A few thoughts:
Been back to London several times and of course the food is super when one has the money to afford it. At 20 years old and nearly broke, I survived on residence hall potato fare and late night
doner kebabs, a sandwich that would have done huge volume at the grease trucks.
On the drinking, Rutgers excess drinking and related stupid behavior was far worse than college students in England. I played on the Rutgers rugby team and one guy was in a frat and the #1 tradition there - celebrated almost weekly - was to double fist cheap beers then pour more cheap beer on the basement floor and slide around the basement naked. An away game tradition was to attend the postgame booze fest hosted by the home team and loot their stuff.
In contrast, the England rugby postgame custom was to enjoy a drink or two with the other team at the on-campus student-run bars the England universities. I was on the soccer team and the soccer post-game was at our on-campus bar, just our team. Again, moderate drinking. It was packed because UCL fielded 7 soccer teams at the time. Girlfriends would never attend games but would show up at bar.
The only excessive student drinking I witnessed in England was the night when exams ended. What a mess that was.
