Saltmarsh Lamb and Mint Crisps: Pro or Con?

We were discussing British Cuisine the other day at work, and I made some comment to the effect that since moving to this side of the pond, I am in cheddar heaven. Maybe this is what life is like in Wisconsin but, for someone who feels like all good American cheddar originates in Grafton, Vermont, UK Cheddar is the epitome of everything I had ever hoped for in a cheese. I prefer extra-strong cheddar, known locally as level 6.

All of which to say, my colleagues asked me to share the complimentary words. "Please let your fellow Americans know that our food isn't terrible!!" was the rallying cry. And so, out of deference to my British colleagues, I offer you this humble list pro and con list of British food from my current vantage point, two months in.

Jen's Pros

• Cheddar (see above)
• Mustard. Mustard here is really very good. It's strong, approaching high-quality German mustard even in it's most mundane forms. Even the store brand mustard is really good. And Colman's Mustard is basically wasabi.

Needless to say, Dave really, really likes Colman's. Then I found this vintage Colman's ad, which is just uncanny.

Uncanny, assuming that the idea of Dave playing cricket makes sense to you.

• Biscuits. I've never been shy about my love of cookies, but they take it to a whole new level with one kind of biscuit in particular: The dark chocolate covered shortbreads, with the milk chocolate covered ones in a close second. In a different league altogether (because they're Belgian) are the Jules DeStrooper Stroop Waffle. Note, these have a thin layer of caramel in the middle. Sheer joy!!!

• Meat pie. I never thought I'd come around on this one, but it's really good. Maybe it's the shortbread crust and the quantity of gravy involved, but man is meat pie good. In all its forms, including Cornish Pasty. Meat pie. Mmmmmm.
• Whiskey. I've really come around to the peaty thing. I also think it helps that pretty much all of the labels feel like they were designed by Thomas Jefferson in the Monticello library. (They don't look like they were designed by him, mind you, but maybe like they wish they were.)

Jen's Cons

• No tofu. I have to go to the specialty Asian grocery store to get tofu. They don't have it at the grocery stores here (that I've seen), which I attribute to the crazy quantities of meat everywhere--especially sausage.
• No decent coffee. Whole-bean coffee is particularly tricky at the grocery store, where there isn't too much selection in this regard. I think coffee is a delicacy here. Read that sentence again. The mind boggles.
• Mediocre beer. This isn't just about the cask ale thing, as I actually have come to really like cask ale in this cold weather. It's about the mouthfeel, which is often a bit watery compared to some of the American microbrews by which I have been spoiled. It turns out American beer is just much stronger than British beer. No wonder Guinness is the best-known beer outside the country, as it's one of the tastiest ones within it.

Dave's Pros
I'm not foolish enough to weigh in on everything Dave loves here, but there are a couple of items worth noting.

• Wine Gums. They're just gummies, like gummie bears or Swedish fish, but called wine gums. They are shaped like names of wine (e.g., Bordeaux, port) but are not flavored like wine. They're just plain gummies. He thinks they are amazing. I cannot make heads or tails of this.
• Meat-flavored crisps. Tonight's flavor was Saltmarsh Lamb and Mint. He loved them. "Wonky" seems more apt to me.