And so, I've been thinking long + hard about this question, because I do need a better answer. And {gasp!} I've come up with a couple of things that I honestly, truly love about London {sadly, I feel like I'm cheating on Chicago...}.
So here is the first thing I love about London: the food. Yes, you heard me right. I said, the food. London gets a terrible rep for food. Why? The only way Ross and I can even try to explain it is because the terrible food is in the touristy areas, where, if you are a visitor for a short amount of time, you usually eat here for its convenience and giant posters, screaming that it serves THE best fish + chips EVER {they are horribly wrong}.
This is the same in the United States. Think of the restaurants that are in the tourist hot spots. At Navy Pier, for example, there is Bubba Gump. As a Chicagoan, there are thousands of other seafood restaurants I would rather eat at than Bubba Gump, yet tourists LOVE to try this chain restaurant and judge Chicago food based on one meal. Likewise, in London, all the chain pubs that serve the bland, greasy, and fried foods are near Covent Gardens, Piccadilly Circus, Big Ben, etc. So, of course, visitors don't think London has the best food based solely on the chain restaurants in the populated areas.
If you go to the quieter boroughs and the authentic, local restaurants or markets, you will find the freshest foods, the foods that contain no preservatives, are straight from the farm, and are super flavorful.
This past weekend we went to Pimlico Market, which is becoming my favorite local farmers' market because it's a brisk stroll for us on a Saturday morning, it has fresh produce and delightful pastries, and mainly because I like supporting small, local businesses.