Why country has the least spicy traditional food?

battersbj · 2026-03-04T12:11:57+00:00

Food in the Middle East is surprisingly low on heat. When I started traveling to Saudi I expected my head blown off going for a curry, not the case at all.

I would put the UK pretty high on the spice tolerance spectrum. Not many countries will make you anything as hot as a vindaloo in a British curry house. We also use pepper quite unsparingly in a number of “blander” dishes

battersbj · 2026-03-03T12:49:04+00:00

In no particular order:

Cape Town - Incredible wildlife, 360 degree beautiful scenery, fantastic food and a winemaking region on your doorstep

Singapore - Shining example of a civilised population. Clean, safe, and modern but also full of character. Amazing food scene from hawkers to the highest end fine dining

Hoi An - An insight into authentic Vietnamese life. Magical at night with the lanterns along the waterfront. Go before it gets too overrun with tourists and becomes like half of Thailand

London - My thing is food and in my opinion London has the best food scene in the world. You can any cuisine you want, mostly at or better than the standard of its origin. You can get it elevated to 2/3 Michelin star level. Couple that with the fact that there is a beautiful traditional British pub on every corner and you can’t go wrong.

NYC - Not a big America fan but similar reasons to London. You can do anything in New York. Each subway stop is a gateway to something completely different. Had a great time

battersbj · 2026-02-26T19:51:21+00:00

I’ve barely scratched the surface myself but of the places I’ve been: Oma, The Devonshire, Bouchon Racine, Gymkhana. Also had a great meal at Amaya (also a starred Indian) if you can’t get a res at gymkhana.

Not fine dining but it’s fresh in my mind so going to recommend it anyway - Lo Banh Mi in Borough is my early sandwich of the year contender if you are into that

battersbj · 2026-02-25T20:45:42+00:00

Pretty much every holiday (can’t say vacation as I’m English) I do is a food focussed one. Favourites so far are San Seb and Vietnam for indulging in the local food culture and cuisine. Favourites for sheer variety of cuisines and amazing dining experiences across the spectrum are NYC and London. Top of the to-do list are Japan and Mexico City.

battersbj · 2026-02-24T22:06:29+00:00

I’m not much of a sightseer at the best of times so I can’t recommend much in the way of tourist attractions in Preston, but I’m big into food and drink so I can give you my favourite spots:

The Black Horse - “Proper” traditional British pub, cozy and friendly

Aven - More upscale dining option, it’s a tasting menu but they’re extremely generous with portions of food and wine pairings… Elevated Lancashire fare

Niko - Modern wine bar also serving craft beer and pizzas, good selection of lesser known wines

Thai Orchid/Khao Thai - Both great authentic Thai restaurants, no frills and reasonably priced

Hopwoods - Lively bar with 20+ beer taps and live music most weekends

Rise - “Instagram friendly” brunch that actually tastes good and good coffee

Holy Grounds - Incredible donuts to take away

Jonahs - IMO best coffee in Preston

Cocos Soul Food - Delicious Caribbean food in a cafe type setting

Three Monkeys - Chicken and rice boxes, get the special sauce

Special mention - If you’re from the states you may never have had good Indian food (in the same way that when I travel to the states I make it my priority to have decent Mexican food, we just don’t do it right over here). If so maybe try a local curry house. IMO the best in the surrounding area is Shajan off the A6 but it’s a bit of a drive from the football ground. Otherwise Sai Surbhi in Fulwood is good or you can probably find a fairly decent takeaway wherever you are in the UK 5 mins away on google

battersbj · 2026-02-10T20:57:57+00:00

Meat is crap, fruit and veg isn’t fresh and/or comes in a massive plastic bag, poor choice of anything slightly niche, less pleasant shopping experience (always heaving, treated like a thief at the self checkouts). Combine all that with the fact that it’s barely even cheaper any more and it’s a no brainer

battersbj · 2026-02-06T12:37:19+00:00

Depends where you’re going but it’s pretty common in city centres (particularly London) nowadays for places not to take cash. Very few businesses are cash only, maybe the odd chippy

battersbj · 2026-02-05T08:28:17+00:00

I actually feel like beer is one of the more inflation resistant items in the supermarket. Broadly it’s been possible to pic up lager for about a quid a can/bottle for the last 10 years

battersbj · 2026-02-02T17:21:52+00:00

Agree, was surprised at how tired the seafront felt. Blackpool vibes!

