Pat's hurricane!

It's time to get festive! Here's the greatest drink in New Orleans, the Pat O'Brien's hurricane!

Click the pic to make your own...the perfect antidote to the cold.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Your local needs you!

Dear England, I am just about getting used to the grand ol' American tradition of...beer pong! Why did it take so long? I think it's because beer pong is only really available in a few DC bars, the ones scattered to the edge of town. But when you find them, boy, do they go all out!

For those uninitiated into the delights of beer pong, you arrange 10 cups in a triangle (as in the picture) then each team take turns to throw a ping pong ball - not leaning too far over the table! - into your opponent's cup. Like all drinking games, the harder you play, the harder you fall.

A similar game is called flip cup, where you stand in a line on opposite sides of the table, and have to flip your cup upright using the edge of the table, after you've drunk it of course! Take too long to drink (the flipping is usually the problem) and you'll slow the team down.

This one kind of reminds me of college "Rowing Eights" where we'd stand our 8-man crew, pints in hand, to take on another 8. One pint each round. If you're losing, you could sacrifice the drink by pouring it over your head to win some speed!

Tipping up your beer? A cardinal sin on both sides of the Atlantic!

Death by Chocolate

So I never thought I'd spend $2.75 on a cupcake. But on Saturday I did - and well, it was worth it, if you like cupcakes that die in the mouth. Another sign of the small business entrepreneurs operating in the city. Check out all the crazy flavors at Georgetown Cupcake!

Only in America!

New British pub in DC!

Dear England, Following my posts about Union Jacks in Bethesda and the Elephant & Castle on Pennsylvania Avenue, there's now a new British pub in DC - in Columbia Heights!

Columbia Heights has seen a lot of development in recent years, and now includes the Commonwealth Gastro Pub, a pretty upscale pad offering all your faves from Yorkshire pud to Toad in the Hole! The one drawback - the drinks are a little pricey ($8 for a Strongbow - what's that all about?) This drawback amuses me somewhat, given the tagline being used - "the People's Pub."

Anyway, good to see another British pub in the city.

Cheers!

Red Bull Truck!

Say no more, England! Here's the Red Bull truck, coasting along in Georgetown, Washington, DC, a fancy neighborhood clearly in need of some late night drinks. And we all love our vodka red bulls!

I recently noticed the can size increasing - plus special editions. And of course the market is now flooded with a host of enrgydrinks, from Amp to Monster to Rock Star and the list goes on. Check out this link for a full list of the available drinks and their health and energy pros and cons!

Still Not A Vegetarian, Though I Put This One Back

Despite Appearances, I Am Not Yet A Vegetarian

Victoria Bitter, Downtown Hong Kong!

What is Going On, World?

Just when you thought fizzy drinks couldn't get any more appetizing!

Makes Coke Zero look like a good idea!

Red Bull-tastic!

Red Bull is clearly one drink that was invented for British consumption overseas. I just never took to coffee all that much. And tea is tea and will always be glorious, but sometimes, well it lacks that kick. Unlike the weird-colored drink that tastes like medicine. Benzedrine, caffeine, and the other one (taurine). They always seem to hit the spot!

Plus, unlike the British or American chocolate bars below, some with the same name, Red Bull is the same on both sides of the Atlantic! Same name, same ingredients!

Phew!

The World's Best Candy Bars? English, of Course

Hello England, Ever wondered why chocolate is so different in America? Or the UK? Well look no further than this New York Times article that reveals the obession and love people have for their British choccy bars!

Whether it's Curly Wurly, Dairy Milk, Maltesers or Crunchie, you can get it in America at an online ex-pat store. There may even be one in your area. For one thing, Giant Supermarket in the US has an International food section. But most cities in the US have their very own ex-pat British Foods store. I hate to say it, but Google has the answer!

In the meantime check out The World's Best Candy Bars? English, of Course if you've forgotten just how amazing Cadburys and Nestle are! Hersheys is a bit bitter for the British palette and I was surprised to find they make their own version of Cadbury's chocolate!

