Our first few days in London involved several rounds of chain dining. I’m kind of ashamed to admit it, but for the most part, this was done deliberately—I have a nostalgic fondness for Wagamama, Belgo came recommended by a former local for a casual, inexpensive meal, and I fell for the foodie tourist-bait that is a Jamie Oliver restaurant—and with predictably average results. Wagamama could never hold up to my memory of it, especially after my love affair with Ippudo; at Jamie’s Italian, I had the only plate of food that’s ever been too salty for me to finish; and while Belgo’s beer was delicious, our bucket of mussels was underwhelming.
I hardly expected our luck to change in the tour-bus capital of Bath, but it was there that both our mediocre dining streak and our lack of success with seafood came to an end.
