Must-try Foods in British Isles Cruise Ports?

[aheape1979]

We will be cruising the British Isles in June on Regal Princess.  For those of you who have been, I would love to hear your "must try" foods....as well as those you weren't impressed with.  I know we all have different tastes, but am hoping to get a good list of places to grab some local grub in port!

TIA!

[John Bull]

Lots of regional dishes in the UK - we need to know your ports.

 

JB 

[Alaskanb]

I used Tripadvisor to select cafes and pub food. 

We had superb Fish and Chips at the Duke of Wellington in Southampton. I mention most of the places where we ate in my review 

 

 

[Sauer-kraut]

Salmon in Scotland

Eccles Cakes in Lancashire

Cumberland Sausage in the Lake District

And of course nothing but the Salmon are near any port......

[Guernseycruiser]

I would recommend any of the freshly local caught seafood, and of course Guernsey Gache when you are visiting St Peter Port.  Also the local Rocquette Cider is great for those drinking alcohol.  If you are into Gin, there are a number of different local varieties to try.

 

Enjoy your day ashore exploring all Guernsey has to offer.

Edited January 4, 2020 by Guernseycruiser

[John Bull]

27 minutes ago, Guernseycruiser said:

and of course Guernsey Gache when you are visiting St Peter Port.

 

Enjoy your day ashore exploring all Guernsey has to offer.

 

 

Just the sort of reason we need to know the OP's ports.

 

BTW, Guernsey Gache.

 Is it bread, or is it cake? 

Or a mid-Channel in-between?

 

JB 

[phabric]

I enjoyed having ice cream.  

[Guernseycruiser]

52 minutes ago, John Bull said:

 

 

Just the sort of reason we need to know the OP's ports.

 

BTW, Guernsey Gache.

 Is it bread, or is it cake? 

Or a mid-Channel in-between?

 

JB 

 

As the OP advised that they are on the Regal Princess British Isles cruise, then all these cruises are scheduled to stop in St Peter Port, Guernsey.

 

Guernsey Gache, technically looks like a loaf of bread, however you would eat it as you would cake, with say a "nice cup of tea".  So to answer the question, yes a mid-Channel in-between. ;) 

 

[geoherb]

Fish and chips. We had them in London before our cruise, in Kinsale, and in Glasgow. And ice cream. I remember three flavors particularly: stem ginger, black currants in clotted cream, and honeycomb. 

[D C]

On 1/4/2020 at 8:32 AM, Guernseycruiser said:

I would recommend any of the freshly local caught seafood, and of course Guernsey Gache when you are visiting St Peter Port.  Also the local Rocquette Cider is great for those drinking alcohol.  If you are into Gin, there are a number of different local varieties to try.

 

Enjoy your day ashore exploring all Guernsey has to offer.

Gache and Guernsey butter.  The cravings that dreams are made of!! 

 

Naturally one needs to add Guernsey milk (the red stuff of course) and some Guernsey ice cream to wash it all down. 

 

 

[Guernseycruiser]

6 hours ago, D C said:

Gache and Guernsey butter.  The cravings that dreams are made of!! 

 

Naturally one needs to add Guernsey milk (the red stuff of course) and some Guernsey ice cream to wash it all down. 

 

 

 

OMG, how could I forget to say that the Gache must of course be smothered in yellow Guernsey butter.  Guernsey ice cream is another absolute must.

 

[adam7392]

Get a proper cream tea/afternoon tea from a local tea shop - one that uses traditional cornish clotted cream rather than the whipped cream used by princess for their cream teas.  Not knocking the Princess cream tea - absolutely love it but you can't beat a nice bowl of yellow, crusty clotted cream with your scones and jam. I would think Guernsey will have it's fair share of quaint tea shops.

[ducklite]

If you are docking in Dublin, book a lunch or dinner reservation at FX Buckley or Brookwood for some fine Irish grass fed Black Angus beef.

[Post Captain]

You haven't lived until you've eaten toast spread with a nice gob of Marmite.  Available throughout the British Isles, wherever breakfast is served.  YUM!!! 🤣

[scottbee]

Something that is uniquely british, available everywhere, and unavailable for the most part elsewhere in the world is the British Pork Pie.  Generally served chilled or room temperature, with a VERY dense pork/gelatin centre.  Don't be fooled by the small size, a muffin sized pork pie makes a great filling lunch.

 

[Post Captain]

34 minutes ago, scottbee said:

Something that is uniquely british, available everywhere, and unavailable for the most part elsewhere in the world is the British Pork Pie.  Generally served chilled or room temperature, with a VERY dense pork/gelatin centre.  Don't be fooled by the small size, a muffin sized pork pie makes a great filling lunch.

 

 

Indeed! 

 

Along those lines...  When I'm on the go in England and in the mood for a satisfying takeaway snack rather than a sit down-meal, I often pop into a bakery and purchase a selection of pies and pasties with various meat and/or vegetable fillings.  Sausage rolls (a small sausage inside a flaky baked crust) usually hit the spot.  I also enjoy a cheese-and-onion bake or suchlike.  Virtually, very city, town, and village of any size will have a bakery selling a freshly-baked selection of these pies...  But get there before mid-afternoon--they sell out fast! 

