The 11 Most Revolting Things Sam Sifton Ate in London

Times restaurant critic Sam Sifton goes to London and what is there to eat at the hottest places in town? DISHES OF HORROR MOSTLY. A textural nightmare. A heart-stopping pile of Englishisms.

• “a plate of ‘rice and flesh’… a kind of buttery risotto Milanese, heady with saffron and studded here and there with tiny nuggets of meat taken from a calf’s tail.”

• “What you are served appears simply to be a Mandarin orange…. Cut through the dimpled skin of the fruit, however, and a mousse is revealed: an interior of whipped chicken liver with a flavor that is beautifully enhanced by the taste of its bright orange ‘skin.’”

• “a layered salad with chicken oysters (those coins of meat from behind the wings), silken bone marrow and horseradish cream.”

• “a plate of brined and hay-smoked mackerel, with lemon salad, a spray of olive oil and a ‘Gentleman’s relish’ of anchovies with garlic, milk, bread and lemon juice.”

• “juicy spiced pigeon with ale and artichoke hearts.”

• “salt-brined and long-cooked popsicle of duck leg.”

• “tipsy cake… that is a bit like a cream-filled, booze-basted monkey bread served with pineapple.”

• “sweet langoustines and unctuous yellow mayonnaise.”

• “lightly cured sea trout with pickled cucumbers.”

• “smoked pig’s-cheek croquettes with radishes.”

• “burnt cream ice cream.”