St. John

This is a restaurant in the UK that only locals would go to, and you can see that the entire restaurant is filled with local people. We specially made a reservation here through a local friend’s recommendation! Upon entering, it was a bit confusing because the restaurant is divided into a dessert and beverage area and a lunch and dinner dining area! However, the staff was very enthusiastic and guided us in the right direction. After some casual chats and a menu introduction, we arrived at the most important part—

Today we ordered:
❤️ Parsnip soup
I’ve only had this soup in Europe before; I always call it "dao feng cao" soup, which is a herb with some medicinal properties. It tastes sweet and is often used by Europeans to make soup! I personally really love this soup 🥣 because it has a very homely flavor, and it’s the kind of taste that only locals would eat. The base of the soup is very thick, somewhat resembling breakfast 🍳 oatmeal. They actually used a lot of other spices to make this soup, but I’m not really sure about the exact ingredients. I just know it’s incredibly delicious and quite filling! So if you’re not very hungry that day, I think you can order this bowl of soup to eat with bread 🥖!

❤️ Roast bone marrow and parsley salad 🥗
This dish is the restaurant's specialty; almost everyone who comes here chooses this one. In Taiwan, there are similar soups made with bone marrow, but here they leave the marrow inside the bone and roast it. When it comes to the table, the whole bone is still hot, and they give you a small fork to scoop out the marrow to put on the bread or mix with the salad. The texture is a bit oily, so if you’re not used to it, it’s suggested to add more salad and bread! Personally, I absolutely love this smoky, roasted flavor!

❤️ Mallard, sour cabbage trotter, and Prune
After having an exceptional roast duck breast in Paris, this has become the best duck breast I’ve had so far. Not only because their duck 🦆 is wild, but the waiter also carefully reminded us not to eat the tiny pellets from the shotgun when presenting the dish. Plus, the way they cook the duck breast is unbelievably delicious, with tenderness at its best level. Every bite is a delight, and when paired with their prepared sauerkraut and sour sauce like prunes, it perfectly presents the original texture of the duck meat, enhanced further by the sauce! This is a dish I highly recommend—

Overall, I strongly recommend this restaurant. Throughout the night, I didn’t see any other Asian diners, and I believe not many people know about this restaurant yet. I hope those traveling to the UK can give it a try! Enjoy the authentic British flavors!