Food will not be a problem as far I had travel (several countries so far) America have the worst food :) (I'm talking only about taste, not about toxicity which is 10-20 time higher them in Europe, hundreds them in Asia).
And it is true about British equipment, I used to have ProAc Studio 100 speakers with Electrocompaniet (Norway), and my today's Thiel 3.6 with Clayton's does not sound that good to me (only bass is lower). They are lacking speed, harmonics and the most: enjoinment I had from British monitors. I thought that bigger, more expensive will be better. My old British CD player Arcam ALPHA 6 beats in spades SONY SACD 9000ES. So it is true a lot o money have to be spent to beat affordable British audio.
Not to mention London, I have felt in love with this town (I have seen a lot). I'm still looking for something I could compare it too. To no avail unfortunately. So enjoy.