Let’s Eat Europe
By: Miriam Steiner
Tags: New Year, Eu, London, Food

In 2019 I set myself the challenge of eating at a restaurant in London for every country that has ever won Eurovision. The thought was that I wouldn’t be able to travel like I did in 2018, I expected that we would have left the European Union at some point during the year. I wanted to experience new things, and celebrate the diversity of London. Also, I bloody love Eurovision.

So my family, friends and I have been traipsing around London eating at wonderful and weird places.

What have I learned? Well, there are certain things I’ll always pick off a menu, and can be found across so many countries’ cuisines. Caramel desserts. Mashed potatoes. Something deep-fried. But I also discovered new favourites. Dumplings, rye bread, raw and rare meats, anything cut thinly then picked.

I also learned I take the places I feel aren’t meant for people like me with humour, whether it’s too posh or too for the locals/community it represents. If you’re nice enough and have the cash, it doesn’t really matter. It’s how I feel about London’s diversity in general. Lots is familiar across cultures, a lot is new, it’s always worth coming to something different with open eyes and good questions.

I didn’t come at this challenge to review or criticise. I’m not a food critic, I’m just a person who loves food, London and a challenge. That’s why I haven’t posted the (rather long) captions I put on Instagram anywhere the restaurant owners could find them.

It’s gratifying to spend a year having something fun and adventurous that you’re committed to. I got my friends involved, I took recommendations from my colleagues, twitter followers, friends, and the Eater website. A real collective knowledge that felt unifying and supportive. People were interested, commented and liked on Instagram joyfully. I didn’t anticipate the fun of having people along for the ride. Nor that for those who ate with me, it would expand their palates and horizons as it did mine.

If you’re stuck for a new year’s resolution, pick something that will make you happy. Not happy in a conventional sense but something that brings you joy every time you think, talk and do it. I’ve had a joyful year.

So here is what, where and when I ate it.

Austria 🇦🇹 — Fisher’s — käsespätzle, chicken schnitzel, veal sausage with sauerkraut and potato salad, creme caramel — with @sarrah2q

Belgium 🇧🇪 — Lowlander — cheese croquettes, mussels in white wine sauce — with @sillysa57431286

Denmark 🇩🇰 — Ole and Steen — Coconut puff, cinnamon roll, open-top roast beef sandwich — with @livspills

Finland 🇫🇮 — Aquavit — three types of bread (including fishy sweet rye), scallops with kohlrabi and plankton, blood pudding with lingonberries and lardo, leeks in mustard and rye, and something called Jansson’s surprise — with A.N.

France 🇫🇷 — Bistrotheque — Leeks, steak tartare, fish, courgette, crème brûlée w/ Family

Germany 🇩🇪 — Herman Ze German — Currywurst — with @diestooshie

Greece 🇬🇷 — Alexander the Great — chicken shish and spanakopita — with @sarrah2q

Ireland — Waxy O’Connors (yesterday! It was the last one!) — Potato, leek and cheddar pot pie with an Irish coffee

Israel — Bala Baya — Tahini, Prawn Baklava (sadly didn’t write down what else!)

Italy — Nino’s (and many others, it is hard to avoid eating Italian food regularly) — Crab linguine — with family

Latvia 🇱🇻 — Balzambars — Pumpkin soup, deviled chicken with boiled potatoes, cheesecake — with @sillysa57431286

Monaco 🇲🇨 — Cafe Monico — Burrata with green olive tapenade, steak and chips

Netherlands 🇳🇱 — A food stand — Poffertjes with strawberry jam

Norway 🇳🇴 — Scandinavian Kitchen (this was the first one I went to!) — Beetroot and apple salad, scandi hot dogs with crispy onions, herring + egg and prawn + egg open top sandwiches, and a heart-shaped waffle — with M.S.

Portugal 🇵🇹 — Capricho — Portuguese sardine and tuna paste, octopus on sweet potato, pork belly with potatoes, clams, black beans with sausage, tempura hake, baba de camelo — with @carbondeclare

Russia 🇷🇺 — Bob Bob Ricard — truffle, potato and mushroom vareniki, pork belly with cranberry and apple, truffle mash, cabbage, chicken kiev, lemon sorbet with vodka (bonus pic — a champagne button) — with @sarrah2q

Serbia 🇷🇸 and Yugoslavia (which is no longer a country, so no emoji nor own restaurant) = Mugi’s Coffee Bar — Cheese and spinach borek, Ćevapi with ajvar, kefir, tulumbe — with S.W.

Spain 🇪🇸 — Tapas Brindisa — Gambas, bread, paprika sausage, goats cheese and beetroot with honey, frittata, this orange creme brulee thing — with R.M.

Sweden 🇸🇪 — KuPP Paddington — Swedish meatballs — with @frasercoppin

Switzerland🇨🇭 — St Moritz — Cheese fondue with potatoes and bread — with @sarrah2q and @morrijo1

Turkey 🇹🇷 — Wood Oven — A whole feast of things for my grandparents anniversary + Bonus because it was so good — Oklava — Black Sea Pide — with @livspills

United Kingdom 🇬🇧 — Maureen’s — Pie and Mash (on the day of the European elections)

And finally, and a real stand out, Ukraine 🇺🇦 — Borscht, bread, golubtsi, potato cakes (deruny?), cottage cheese dumplings

There were three I couldn’t do. Luxembourg, Estonia and most sadly Azerbaijan.