I came to England with a long list of to-see, to-do and to-eat. One afternoon I crossed multiple lines from that list when I spotted Eton Mess on the pub menu.
Eating Eton Mess, a quintessentially British dessert (tick), in a British pub* (tick), in Notting Hill (tick) was three things on the list.
Eton Mess is a traditional British dessert made of layered meringue, berries, and strawberry sauce; topped with whipped cream.
The Eton Mess came after my second glass of wine. It was as pretty as the picture I saw of it, served in a glass on a plate. I am guessing the plate was to avoid the possible mess ━ pun intended. In short, Eton Mess looked like a Christmas in a glass.
I ate one big spoon. The first thing that crossed my mind was:
“Why is it not cold?”
I was so surprised that it was served at room temperature. Alas, I kept eating another spoon and another with Fafa’s judgy eyes lingering over it.
Even after some last-minute google-ing, I am still unsure whether Eton Mess was supposed to be at room temperature or if the one I had was not cold because they kept mine out of the fridge for too long. Another thing, I assumed it is a Christmas dessert by the look of it (this might explain the room temperature part), but many online recipes refer to it as a summer dessert.
The taste itself was delightful. Only a tad bit too sweet to finish on your own, but I did it anyway. It reminded me of Australia Pavlova, and for the same reason, I understand why the Brits love it so much. And rest assured, I won’t pass on (a chilled) Eton Mess from now on.
Duke of Wellington address: 179 Portobello Rd, London W11 2HX, UK.
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Too bad you didn’t list the pub…………..
Updated with the pub name 🙂 thanks for pointing it out.