Food in England and Wales: look out for these traditional specialities!

Traditional Food in England and Wales? OK, so for many of you this may appear a contender for the world's shortest/most uninteresting webpage but read on, you may be surprised!

(Or you can go straight to my page giving my favourite Traditional English Food Specialities: look out for them!)

"On the Continent people have good food; in England people have good table manners."
George Mikes, British author, How to be an Alien (1946)

English cooking has come a long way since the horror days of the 1950's and 60's, thanks in no small way to an influx of immigrants (it can now be reasonably argued that some of the finest Indian food in the world is to be found in the UK), the increased popularity of foreign holiday travel and the rise of the European Economic Community, into which Britain had to be dragged screaming but which has brought a more open attitude to continental influences and cuisines.

However, first a warning. Although good food of many different cuisines is to be found in the UK, and the top restaurants are the equal of any in the world, in my experience there is a distinct lack of second or third tier restaurants serving the quality of food you can expect in other European countries. Too often it is bland, greasy and unimaginative, and the trouble is when you are on a touring holiday these are the levels of restaurants in which you often find yourself eating.

But the good news is that there ARE excellent medium price restaurants around, you just have to take a little care in finding them (ask at the hotel, I've had some surprisingly good tips from staff at receptions). Just don't necessarily expect to be able to wander around any corner and get great food from a funky little bistro, you'll be disappointed.

On the other hand, there's always the local pub!

Here are our other English food pages:

English Breakfasts and Afternoon Teas: the quintessential British gastronomic experience

Traditional English Food Specialities: look out for them!

And here are some recipes for English and Welsh food specialities.

Food in England: The Giant British Cookbook

I refer to Helen Gaffney's informative website on British cooking several times, it's definitely worth a visit.

top of page>>

Our other England and Wales pages:

Travel to England - it's much more than a pub-crawl!

When to travel to England and Wales for your UK tour

Tour Routes in England and Wales

Events, calendar, holidays and useful facts for your tour of England and Wales

Traditional English Food Specialities: British favourites

English Breakfasts and Afternoon Teas: the quintessential British gastronomic experience!

Daily Newspapers in England (Great Britain)

Brief History Timelines of England and the UK

English Weights and Measures and their equivalents

Clothing and Shoe Size equivalents

Book your sightseeing tours or day-trips in the UK online

Book your hotel in the UK online

Hire a Limousine in London, England

Residential telephone directory England, Business too!

More interesting, fast facts about England

TRAVEL TO ENGLAND WITH US: PHOTO HIGHLIGHTS