Going overseas to europe

i'm going overseas to europe for holiday on the 10th april and was wondering of some healty brands of food that i can buy (eg. at supermarkets), or healthy places to eat/healthy food options for lunch

i can't specially seek out places to eat because it is going to be tour, so itd be preferable for the foods to be easier to find.

i'm going to paris, london, belgium and some other places i think in england and france.

foods in particular; yoghurt (ive heard of mullenlight or something?), eating out for lunch, crispbreads/biscuits, bread, any foods i can buy from supermarkets for lunch as some days there will not be opportunity to buy lunch

thanks a lot if you reply :)

my fav place to eat in london is Waggamama, asian place, must have an online site as well, very popular and great,  i will tell you since i live in Europe and your america, eating out in those cities will be very expensive,  the dollar is very low and those city are expensive....on the other hand it might not matter to you,  tons of fallafal middle eastern places and take away shops,  these people like butter on everything....so i noticed. so be careful,  if you come to prague let me know i could help you more with great places.  have a great trip

You'll be spoilt for choice.  In the UK places like Pret a Manger are good for healthy lunches and the supermarkets all have a wide range of ready-to-go foods - clearly nutritionally labelled - and there are lots of independent cafes and shops that are usually much better than branded chains.  In Paris they don't really go for 'dieting' and just eat healthy, delicious 'real' food as standard so dive in and enjoy whatever the locals are having.  In Belgium my favourite wholefood cafe chain is called EXK where they do a selection of hot foods and salads. 

sainsburys and tescos both stock their own brand of healthy alternatives

Sainsburys 'be good to your self'

Tesco's 'Healthy Living'

They do ready meals, sarnies, crisps, everything

Snack a jacks are good too.

There loads of stuff.

Europeans are typically health conscious and especially on the contenant.  If you stay away for the commercial chains (of restaurants) you a virtually guaranteed to get freshly cooked healthy food.  As gi-jane pointed out, all the major grocery stores clearly state nutritional contents for the food they sell.  There are lots of deli-bars around that will prepare food to order sho you see exactly what goes in what you are buying.

Whereabouts in Europe do you intend going? There are many cultures with many and varying cuisines.

hi. i am european. from ym experience:

in london, try marks+spencer. they have MANY healthy meals (pre-packaged), for example hummus with celery sticks etc, and the meals also have nutrutional values on them. marks and spencer are pretty much everywhere, they are a chain with clothesm food and some cups and other things for home.

wagamama is a good place for a restaurant/fast food type of thing, thea have several branche

in france, cafes and retaurants usually offer salads and the portions are not big, the french arte not big eaters. the supermarkets always offer cheese and veg, and yogurt, i would go by it.

My daughter and I went to Paris for a week and a half a few years ago.  We were really low on cash so we basically lived on fresh fruit - the quality is amazing - and fresh baguettes from the greengrocers and bakeries that were on every corner.  I lost several pounds while we were there.

Patricia

I'd just like to say that pret a manager isnt THAT healthy. Sure they have healthy options but watch out. I got stung there once by an apparently 'healthy' looking choice. 

Subway is always great and familiar!

thanks a lot for the suggestions.

do the french/english have a tendency to butter things especially things like sandwiches. and are pre-made sandwiches generally buttered?

nothing to do with calories or anything, i really don't like the taste/texture of "raw" butter.. ! yes i may be weird  =)

 i always thought most people didn't butter sandwiches until someone asked me with shock, "you don't butter your sandwiches??", to which i replied indignantly, "since when do people butter sandwiches? butter only tastes nice melted into toast or something!!

and i always wondered why at every single party they served...
FAIRYBREAD. hahaha.
i thought it was the most strange and vile invention
as a kid the only answer i could come up with for the question of why they used a butter with hundreds and thousands, was to keep the little rainbow sprinkles sticking on. that would then lead me to wonder why they hadn't used nutella, which is much yummier in my opinion haha =)

just for the record, im from australia not america.. not that it makes much of a difference haha =)

oh man.. i wish i could go to italy and spain as well!! really want to try some "real" italian food. see if it is really as good as they say =)

oh and btw, i can't  lose weight. so eating just fruits and veggies or something won't be an option =D i just want to eat healthily =) like not croissants, burgers, pastries most of the time or something.

oh also, is food in europe expensive? i have been told that it's about double the price of food in australia !!

wow that was a long post!!

