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Eating in England
Eating in England
England has traditional dishes famous the world over from Beef Wellington and Steak and Kidney Pie to the humble sandwich. However, a modern English meal is just as likely to be Lasagne or Chicken Tikka Masala, with the traditional Italian and Indian meals taking on a decidely English flavour. The English are great adopters of other countries' cuisines.
There are many low-quality establishments and mediocre chain restaurants, and the motorway services can often still manage to produce food that is barely edible, however, you can generally expect pubs and restaurants to provide interesting and well-presented meals.
"A meal out" is the usual way to celebrate a special family event, and people expect the meal to live up to the occasion. Cooking programmes are now among the most popular on the television, supermarkets have turned many previously unknown foods into everyday items, and Farm Shops and Farmers' Markets have surprised all the commentators by becoming extremely popular weekend "leisure" destinations where people can buy excellent English meat, fruit, and vegetables.
Typical/traditional English food:
Fish and chips ? deep-fried, battered fish (usually cod or haddock) with chips (french fries in America), best from specialist fish and chip shops (very different article from "fish and chips" on a general restaurant or pub menu). Available throughout the UK (see that article for more information on finding perfect fish and chips).
Roast dinner (also known as the "Sunday roast" due to the day it is traditionally consumed on) is available between lunchtime and early evening in virtually any English pub serving food. Quality will vary greatly depending on how freshly cooked the food is (home cooked is invariably better).
Yorkshire Pudding ? a batter pudding served with a roast (usually beef); originally used instead of a plate and eaten with the meal. Giant version often appears on (not very refined) pub menus as a main meal item, with a "filling" (Giant Yorkshire Pudding filled with beef stew).
Toad in the Hole ? sausages in Yorkshire pudding batter
Steak and Kidney Pie ? a suet pudding made with beef steak and kidneys
Lancashire Hotpot ? a hearty vegetable and meat stew from Lancashire
Cornish Pasty (and other forms of meat pie around the country) ? beef and vegetables in a pastry case
Full English Breakfast ? (often abbreviated: do not be alarmed if your server at the hotel breakfast table asks you "Do you want the Full English?") At its "fullest", it might consist of fried bacon, fried eggs, fried sausages, fried bread, fried black pudding, mushrooms, scrambled eggs, baked beans in tomato sauce, and toast and butter - "washed down" by a large amount of hot strong tea or coffee with milk. An Americanised version is now emerging, with hash browns instead of fried bread. Served in less refined versions in truckers' stops, and posher versions in hotels (where there will often be a buffet of these items to "help yourself" from). It is sometimes said that this meal is only a legend foisted on tourists, because the English are now too busy for breakfast. Typically, however, the English perceive the 'fry-up' (as it is known) as a suitable meal to consume when hungover after a night of drinking or as a weekend treat. Any inexpensive café (of the type with day-glo price stickers in the window, and whose name is pronounced "caff" in northern England) will have "all-day breakfast" on the menu (for the finest examples, look for the EBCB website).
Pubs are a good place to get reasonably priced food, though most stop serving food at around 9-9:30PM. Others may stop serving food between lunch and dinner. Pub food has become quite sophisticated in recent years and as well as serving the more traditional hearty English fare, more exotic dishes are now prepared in the majority of the larger pubs and specialist "gastropubs".
English food has recently undergone a revolution with many larger cities having award-winning restaurants run by the many 'famous' TV chefs who have now become part of the English obsession with food. Eating out at a high-quality restaurant can be an expensive experience: at the very top end (Michelin Star level) expect to pay £100 per head including wine. A decent three-course meal out at a respectable restaurant will normally cost around £30-£40 per head including wine.
If good quality and cheaply priced food is more your choice, try one of the many ethnic restaurants such as Chinese, Asian or Mexican. Eating a curry or balti in an Indian restaurant is tantamount to an English obsession. These restaurants are found everywhere ? even the larger villages have them ? and usually the food is of good quality and they will cater for most tastes. A good curry with side dishes can be had for around £10-15 per head, and some without liquor licences allow you to bring your own alcoholic beverages in. Eating a curry out is a social occasion and often you will find the men try to challenge their own taste buds to a duel, opting for spicier curries than they find comfortable! In the towns and cities these restaurants are usually open late (especially on a Friday and Saturday night) to cater for people eating after the pubs have closed. It is at this time that they can get very busy and lively, so if you want to avoid the crowds then visit the restaurants before the local pubs shut.
Unlike many other European countries, vegetarian (and to a lesser extent, vegan) food is widely available and appreciated in pubs and restaurants with several dishes usually appearing on the menu alongside the more normal meat and fish options. However, vegetarians may still find the variety of dishes rather limited - particularly in pubs, where certain dishes such as "veggie" lasagne or mushroom stroganoff feature all too regularly.
Tipping is generally expected in restaraunts unless a service charge has been added to the bill, with a tip of around 10% considered to be the norm. Tipping in bars and cafes is less common.
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England Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.