Sushi at Toyko Fish Market

Eat at Cabbages & Condoms Restaurant!

I Cut My Hand Opening a Beer Using A Boat Hook, Which Makes Me Awesome

Beer in the Street in Kyoto, Japan!

At Last, A British American Pub

Dear England, Washington DC has a multitude of Irish pubs - from Ri Ra to Murphy's - but after four sad years of hunting for a taste of home, I am pleased to add a second British pub to my list! The Elephant & Castle, named no doubt after the London district of the same name, with its 24-hour roundabout and its very own Elephant & Castle pub on said roundabout (my pal once had a pad looking over that ever-revolving circle of lights), has miracously been transported to Washington, DC. And the results ain't half bad, mate: http://www.elephantcastle.com/content/locations/washingtondc

With a view of the Capitol a step from the door, hanging round the Elephant & Castle DC-style makes for a surreal experience: franchise or no franchise it does resemble a London pub, fake wall-decor is kept to a minimum. The bar looks like an old pub and the beer stretches beyond Guinness and Bass Ale to the more US-uncommon Boddingtons to three (count them) Fuller's ales, the London Pride bringing it all back home. It only took half a decade for me to find this place! But then again I did get distracted by Union Jacks in Bethesda, Maryland, an Americanized British pub with all the fake paraphenalia you'd expect from red telephone boxes (cue the Telephone Bar, New York City http://www.telebar.com/ - a good joint) to white plastic directions to Picadilly Circus and Clapham Common, Sarf of tha Riva!

Union Jacks http://www.unionjacksbethesda.com/ is clearly a dedicated

follower of fashion, and a loud night on the tiles. But if you want a decent pint and a flavor of the old country while trying to look all District bleak and chic then it has to be the E & C for you, my son!

Gobble Gobble W!

Happy Thanksgiving America!

Yes it's that time of year again when America likes to stuff its turkey inappropriately close to Christmas, and of course eat turkey. Here Mr. President (or perhaps we should say, after the recent defeat in the Senate and the House of Representatives, the rapidly outgoing president) receiving an unwelcome guest in his pants, without mentioning Karl Rove. Brings a whole new meaning to bird brain and s(h)itting duck. How do you like them apples?

I'm loath to take sides in American politics, but well, you'd have to be a turkey-gobbling idiot not to.

Further Adventures of HP Sauce

My father recently scared me by saying all HP was stopping its bottles in the UK. It's true. In June 2005, our American cousins Heinz purchased HP manufactuers, HP Foods, from Danone (HP Foods was already French-owned), moving HP production from Aston, Birmingham to Elst in the Netherlands. Hence my friend Martin "Zigga" Zeegar, a half-Dutch half-Scotsman now living in Rotterdam, has kindly taken to smuggling HP through American customs, I confess. Please Dutch people, though you're becoming less liberal by the hour, keep smoking and keep importing! Otherwise bring on the Fourth Anglo-Dutch war. If we can't find the missing WMD HP, let's get Maggie Thatch back and bring on the all-American armada! When they came for the brown sauce, we said nothing...and without HP England might turn to unholy red sauce (another well-known Heinz import) in despair!

Fortunately there is a vast HP import market to England. So lovers of the HP (and a few brown-tongues who prefer their Daddies Sauce) needn't worry. Cook up the grill, let's BBQ Thanksgiving. The British - well, their condiments, at least - are coming!

Saucy Mount Rushmore Surprise!

Courtesy of the blog www.brownsauce.org devoted exclusively to worshipping a fine condiment complement to the British bacon sarny, the sauce known as Houses of Parliment was recently discovered as a missing Mount Rushmore president! Impossible you say? A year ago W put his face cheekily on the South Dakota monument for a publicity stunt. But I thought I'd never see this depth of depravity from my own dear bottle of brown. Okay I forgive you HP. I can't live without you! I think you'd do a fine job as Supreme Commander. Start the immigration!