Food is NOT double the price of stuff in Australia. Australia has gotten pretty damn expensive these days. (I live in Europe, but was home on holidays last month) Some things you will find relatively cheap, others more expensive. In general it really pays to buy things at supermarkets if possible (particularly drinks etc) and things like bottled water, or 500mL soft drinks are much cheaper in supermarkets in Europe (AUD 1.70-2.00) than they are in Australian supermarkets (AUD 2.60-2.80), or in other more convience type places in Europe (AUD 4.50 and sometimes more). In general you pay for service in Europe, so supermarkets are much cheaper than other options. Also although alcohol is expensive in the UK, it is relatively cheap in the rest of europe (from the supermarket anyways, and yes you can just buy it in the supermarket)

Unfortunately the Aussie dollar isn't quite as strong as it was about a month ago, but it is still relatively stable to the euro, compared to the huge depreciation suffered by the US dollar.

You will find plenty of options for food. Most cities have places like the coles and woolies express stores in the central areas, if you want to retain full control yourself. But really, enjoy yourself, part of going to france is eating crossiants in france, having the great cheeses, and baguette etc. Marks and spencers is too expensive though, (especially converting into aussie dollars).

exactly what is your itinary and what food do you think you want to buy? I've spent quite alot of time in Holland, belgium, france, germany and the UK, so I have a pretty good idea about these places.

Have fun and, Oh most important, is bring your vegemite!!!!

PS i hate to say it but I hate wagamama's, tastes decidedly average, kind of expensive (at least compared with Aussie Asian food) and i don't think it looked so low cal when i was there.

Just engage people in conversation and ask how food has been prepared etc.   If your french or flemish isn't up to much have a crack at English (most people will understand if there's a prospect of a sale) or, failing that, a big smile and some mime-work helps a lot.   European food on the whole is extremely good and people have been thriving on it for centuries.  :-)

The french for butter is 'beurre'... and if you want something without ask for it 'sans beurre, s'il vous plait'.  There.  Dead easy.

Admittedly, we didn't see a huge amount of the city, but I only found one sandwich shop the entire time we were in Paris (I'm not counting the McD's) and it seemed to be an oddity, even to the locals.  If you go to France you will either eat the way we typically did as a picnic or sit down to a meal on a plate.  It's kind of nice.

Oh, I forgot the Nutella.  I can't stand the Nutella they stock here in the US -- too sweet -- but the European version is just heaven.  I also enjoyed the pan au chocolat we had there;  again, the US version is just too sweet and rich to be enjoyable for me.  What I bought in the pastisseries was basically a baguette studded with small bittersweet chocolate chunks, just perfect.  I can't find a recipe for it anywhere, but all the bakeries carried it.

Patricia

I just got back from a London-Paris-Edinburgh Spring break.  I walked so much I didn't worry about what I ate, but I did think everything seemed healthier in London.  The sandwiches I had in Paris did have butter on them.  The desserts were impossible to pass up. 

 I have no idea what the Australian exchange rate is, but we spent ungodly amounts of money on our meals! We are from America and everything was double.  So if we spent 35 pounds for lunch, we were spending $70 American.  The Euro was a little better, but not much!!  At one restaurant in Paris, we spent $10 on one Coke for our daughter!  Here Croque Monsieur was only $12!!  Oh well, we were on vacation and it was amazing!  Enjoy!!

hia i live in the UK and healthy food is pretty easy....

as someone said marks and spencer is good

also most cafes will do soup or salads or sandwiches (you can specify filling)

if your o the go boots will do sandwich/salad, snack (many healthy choices) and drink for £3 (which is very good value)

youre right about muller light (100 cal for 200g pot)

supermarkets will stock all varieties of ryvita and many different flavoured rice cakes

for biscuits 'nairns' make oatcakes in many flavours and also do stem ginger biscuits which are good or if your feeling indulgent try a piece of scottish shortbread!

if your having a main meal out most resturants will serve a fish dish which is a healthy option or a chicken breast and most meals come with veg

hope this helped!

edit: also, have been to france and many peple will speak english to you very fluently as long as you make a first attempt at french; 'parle vous anglaise sil vou plait' (not sure of spelling) means do you speak english please...its one of the only phrases youll need!

