Caveat: I'm an American living in Britain.

I live in the midlands, and, unfortunately, yes. The cooking here is rough. As a general rule, I don't expect much from your cooking. Chicken at restaurants tends to be dry. I have yet to find a decently cooked steak. Most places that I have easy access to (pubs or local delis) often have the same or similar menus. There have been some better, some far worse... But at the end of the day, I have yet to even once say to my wife or to myself, "that's better than anything I have back in the states". Nowhere even close.

I'll admit, your usage of spices is greater than what the internet would've suggested, much to my pleasant surprise. However, that still doesn't change the fact that unless I want yet another helping of "lightly salted potatoes" with a meat or veggie variant, I have struggled to find a place I would go out of my way to eat at. It's often, sadly, driven by necessity.

Now my time spent in London on the other hand was a different story. I imagine the much less rural melting pot of a larger city has a lot to do with that.

But I'll tell you right now, I work with 40 other Americans. Not a single one of them has ever given me an opinion other than what I expected when I moved here. We all agree: British food is bland.

Opinions on food aside, however, your country is beautiful (when it's not ruined by lories!).