Thanksgiving, London Style

After spending our Thanksgiving day touring Hampton Court Palace, we met up with family and took the train to downtown London. We arrived at Waterloo station and took a scenic walk along the river to dinner. This allowed me my first true glimpse of marvelous icons, old and new.

London Eye

We were meeting eight other family members at the American style restaurant, Joe Allen, for Thanksgiving dinner. Obviously, other countries do not typically celebrate our wonderful American holiday of feasting on turkey and pumpkin, but this restaurant was an exception.

Clam chowder, steak, and (not pictured) chocolate cake. All devoured while 

sitting next to the American flag.

A three course menu was offered with three options for each course. One option was typical Thanksgiving food (cornbread, turkey, and pumpkin pie were all offered), while the other two were more main stream. I had clam chowder with corn bread, steak, and a flourless chocolate cake. The corn bread was rather dry, but the rest of my meal was amazing. With our main course came sides of brussel sprouts, potatoes, and what I thought were sweet potato fries. They turned out to be parsnips and were delicious. Not unlike a typical Thanksgiving meal, I came away from the table completely stuffed and content.

I give our relatives major props for thinking to take us to a holiday dinner while being so far away from our families back home. While we weren't necessarily homesick, spending the evening at a big dinner with loved ones helped to create a really special memory for both of us. Maybe next year we will bring our London style menu to the Thanksgiving table with some clam chowder, steak, and a bold American flag hanging in the background!