been around for about 7,000 years and is located west of London. A famous movie studio is in Ealing - in fact, it's the oldest one in the world. Among the things that have been filmed there: "The Ladykillers," "Kind Hearts and Coronets," the Monty Python TV show and the Hugh (be still my heart) Grant movie "Notting Hill."
We arrived at the New and immediately realized we'd made a good choice. This wonderful old pub, a rambling old building with a bar at the center, was packed. At this roast, you pay, pick up a ticket and find a table. Then you walk over to a station where meat is carved and veg is put on your plate.
Oh, the variety of roast! I was expecting just beef but was pleasantly surprised to see roast turkey, roast gammon (ham to us), roast lamb and roast pork as well. The veg included carrots, broccoli, fried potatoes, new potatoes, swede (rutabaga), butternut squash, peas, mashed cauliflower and parsnips. And of course, those insanely delicious, melt-in-your-mouth Yorkshire puddings and gravy. Yorkshire pudding is really like a giant popover, batter that is baked in a very hot tin until it puffs up. It's usually served ladled with gravy. It is very much like eating beef-soaked air.
What you're seeing here is my plate. I chose to get just a little beef, as well as some turkey and gammon. I have never tasted such delicious ham. Everything we had was incredible. Sunday Roast at The New Inn was a hit with us! We sat at a small table for two in between two larger tables of families. When one group was leaving, the father lightly bumped the back of my chair. He said, "Sorry," and I said, "That's okay." Then he said, "I am so sorry, love. There's nothing worse than being bumped while you're trying eat your roast."
Random thoughts for today:
** The weather is beautiful today. There's a nip in the air - it's not quite fall, but you can see it coming.
** If you want to do any Sunday shopping in London, you're out of luck after 6 p.m. On the way back from Ealing, all of our high street stores were closed tight at 5, including the market. We walked over to the N1 Centre, thinking we'd hang out in Borders for a while. (Coming back home, we'd ridden the bus through Charing Cross and saw book store after book store. We were bitten by the book store bug, as we often are.) Just as we start browsing at Borders , they made the closing announcement!
** Our high street has a Burger King. I don't eat at BK in the states and I'm not eating there now. But ... I saw a poster that stopped me in my tracks. BK now has a sandwich called the Meat Beast Whopper. Are you ready? It's your standard Whopper, with pepperoni and bacon added. Now there's a heart attack on a plate.
** My hubby walked down to the local pub last night (The Offsides Pub) to watch a World Cup qualifying football match. England beat Andorra, 2-0. That's soccer, you know. He loves it. What a bloke!