Day Two: Maggie Jones and the quintessential English meal

Located near Hyde Park and tucked in a quiet side street just down the road from Saint Mary Abbots Churchyard, Maggie Jones is an atmospheric restaurant that serves mostly English and French cuisine. Dark, candle-lit, and cramped, it had the comforting feel of an old English pub, with great baskets of dried flowers hanging from the ceiling and antique bottles set as candle holders on each of the rustic wood tables.

Food: 7/10 (5 if you factor in the price)

Price: $$$$ (two courses are £30,00 three £35,00 about $37.83 and $44.75 respectively in USD)

Accessibility: 7/10

Service: 10/10

Price:

The program director made our reservation and paid for our meal before I got there, but when I saw the price afterward I died a little inside. That might be because I'm a cheap hoe who lives off of eggs and ramen noodles, but still, it's not really something I'm used to. Please look at the menus first if you're traveling on a budget.

Accessibility:

For London, it’s not too bad in terms of accessibility. There are no steps other than the curb leading up to the restaurant and there are tables on the ground floor. My only complaint is that the women's restrooms are on the top floor, which is only accessible via steep stairs.

First course:

Is there really a quintessential English meal? Second only to the famous breakfast, this may be it. We started off with some warm bread served alongside cubes of butter wrapped in butcher paper. The first course was something I’ve personally never tried before, called on the menu “Silton moose”. Silton is a crumbly aged cheese originally made in Leicestershire County, England. There are two varieties of this cheese, the blue (containing veins of blue cheese) and the white. Whipped into a butler-like consistency, the Silton moose made at Maggie Jones is served in a small mound, alongside toast and salad.

If I were to rate it, I’d give a 7/10. I’m not personally a huge fan of blue cheese so it wasn’t my thing, but the quality was good, and the toast/greens paired very well. I need to pop in here with an honorable mention: apparently the French onion soup is divine. I wouldn’t know, I didn’t try it and no one around me did either, but I heard in general it was delicious.

Main course:

There were a variety of opinions for the main course. I ordered the pork belly, which I’d give it a 5/10. Each individual part of this dish was delicious and was prepared with care(pork belly, applesauce, mashed potatoes) but the combination of the fatty belly with the fatty potatoes left my stomach in an unhappy mood. If you are to stop by this restaurant, I’d suggest something else on the menu. The salmon next to me smelled divine and I got a glowing review of the shepherd's pie from the girl across from me.

Dessert:

Back home I usually don’t order desserts with my meal (probably a habit from childhood because I have a MAJOR sweet tooth) so this was an anticipated special treat. I had the opportunity to try two off their menu, the Burnt Cream (Creme Brulee) and the Apple Crumble.

I’d have to give the Burnt Cream a solid 3/10.

If you’ve ever tried plain vanilla extract, it had a remarkably similar aftertaste (read unpleasant) and every other flavor was overpowered by something that tasted a lot like alcohol or perhaps gasoline. If I have to say anything good about this dish, I'd have the texture was perfect: creamy and rich with a crunchy top, and it definitely tasted burnt.

Now the Apple Crumble. I was recommended this dish by the lovely waiter and BOY was it different. 10/10 and served with a vat of the best custard I’ve ever had (and only, but it was still smacking delicious), this crumble will likely haunt my dreams from now on. The topping was sweet, crumbly, melt in your mouth satisfying and the inside had a perfectly cinnamon kick and almost applesauce consistency. Overall my favorite item I tried and I had to stop myself from eating the rest of the communal dish we shared as a table. If you go here for anything, go for this.

Service:

The service wasn’t fast, we were there for about two hours, BUT they were trying to feed a huge group of at least 20 people, and this timeing included dessert. The wait staff was also super friendly and gave great suggestions. Overall, when you pull together the atmosphere, the talent of the dishes, and the divine crumble, I’d say Maggie Jones is a restaurant to stop by if you have the money and want a deeply charming experience.

~

If you're not a nerd like me, it was lovely having you but you may want to move on to tomorrow's blog right about now because we’re getting fancy babyyy!

(Extra) Cultural Value:

Kensington is one of London’s most expensive districts and Maggie Jones definitely reflects that in both pricing and presentation. The atmosphere was clean yet comforting, cozy but not homely. While the food is indigenous to the area (with some French additions) the dishes' history is very complicated.

Native garden variety vegetables were a theme throughout this meal, including carrots, asparagus, onions, garlic, peas, and other common garden staples. High in carbohydrates, these vegetables brought in some much-needed nutrients to the otherwise overpowering mix of meats and potatoes. This was also reflected in the fruits (apples being a main part of the meal). Like most $$$$ restaurants and fast food joints, this place has one thing in spades: fat. They do not skimp on butter in any of the dishes. This is no surprise. Milk (and therefore butter) producing animals have been bred in the UK for centuries. It is likely, when looking at history and availability, butter can be considered one of the most English ingredients used. And yet Britain is one of the world's largest importers of the fat, a majority of which is shipped from Denmark and Ireland. Much like myself after finishing these dishes, the impact of supply chain on culture and economics has many layers. And, similar to the people, architecture, and entertainment in London, the food at its core is a conglomeration. Even the conservative seasonings used in this meal, which we now classify as common (read: salt, herbs, and pepper) can be traced back to different conquests and empirical campaigns.

What other foods quintessential to the British reputation can truly be followed back to the people that tilted the earth and cared for the land since the time of the Romans? I’d love to hear your thoughts or bits of facts in the comments below!!