What do you think of the food in Britain?

Question

when I asked for rye bread at a sandwich shop, they had never heard of it...and this was in the centre of London, nor had they heard of bratwurst or Swiss cheese

I went to a burger bar chain called Gourmet Burger Kitchen, advertised as an upmarket burger bar, which is really big in London, expecting a great burger and they looked puzzled when I asked for mustard, only served potato wedges on the side and they had never heard of malt shakes

the only places I could find that were decent were French restaurants with resident French chefs and Italian

Answer 1

London today is a much more sophisticat ed city than it was in the 60s or the 70s. The influx of immigrants has resulted in a melange of international food shops more varied than what one finds in Hong Kong or Tokyo.

If one wants real American burgers or hotdogs while in London, go to a US fastfood franchise.

Otherwise, be adventurous and have some fish and chips (don't forget the malt vinegar!), bangers and mash, shepherd's pie, kidney pie.

Answer 2

Love their fisn n chips....they can keep the rest of it.

Answer 3

There are many american francise in britain if you wanted a burger. You should have tried something british fish and chips or sausage rolls stew or Yorkshire pudding, we are more veg meat and potatoes and our food is not as chemically as yours sorry.

Answer 4

Uh, it's Britain. How 'bout you ask for some British food? You do realize that while the language is similar the cultures are not exactly the same, right? When I was there I found some marvelous food. I didn't visit Britain to eat American fast food.

Answer 5

Are you American? maybe they call it something else in England. I live in Britain and I seriously rather eat canned food than what people here eat.

Gross.

Answer 6

it's not really accurate, you only tried one shop!! rather than having never heard of rye bread, swiss cheese or bratwurst, they probably meant that they didn't stock them. i and the majority of others know those items. also, it really is common to have mustard on your burger!! so unfortunately it must have been a bad staff member or bad burger place?

yet again some one has to rub the france thing in our faces  :( try researching before you come here and you will be able find anything you require

Answer 7

OMG if you are in the UK you should be eating Indian food

Answer 8

you wont get typical British food in London restaurants , try pub food or get friendly with some Brits and they may invite you home to sample their mums cooking

Answer 9

I've been to England a few times and I can honestly say I was never served a bad meal.  It's a different style of cooking, though, just like every nation has its own cuisine.  If you go in there expecting to get "American" food, you won't get what you're expecting.

Answer 10

The recipes I've tried of British cuisine resulted in the basically blandest food I have ever tasted. They are raised on it so they think is great. on a scale of one to 10, i give it a -2.

Answer 11

No offence to the ethnic groups in England, but it's really a sorry state for a nation's own cuisine & food heritage when the favourite food across the country is Indian curries. Which means white Englishmen are abandoning the food of their fathers & grandfathers. And the most decorated restaurants are not offering traditional British food eg. the 3-Michelin-starred The Fat Duck with its French-influenced molecular gastronomy. At the other end of the spectrum, more recent contributions to British food history included the deep-fried Mars bar.

Edit: But I do like good bread & butter pudding, Christmas plum pudding, treacle pudding, apple crumble, English muffins, Scottish shortbread, Earl Grey tea, steak & kidney pie, fish & chips, the English breakfast, Guiness beef stew. I think when one goes travelling, you should certainly try to eat the local food otherwise you might as well stay at home. I don't understand those who simply order 'safe' stuff from hotel room service or like some Americans who look for the nearest McDonalds & Starbucks wherever they go, or some Asians who insist on eating rice probably even if in the middle of the desert!

Answer 12

When in Rome, do as the Romans.

You've got to try their fish and chips, meat pies and bangers.

I also had good grilled seafood there.

You just can't expect the Brits to have the same stuff.  I was even surprised to see that they put vinegar on French Fries.

Mustard on the burger?  We don't do that in NY.   We put mustard on the hotdogs.

Wherever you go, eat what the locals eat.  You'll be happier and discover new things that you could like.

That said, keep in mind that Britain is NOT famous for its food- get over to France, Spain and ITALY for something good to eat!!!!

Antonio