What parts of English culture will you/do you miss?

[Cam54 84]

Arghhh tipping and the tax not being included drives me crazy lol

If I buy something on a menu that says $10 that's all I want to pay then after tips and tax it's like $15

[Kiwinyc 62]

Yer gonna think I'm an idiot, but

I find the juices and concentrates (and even PG Tips) all for a decent price at the various Indian groceries in Houston. I was shocked the first time I picked up a Ribena concentrate bottle - OMG. That's been 6 years now, and I shop there at least 5 times / year - they have the stuff I crave.

So, drill around some more in Austin, you can find these grocers. and come on - Food Spelunking is so fun !

Here's another handy hint - if you have the SKU number on any product - go into a Fiesta Supermarket, talk with the grocer manager, and he/she will order it for you - takes about a week, and they'll put it in the foreign/UK shelf, but hey ! Not 3 times the price, at all.

Hey - good tip - I will troll further - I've checked out some Asian Supermarkets and they're great. Haven't found the Indian ones yet, I'll ask around.

hi kiwi We used to get Ribena in little Irish stores around here but found that our local supermarket has it (Wegman's). I would caution against buying it online as I did that once and it had expired way before it arrived.

for anyone else who has a Wegman's near, they have an aisle of UK foods which will help with getting some Curly wurly's (sp?) in my hubby's stocking.

I know it's outrageously expensive but at least you are there. I would never move outside of NJ - close to NY and most family/friends are here but I absolutely love SF - my favorite city outside of the tri-state area and it's not even close.

I'd like to thank you too - I'm the US citizen but I will pass onto the hubby. One question -would he be able to watch cricket through it? that's the one thing he can't seem to get access to here except a daily game on ESPN but he can't see The Ashes or anything..

We don't have Wegman's here in TX, the state is monopolised by a grocery chain called HEB I think. Wholefoods was started here in Austin though and there are plenty of places and Farmers Markets for Foodies to shop. But my husband is originally from NY where we met so we go back often and I'll search about a bit more, thanks for the pointer.

As for real estate prices.... I'm an ex-Londoner and ex-New Yorker so anywhere outside of those places feels like a bargain. Even San Fran....

[lost_at_sea 995]

Hey - good tip - I will troll further - I've checked out some Asian Supermarkets and they're great. Haven't found the Indian ones yet, I'll ask around.

We don't have Wegman's here in TX, the state is monopolised by a grocery chain called HEB I think. Wholefoods was started here in Austin though and there are plenty of places and Farmers Markets for Foodies to shop. But my husband is originally from NY where we met so we go back often and I'll search about a bit more, thanks for the pointer.

As for real estate prices.... I'm an ex-Londoner and ex-New Yorker so anywhere outside of those places feels like a bargain. Even San Fran....

+1 to that. We lived in Covent Garden before we moved (cushy deal through his work). Central London rents are obscene. I would love to live in NYC.

[Hotter Otter 1,211]

I miss not having to tip for everything. I'm not against it as I know how awful pay is for waitresses etc in the US but as a Brit I find the act of tipping really awkward in general. In the UK the only person I tip is the hairdresser and it comes to £8.50 so we do this awkward social pantomime where I hand him/her £10 and try to escape before they offer me my change.

What they do to food is crazy sometimes. We were in my wife's local grocery store the other day and the apples were so shiny I could have used them to check my appearance!

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

Hey - good tip - I will troll further - I've checked out some Asian Supermarkets and they're great. Haven't found the Indian ones yet, I'll ask around.

We don't have Wegman's here in TX, the state is monopolised by a grocery chain called HEB I think. Wholefoods was started here in Austin though and there are plenty of places and Farmers Markets for Foodies to shop. But my husband is originally from NY where we met so we go back often and I'll search about a bit more, thanks for the pointer.

As for real estate prices.... I'm an ex-Londoner and ex-New Yorker so anywhere outside of those places feels like a bargain. Even San Fran....

In Houston we find Ribena, HP sauce, and lots of British thing in Kroger. I looked and there aren't any in Austin, but if you are further afield in TX sometime, you might spot Kroger. HEB doesn't carry as much variety of British things.

I have heard Fiesta supermarkets carry back bacon, bangers, and sausage rolls.

Here a restaurant for you http://www.fullenglishfood.com/?page_id=505

[Darnell 8,478]

Ya, Houston Markets are bigger and better due to the expat Brits over the last 40 years, staying for the oil business. Yay Oil Business ! It's a 3 to 4 hour drive down 290 from Austin, so if'n you have a free weekend and a pile o cash, come on down !

The Fiesta just south of the Medical Center has the best International Section in Town.

Edited December 14, 2013 by Darnell

[Yorkshirelass 1]

The British Museum, The V&A, historic village churches and city cathedrals....

But lakes and mountains will make up for a fair bit for that loss

Mid price cheeses - WA has cheep terrible cheese and lovely posh artisan cheese , but not much in the middle. Wild rabbit and game - wild rabbit in North Yorkshire is £2.50, a farmed rabbit in Seattle is around £25!!!

