The English Diet aka Would you like peas with your peas

[gr8gonzo]

A cultural question for those in the UK. A friend of mine just returned home after 2 weeks there and she enjoyed nearly everything, but had one minor complaint - the lack of fruits and vegetables. She said most places only had peas, though one pub did have carrots. She said a number of places served potatoes as the vegetable. I'm curious to know if this is common or if she just dined in unusual places.

[catherine]

At the lower end of the range of dining establishments, peas or baked beans are frequently served - and if you're in Yorkshire you often get the choice of mushy peas or garden peas. But if you go to a carvery pub that does roast dinners there is usually a wide range of vegetables, and better pubs and restaurants usually serve a variety of vegetables.
I think your friend was just unlucky in her choice of eating establishments.

[D S]

She obviously didn't come up here to Scotland - she could have had her peas deep fried! 
(I always though the Scottish 'deep fried everything' story was an urban myth but I was in a chip shop in Castle Douglas on Saturday where they actually had deep fried Mars Bar on the menu!    )

[Mikey]

With a side order of Spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam