Eating the World Cup - a call to fellow football foodies

Being both a football fan and a foodie, I’m taking a world cup themed trip over June. As I can’t justify the fares to go to South Africa (and don’t fancy getting deafened by the dreaded vuvuzela), I have a cunning plan... If you fancy getting involved, or have any other suggestions, either post below or send me an email at rich.major@gmail.com. 

My mission - The challenge is simple and elegant. I will, over the course of the next four weeks, consume breakfast, lunch or dinner at a national restaurant of each of our opponents (hopefully seven, the number that would take us to the Final!) While there I will gather any insight I can about our oppositions players and predilections and forward immediately to Fabio..

- First Thoughts on the Group Stages - 20th May

Initially the group stages seem to present little challenge, hopefully a state mirrored on the pitch. An obvious starter for our first fixture against the USA on the 12th June would be one of the great steak restaurants, and I’ve never needed much of an excuse to go to Hawksmoor. Sadly, I think that could be a little bit of a cheat, so I’ll be looking around for other options here. 
Read my American article and reviews here

The game against Algeria on Fri 18th June throws up the possibility of Khamsa‎ on Acre Lane in Brixton or Darna in Hampstead. Both offer predominantly Algerian cuisine with (hopefully) some intense, flavourful salads, ubiquitous tagine and plenty of bread to soak them both up. I’ve been to Momo in Heddon Street a few times and it’s always good for a laugh and I remember hearing some very good things about a French / Algerian place in Crystal Palace called Numidie that could be worth checking out.

Slovenia (Weds 23rd June) poses more of a challenge… While there are a few Balkan restaurants in London, it’s proving hard to track down somewhere authentically and specifically Slovenian. There is however the elegantly named Czechoslovak National House in Hampstead which looks so bizarre that I think it may have to be done. I’m currently waiting for the Slovenian Embassy to come back to me with other suggestions (never let it be said I don’t do my research).
Various calculations will tell you our likely opponents should we progress further into the draw, with a scary encounter with either Germany or Ghana possible for the weekend of the 26th. I’m going to wait on the results before booking these but watch this space!