But grateful for the ease of purchasing organic and local veg, and all the wild fish

Gastro pubs - but again, other things to be delighted by, not least the price of eating out being so much less

And do quite like people getting so excited that I'm British - got me free sausage and bacon at the butchers! (who are happy to do back bacon with a weeks notice)

Edited December 16, 2013 by Yorkshirelass

[Kiwinyc 62]

In Houston we find Ribena, HP sauce, and lots of British thing in Kroger. I looked and there aren't any in Austin, but if you are further afield in TX sometime, you might spot Kroger. HEB doesn't carry as much variety of British things.

I have heard Fiesta supermarkets carry back bacon, bangers, and sausage rolls.

Here a restaurant for you http://www.fullenglishfood.com/?page_id=505

Thank you Nich-Nick, I didn't realise you were nearby-ish!

Have made a note of Kroger markets. And I had found that restaurant, but thank you for the reminder as they do Fish & Chips every Friday evening, and now I feel the need for a family outing this Friday!

[markonline1 11]

Decent pubs!

[Portlandia 15]

Apart from my friends, and free-at-point-of-use healthcare, pretty much everything I'm missing is food related...

I was feeling homesick the other day and so my husband decided we should make a fry up for breakfast (as I was missing my local caf, fluorescent poorly spelled signs, plastic orange chairs and all). It wasn't a success, I just felt more homesick. I miss Heinz baked beans. (But I have now found a recipe for baked beans that with a bit of tweaking will, I think, solve that problem.) I miss proper bacon. I miss proper sausages - you know, the pork ones, not these weird chicken ones, or those anaemic "breakfast" sausage things. But I might just be able to get used to pancakes for breakfast...

I miss £1 bowls of fresh fruit and veg from the market - here it's either overpriced stuff from the supermarket, or even more overpriced stuff from the posh farmers market. And I miss chip shop chips. And good (reasonably priced) cheese. But I'm enjoying searching for and finding the stuff that I want - and while I'm unemployed, jumping on a bus just to go to an out-of-town Chinese grocery store or Russian deli is kinda fun - and I'm getting to know my new home better!

I'm not missing the tube, poor air quality, crowded streets, expensive everything (except food), stressful job...

And I'm loving being with my husband (finally!), in a city with awesome public transport, friendly people, and that from an eating out perspective, is a foodie paradise! (With a local pub that actually feels like a pub - but with table service - and great local beers)

(PS - Thanks for the Hola tip - just in time for the Strictly final! Googlechat date set up with my best friend in London for tomorrow...)

[isbjorn 4]

Been over to the states enough, I know what I will miss.

A decent public transport system, I actually like using buses. And was shocked by how terrible/few local bus services are.

Cashiers/ anybody who works in a public facing role, I am comfortable with how natural people are in the uk, if they have had a bad day you will know by their attitude. But in the US the fake polite friendliness just doesn’t sit well with me.

However I can’t wait to get there.

Oh and Henderson’s Relish, boy i’ll miss that.

[rhirhi 35]

British chocolates and sweets. I'm yet to find a US candy that I could get addicted to...although that's probably not a bad thing

I'm lucky in terms of 'proper' bacon, sausages, Heinz beans etc. My fiancé works in an Irish butcher's/café/deli type place so he can get hold of a lot of things that I could potentially miss. My main concern (as sad as this sounds) was squash...I just think there's something weird about using powder to make a drink! We've found this weird frozen stuff in a plastic tub that you mix with water to make squash which is OK, though his new job does stock Ribena etc which is a relief for little old creature-of-habit me

[Pooky 3,368]

Right now, the most important misses are my Mum's Christmas puddings. and Twiglets.

Ah, memories of Christmas past.

[fcat 79]

I miss not having to actually STOP at a stop sign!

Jet washes at petrol stations!

[david'sgirl 134]

British chocolates and sweets. I'm yet to find a US candy that I could get addicted to...although that's probably not a bad thing

I'm lucky in terms of 'proper' bacon, sausages, Heinz beans etc. My fiancé works in an Irish butcher's/café/deli type place so he can get hold of a lot of things that I could potentially miss. My main concern (as sad as this sounds) was squash...I just think there's something weird about using powder to make a drink! We've found this weird frozen stuff in a plastic tub that you mix with water to make squash which is OK, though his new job does stock Ribena etc which is a relief for little old creature-of-habit me

We sometimes find Robinson's ribena in Christmas Tree shops. It'####### or miss but they often will have some items like Branston pickle, biscuits, hobnobs etc.

If you can get to Peabody route 1 south check out Amanda's Union Jack shop (pricey but she has a lot of selection) and carries frozen sausage rolls, mince pies, real bacon etc.

We also just found a new butcher/European shop in Peabody called Karl's sausage kitchen. A lot of the stuff if German but he has some British stuff as well as a nice cafe.

We also find a lot of items on Amazon with free shipping.