Although it has consistently excelled in its desserts and puddings, in terms of its savoury dishes, British cuisine still suffers from a relatively poor international reputation, being typically represented by dishes consisting of simply cooked meats and vegetables (so called "meat and two veg") that need to be accompanied by bottled sauces or other condiments after cooking to make them more palatable. Whilst this reputation has never been wholly deserved, as high quality fare has always been available to those who know where to find it, it is undeniable that in general food served in Britain often fails to reach the same general level of excellence that can easily be found across English Channel in France.

During the Middle Ages, British cuisine enjoyed an excellent reputation; its decline can be firmly traced back to the late 18th century when the majority of the British population began to move away from the land, and was compounded by the effects of rationing during two World Wars (rationing finally ended in 1954). However, in Britain today there is more interest in food than there has ever been before, with celebrity chefs leading the drive toward raising the standard of food in the UK.

In 2005 British cuisine reached new heights when 600 food critics writing for Restaurant magazine named 14 British restaurants among the 50 best restaurants in the world with the number one spot going to The Fat Duck in Bray, Berkshire and its chef Heston Blumenthal. Despite the move toward better quality fare, a general ignorance of good food persists amongst the general population who, over the last 30 years or so, with their increasingly busy lifestyles, have become used to pre-packaged "ready meals" that require little preparation time.

Industrial-era foods
The Industrial Revolution that began in Britain in the 18th century is responsible for the former very poor reputation of British food. Unlike the populations of most other countries, by the mid 19th century the majority of the British population were working in city factories and living in very poor housing. The new working classes had lost contact with the land and the standard of cooking declined as a result.

In the home, food was indeed frequently reduced to "meat and two veg", perhaps with stews and soups. The rationing of most foods during (and for some years after) World War II did little to assist the situation, though it did raise the average nutritional standards of the population to levels never previously achieved — from which they have since declined. However post-war population movements, foreign holidays and immigration to the UK led to the increasing absorption of influences from former colonies (e.g. India) and from Europe (particularly France and Italy). The books of Elizabeth David introduced many new recipes and ingredients from the Mediterranean. Italian American influence is now ubiquitous and pasta or pizza make a significant contribution to many diets. Berni Inns introduced the British public to prawn cocktail and steak, chips and peas, and Wimpy Bars did the same for the Hamburger.

Chicken Tikka Masala

These trends are exemplified by the ubiquitous spaghetti bolognese (known colloquially as Spag Bol or Spag Bog) which has been a common family meal in Britain since at least the 1960s. More recently there has been a huge growth in the popularity of dishes like chicken tikka masala and lemon chicken, dishes with Indian and Chinese origins respectively, though modified to suit British tastes. Indeed, chicken tikka masala was first prepared in Britain rather than in India. The British curry, essentially a hangover from the days of the British Raj (and subsequently embellished by immigration), is far hotter and spicier than the traditional North Indian variety, though Indians from the southern provinces find it insipid. The post-war introduction of refrigeration, in parallel with the rise of the supermarket has led to the packaging of such foods into oven-ready meals which, often cooked by microwave oven, have now replaced "meat and two veg" in many homes. Consequently, British students attending university, living away from home for the first time but unable to afford ready meals (which tend to be rather expensive), can often be seen with a copy of a basic cookery book for beginners (usually a Delia) which includes such 'recipes' as 'boiled egg'.

Take-away food
The rise of the industrial revolution was also paralleled by the advent of take-away foods such as fish and chips, mushy peas, and steak and kidney pie with mashed potato (pie and mash). These were the staples of the UK take-away business for many years, though here too ethnic influences, particularly Indian and Chinese, have led to the introduction of ethnic take-away foods. From the 1980s onwards, a new variant on curry, the balti, began to become popular in the area around Birmingham, gradually spreading to other parts of the country. Kebab houses and American-style fried chicken hovels aiming at late night snacking have also become popular in urban areas.

Fish and chips

New cuisine
The increasing popularity of celebrity chefs on television has fuelled a renewed awareness of good food and New British cuisine has shaken off much of the stodgy "fish and chips" image. The best London restaurants rival those anywhere in the world, in both quality and price, and this influence is starting to be felt in the rest of the country. There is even a wave of chefs struggling to retain the classic greatness of British country cooking, for example Fergus Henderson of the restaurant St. John in London.