Thank you for your post. I actually started reading this because I have an internship in London this summer and will be living there for 2 months. I'm checking out Marks&Spencer online right now and it looks like they have some great healthy choices. I'm so excited!

A few ideas for France.....I'd avoid baguettes in general, which are a white flour empty calories concoction. Most chain stores such as Carrefour, Leclerc, Auchan, etc. have bakeries which offer fresh whole grain breads. For cheeses, fat content is usually very high, but you can get decent low fat camembert - look for "leger" on the label. Bonne Maman preserves were reasonably priced, delicious but not exactly health food. Fresh fruits/vegetables are uniformly excellent, either at the chain stores or from the greengrocers. If you can cook, couscous is dirt cheap in the stores, and if you like hot spice try some Harissa red pepper paste. Cereals are interesting, but unless you stick with corn flakes they're pretty sugary - a box of Jordans (granola with chocolate pieces) is worth trying as a snack food. Fresh milk is fairly hard to find - most French milk is UHT aseptically packaged and tastes terrible. Finally, I've never had orange juice as refreshing as Sanguinello, made from red oranges.

Hmmm. I won't be able to cook or anything while in europe. And i was quite looking forward to wagamama - i love japanese food - but i guess it would be quite average as it is a chain restaurant.

Also, thq yes! i have always wanted to try blood orange juice; is that easily acquired in uk/france? coz i have NEVER EVER seen it here in australia!! and, wow, i thought all milk would taste similar unless its skim and fullcream etc.! i drink a lot of milk/dairy substitutes (eg. yoghurt) normally =\

I've misplaced my itinerary, though will find it soon. I'm only going to UK, France and Belgium though. Most of my hotels are offering a continental breakfast - what is that?

Calories aside, what are some great French foods =) AND are belgian chocolates as good as they are made out to be? hehe i love chocolate =D

 

A continental breakfast will be crusty bread rolls, probably croissants (or pains au chocolats) with jam and butter and some juice and coffee.   Great french food...   Try hot crepes freshly made by a street vendor.   Baguettes stuffed with fresh fillings.   'Steak Frites' in a cafe.  Salad Nicoise.... Coq Au Vin.... Boeuf en Daube.... Cassoulet....  Bouillabaise....   Belgian chocolate is lovely and they present it beautifully.  Really, don't calorie-count.  You'll enjoy it much more and you probably won't gain an ounce.

Oh, i didn't mean to completely put you off wagamamas, perhaps I was unlucky the last time I was there, by all means try it.

Just try lots of things and have fun, I promise you will neither starve nor gain too much weight while you are here!

i agree with jane generally, ONLY i would say wagamamas food is nice. an acquaintance LOVES their edamame, i liked some veg soup... etc

jane303, no, its not your fault, i'll probably try wagamama's if my friends and i do pass by it; unless there appears to be something more yummy nearby haha .it doesn't really matter whether i go to wagamama's much really though. coz i DID go to japan last year =) (gosh,  i must sound so rich :O! but i'm not, just lucky haha)

the food there is quite cheap (except for western foods, eg. italian) and i did have quite a variety of japanese foods
i tried not to have the ones you can commonly find in australia eg. sushi, but the sushi trains were damn cheap there and i went a couple of times. about $1AUD per plate at most places. AND new plates were made regularly by chefs in front of you as people constantly come. here in australia, the poor plates go circling around for a longg time at some places. many places selling sushi also buy their sushi instead of making it themselves, so by the end of the day it isn't very fresh.

oh btw, is milk commonly served at breakfast in uk/france? or in continental breakfasts?

oh, and those in london/nearby .. what is the weather like there? hope its not TOO cold ....