We came across The Old Shades by chance when we were exploring the city. What caught our attention about The old shades was the exterior and the look of the restaurant. British food is something that I’ve never tried before despite the fact that Canada is connected to Britain. Well I guess it’s more like we don’t have a whole lot of British spots in Vancouver so when I was in London, I decided to try it out!
The old shades menu
What I noticed from my few days in London was that they like their beer, burgers, chips (aka fries), bangers (aka sausage) and puddings. This isn’t to say they don’t have other offerings but most of the menus at the pubs were pretty similar.
After visiting Big Ben (or what’s left to see of it during construction), we stopped by Old Shades for lunch. The interior was dim-lit but there were a lot of stained glass windows to help brighten it up. The seating were mostly booths with padded seating and bar tables.
Since we were dining with a minor, we were led to the back of the restaurant to sit at a proper table which I appreciated because I’m not a fan of bar stools.
Since we wanted to try a variety of items, we decided to order a few things to share between the 4 of us.
Butternut squash soup
Starting off with the soup of the day which was butternut squash soup. The soup was thick and creamy with notes of black pepper to add spice. My favorite part was the charred bread it came with because it was so crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside!
Bangers and mash
Next up was the infamous bangers and mash of London. The bangers were made of chicken, apple and herbs. I’ve never had chicken sausage before let alone one with apple inside but it was actually quite pleasant. I liked how the apples added sweet notes and moisture so that the chicken didn’t end up being dry.
The mashed potatoes were unlike any I’ve had before. It was sooo smooth and creamy that it didn’t even need the pool of gravy to go with it! Who knew I would have liked a dish like this being the health rabbit I am.
Fish and Chips
Then came the fish and chips, another British staple. Unfortunately, the fish was not battered and fried very well. While the exterior looked crispy, it was very mushy and wet on the inside. Needless to say, it wasn’t very appetizing or tasty.
The chips on the other hand were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The rest of the world may eat fries with ketchup, but that’s because they haven’t had it with tartar sauce. It’s a game changer I swear! I’ve also never had mushy peas before and as unappetizing as that sounds, it was actually pretty good to have since we hadn’t had much veg on our trip.
Chicken club sandwich
Last but not least was the chicken club sandwich. We decided to get this because two of the dishes we ordered were pretty heavy already. The sandwich had slices of chicken, bacon, tomatoes, and lettuce on the inside. Even though it had tomatoes in it, the sandwich wasn’t wet because the bread was toasted well on the outside. It was a pretty standard sandwich so nothing much to say here.
Overall, our first taste of official British cuisine was pretty good. I learned that I enjoy bangers and mash on occasion and we should have probably picked somewhere else for fish and chips.