There has been a massive boom in restaurant numbers driven by a renewed interest in quality food, possibly due to the availability of cheap foreign travel. Organic produce is increasingly popular, especially following a spate of farming crises, including BSE.

There has also been a quiet revolution in both quality and quantity of places to dine out in Britain, in particular, the humble Public House has been transformed in the last twenty or so years. Many have made the transition from eateries of poor reputation to rivals of the best restaurants, the so called Gastropub — very often they now are the best restaurants in smaller towns. The term "Pub Grub", once derogatory, can now be a sign of excellent value and quality dining. Some credit for this sea change has to go to CAMRA, for helping to improve the quality of pubs and their products in general, and some to the privatisation of breweries, which forced many pubs to diversify into dining in order to survive as a business, as well as a greater appreciation and demand among consumers.

Traditional cuisine
Despite the fast-food reputation, traditional British cuisine has survived, largely in the countryside and amongst the upper classes.

The Sunday roast is perhaps the biggest culinary indication of a steadfastly traditional household. The Sunday dinner traditionally includes a Yorkshire pudding accompanying, or occasionally followed by, a joint of meat and assorted vegetables, themselves generally roast or boiled. The most common joints are beef, lamb or pork; chicken is also popular. Since its wide-spread availability after World War II the most popular Christmas roast is turkey. Game meats such as venison are traditionally the domain of the higher classes. Game, while being a classic English preserve, is not generally eaten in the average household.

Ulster fry, a variant of British cooked breakfasts

At home, the British have many original home-made desserts such as rhubarb crumble, bread and butter pudding, spotted dick and trifle. The traditional accompaniment is custard, known as crème anglaise (English sauce) to the French. The dishes are simple and traditional, with recipes passed on from generation to generation. The pudding tradition reaches its height with the Christmas pudding.

At teatime, traditional British fare includes scones with butter, jam and clotted cream, as well as assorted biscuits and sandwiches. A unique sandwich filling is Marmite, a dark brown savoury spread made from yeast extract, with a tar-like texture and a strong, salty taste. A hand-made favourite is butterfly cake. Some schools teach young children how to bake such sweets during cookery lessons.

The full English breakfast (or "cooked breakfast") also remains a culinary classic. Somerset Maugham is quoted as saying "To eat well in England, you should have breakfast three times a day." Fortunately it need no longer be true.

In the Victorian era, during the British Raj, Britain first started borrowing Indian dishes, creating Anglo-Indian cuisine, some of which is still eaten today although many once-popular Anglo-Indian dishes such as kedgeree have largely faded from the scene.

Kedgeree, a popular breakfast dish in the Victorian era

Another formal British culinary tradition rarely observed today is the consumption of a savoury course, such as Welsh rarebit, toward the conclusion of a meal. Most main meals today end with a sweet dessert, although cheese and biscuits may be consumed as an alternative or as an addition.

Alcoholic drinks
Britons have developed alcoholic drinks like gin and whisky.

For centuries, the British market was the main customer of sweet wines like sherry, Port wine, and Madeira wine. English wine has been available since the Roman era, but is generally considered poor; although in recent years, reflecting perhaps the improving palate of the British people, the quality of native wines has increased and in 2004 a panel judging European sparkling wines awarded most of the top ten positions to British wines - the remaining positions going to French Champagnes.

British beer tends to be bitter, with domestic lager brands generally serving the lower end of the market. However, any establishment catering for the middle of the market will tend to have a range of continental-style lagers available; the Belgian-owned Stella Artois brand, for example, is one of the most common. Some such lagers are, despite their European origins, brewed under licence in the United Kingdom; others, such as Budvar from the Czech Republic, are imported. Many drinkers, however, consider bitter (and particularly that produced in relatively small quantities by the 'independent' British breweries, as opposed to those owned by large corporations) to be superior to lager, although with the increasing range of high-quality lagers available the strength of that opinion is weakening somewhat. Guinness and other Irish stouts are also common.

Vegetarianism
Since the end of World War II when their numbers were around 100,000, increasing numbers of the British population have adopted vegetarianism, especially since the BSE crisis of the 1990s. As of 2003 it was estimated that there were between 3 and 4 million vegetarians in the UK, one of the highest percentages in the western world, and around 7 million people claim to eat no red meat. It is rare not to find vegetarian foods in a supermarket or on a restaurant menu.