 

Cornish pasties are the granddaddy of all edible items of this sort--best enjoyed in Cornwall, of course, and fresh from the oven, but they are available in other parts of the UK as well.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasty

 

Speaking of which...  When I lived in Cornwall many moons ago, my favorite sweet (aka desert) was spotted dick (especially as served at the Turk's Head in Penzance):

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotted_dick

 

Edited January 7, 2020 by Post Captain

[Post Captain]

How could I have forgotten this?  And how could no one else have mentioned it yet? ~

 

The venerable English Sunday Roast!

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunday_roast

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/recipes/0/the-ultimate-sunday-roast/

 

When the warden comes to me and asks my request for my last meal, I think this might well be it.  (Even if it's not Sunday.)

 

 

 

Edited January 7, 2020 by Post Captain

[D C]

1 hour ago, Post Captain said:

 

Indeed! 

 

Along those lines...  When I'm on the go in England and in the mood for a satisfying takeaway snack rather than a sit down-meal, I often pop into a bakery and purchase a selection of pies and pasties with various meat and/or vegetable fillings.  Sausage rolls (a small sausage inside a flaky baked crust) usually hit the spot.  I also enjoy a cheese-and-onion bake or suchlike.  Virtually, very city, town, and village of any size will have a bakery selling a freshly-baked selection of these pies...  But get there before mid-afternoon--they sell out fast! 

 

Cornish pasties are the granddaddy of all edible items of this sort--best enjoyed in Cornwall, of course, and fresh from the oven, but they are available in other parts of the UK as well.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasty

 

Speaking of which...  When I lived in Cornwall many moons ago, my favorite sweet (aka desert) was spotted dick (especially as served at the Turk's Head in Penzance):

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotted_dick

 

 

With an English Great Grandmother, Cornish Pastys were a special treat and are still a staple in our house.   Just meat, potatoes, and a little onion please :)

[D C]

15 hours ago, Guernseycruiser said:

 

OMG, how could I forget to say that the Gache must of course be smothered in yellow Guernsey butter.  Guernsey ice cream is another absolute must.

 

 

Our first stop on our last trip, after checking into our apartment was the co-op for some Gache and butter.

For the big question...do you toast your Gache?

[Guernseycruiser]

My preference would be to toast the Gache as then the gorgeous guernsey butter just melts into it, but if I am at a café where they are not able to toast, then just cold is fine with me.

 

 

[D C]

13 hours ago, Guernseycruiser said:

My preference would be to toast the Gache as then the gorgeous guernsey butter just melts into it, but if I am at a café where they are not able to toast, then just cold is fine with me.

 

 

Agreed!
I'll have to get café & restaurant recommendations from you before our next trip.  Hoping to come over in September, but it'll depend on finances (of course).    We're preferential to Dix Neuf in town for the outdoor seating and atmosphere.  

[wowzz]

Most British towns have a branch of Gregg's (take away bakery) . Ask for a hot sausage roll, and then walk round eating it - you'll fit right in with the locals.

[tartanexile81]

On 1/3/2020 at 9:35 PM, aheape1979 said:

We will be cruising the British Isles in June on Regal Princess.  For those of you who have been, I would love to hear your "must try" foods....as well as those you weren't impressed with.  I know we all have different tastes, but am hoping to get a good list of places to grab some local grub in port!

TIA!

 

I wouldn't say there were any "must try foods" up here as food is so cosmopolitan in and around Edinburgh, as in all big cities. Traditional foods though include:

 

Scotch Pie / sausage rolls 

Mince and tatties 

Haggis and neeps

Fish and chips from the hippie in paper

Cullen skink

broth-type soups

Aberdeen Angus Beef

Sliced bread

 

Salmon is so universal these days I wouldn't say it is very Scottish as it is nearly all farmed. 

 

 

[aheape1979]

Wow!  Amazing recommendations so far!  Thank you so much!

Our ports are:

Guernsey (St. Peter Port)

Cork (Cobh)

Dublin (2 days)

Belfast

Glasgow (Greenock)

Invergordon

Edinburgh (South Queensferry)

Paris/Normandy (Le Havre)

 

[John Bull]

2 hours ago, aheape1979 said:

Wow!  Amazing recommendations so far!  Thank you so much!

Our ports are:

Guernsey (St. Peter Port)

Cork (Cobh)

Dublin (2 days)

Belfast

Glasgow (Greenock)

Invergordon

Edinburgh (South Queensferry)

Paris/Normandy (Le Havre)

 

 

Well that;s blown the idea of an English sunday roast 

I have no idea whether the Scots or Irish offer the same.

 

Other than forgetting deep-fried Mars Bars , the Exile has given you a pretty good list of Scottish delicacies.

Exile - decades ago when I was a nipper I spent a few years in Aberdeen. This was before burgers were popular in the UK (might even have been in the pre-Wimpey days). For fast-food we'd buy a big Scottish bap filled with mincemeat - a kinda gone-wrong burger. Messy to eat but delicious . Still available?

 

JB