Lunch Blog in the UK, Part 3: The Prince of Wales

Monarchy eats free on Tuesdays.

It’s no secret that British food has a justly deserved reputation as being less than stellar. However, at The Prince of Wales, they will totally give you fried cheese as an entrée, and I am 100% on board with that.

But first, the appetizers. Today’s special was Haggis & Macaroni Bites, which I incorrectly took to mean as haggis served alongside macaroni bites. Since I’ve never had haggis before, I was excited to try it, but this turned out to be little nuggets of haggis and pasta fried up together.

So while I still don’t rightly know what haggis tastes like, these went to show once again that you can fry anything and it’ll taste just fine. Even more so if you put a whisky sauce on it.

We also got an order of fried pickles, and these may have been the best I’ve ever had. Awesome crunch-to-sour ratio. Technically, they’re offered as a side on the The Prince of Wales’ menu. If more places had a fried pickle side option, I might never order fries again.

For lunch proper, I was all over the Hand-Breaded Halloumi, described by the bartender as “spongy, but in a good way.” Served with skin-on chips, a side salad and a sweet red pepper and chili dipping sauce, the thick slices of cheese were fried just enough to give them a good crust, and were rather salty without being too much so. This is a dish that would please even the most discerning connoisseur of fried cheeses.

I wonder if it ever gets rowdy in The Prince of Wales. It’s hard to imagine somebody going, “Man, I can't believe how INSANE it was at The Prince of Wales,” or “We got in a crazy fight at The Prince of Wales last night and I think I may have killed somebody."

If Prince Charles was there, he must've in the back taking inventory on the haggis or something.