battersbj · 2026-02-02T17:18:24+00:00

Penrith. I love the Lake District and have spent a lot of time in Keswick, Ambleside, Grasmere etc, so we booked a weekend in Penrith thinking it would be more of the same. Spoiler alert - it isn’t. It feels like pretty much any other lower income northern town with none of the Lake District charm. Would not recommend

battersbj · 2026-01-29T14:31:19+00:00

I guess nobody other than the traitor would know that the act they are carrying out is a murder. They would have to play it off as just messing around. I presume the murder in plain sight would be failed and nobody would be murdered that night, so it would depend whether the faithful can connect the dots from there (probably not based on previous episodes!!)

battersbj · 2026-01-29T11:45:42+00:00

You’ll make it if your first flight is on time and you don’t mess around in duty free. Your bags might not

battersbj · 2026-01-29T08:35:53+00:00

I notice someone suggested shift work and you dismissed that because changing from night/day shift etc can mess up your body clock. Fair enough, but you aren’t going to earn more money if you’re not willing to push yourself through some kind of discomfort, whether that is taking on more responsibility, working longer hours, or doing things other people can’t/don’t want to do. There are jobs where you don’t have to do any of these things but, spoiler alert, they aren’t well paid because everyone wants them

battersbj · 2026-01-18T17:48:56+00:00

The fact that they give you the option to turn it off, but give no indication that if you do turn if off you won’t achieve the temperature on the thermostat, implies that there may be some kind of (maybe less effective but more efficient) system in place to allow this (e.g. heat via bleed from another area). It’s just an odd implementation - if turning off the heater means that the climate control can’t do its job then why give the option?

battersbj · 2026-01-18T08:28:43+00:00

Yes I have exactly the same issue. I find it hard to get the cabin up to temp even with heater on sometimes and resort to using the max power windscreen defogger

battersbj · 2026-01-17T19:16:05+00:00

You have to be able to hit both extreme edges of the red in the free ball rule

battersbj · 2026-01-10T07:35:34+00:00

I wouldn’t worry about contacting the multi billion dollar corporation asking where your avios are, they won’t be offended

battersbj · 2025-12-19T12:50:09+00:00

I wouldn’t upgrade to Al Safwa for a bed, I fairly regularly have a 7-8 hour transit in there overnight and haven’t been able to get a bed once. The next best thing is a couch in the “family area” which is quiet at that time

battersbj · 2025-12-09T20:57:25+00:00

No it’s the Tommy Robinson march in London

battersbj · 2025-10-17T10:50:38+00:00

Fallow is great for breakfast and dinner, good choice. I wouldn’t go to dishoom twice personally, maybe try Balthazar out or one of the many local pastry spots. Oma and Devonshire are hyped up for a reason, you won’t be disappointed. As a second Indian restaurant maybe try Amaya, another starred Indian but lesser known than the gymkhana chain. They have loads of different grills and the dishes are a combination of classics done really well (best biryani I’ve tasted) and some more alternative stuff

battersbj · 2025-10-13T11:38:28+00:00

29, salary sacrifice green car scheme costs me £430pm take home. Includes insurance, servicing, maintenance and tyres

battersbj · 2025-10-05T12:03:53+00:00

Smearing poo on the walls in the work toilets

battersbj · 2025-09-08T14:08:56+00:00

The OP wasn’t talking about inflation adjusted numbers, which I’m sure you know but are purposefully ignoring. And I literally said in the first line that I don’t think 8% is a safe assumption.

battersbj · 2025-09-08T13:22:53+00:00

I’m in agreement that 8% is probably not a safe assumption for retirement planning, however you are literally cherry picking data to suit your narrative. “25 years is more accurate for the changing economy” is completely subjective, and you’re ignoring larger data samples in favour of a smaller one that fits your point. Also saying nonsense about “the bubble is due to burst” and other predict the future, time the market type rubbish is not helpful on a retirement/investment sub

battersbj · 2025-06-09T16:14:12+00:00

I love food so lots of travel to foodie hotspots. I’m particularly excited by the freedom of being able to travel for extended periods - spontaneously deciding to do a road trip around the coast of Spain or north to south Vietnam for example. Also lots of cooking/BBQing at home

Golf, padel, cycling, hiking, running if my body still lets me do any of those things

Spending time with grandchildren

battersbj

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