British Cuisine

About British Cuisine

By the ULTIMATE London Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

British cuisine is built on comforting, hearty staples, historic baking and the influence of a nation that has always traded with the world. Far from the old stereotypes, modern British cooking joins centuries-old classics to local, seasonal sourcing. This is our guide to the dishes, and to the London tables that serve them at their best.

British cuisine

British cooking is a masterclass in comfort: hearty dishes, a long baking tradition and exceptional regional ingredients, from the fishing harbours of the coast to the farms of the shires. Far from the stereotypes of the past, the modern British table joins its classics to local, sustainable sourcing and a confident, inventive kitchen.

The Sunday roast

The ultimate British ritual. Slow-roasted beef, lamb, pork or chicken comes with crisp roast potatoes, seasonal vegetables, rich gravy and the Yorkshire pudding, a puff of baked batter whose real job is to hold the gravy. Most pubs serve it from midday on Sundays, and the best are booked days ahead.

Simple, excellent ingredients, cooked slowly and served generously: comfort, raised to an art.

Fish and chips

Fresh white fish, traditionally cod or haddock, in a crisp, golden batter, with thick-cut chips, salt, plenty of malt vinegar and a side of mushy peas. It is still best eaten from the paper, by the sea or on a park bench.

Pies, mash and bangers

The heart of the pub menu: shortcrust or puff pastry pies filled with steak and kidney or beef and ale, served on buttery mashed potato under a pool of gravy. Bangers and mash is its cousin, plump pork sausages, often Cumberland, on creamy mash with a rich onion gravy.

The full English

The “fry-up” is a legendary morning plate: back bacon, sausages, fried or poached eggs, grilled tomatoes, mushrooms, baked beans, fried bread or toast, and a slice of black pudding, the blood sausage made with oats and spices.

Snacks and pasties

For a picnic or the pub, the Scotch egg: a soft- or hard-boiled egg wrapped in seasoned sausage meat, crumbed and fried. The pork pie is its sturdy companion. And from Cornwall comes the pasty, a crimped, hand-held pastry first made as a portable lunch for miners, traditionally filled with beef, potato, swede and onion.

Teatime

Afternoon tea is a delicate ritual of finger sandwiches, pastries and warm scones, split and spread thickly with clotted cream and strawberry jam. The Victoria sponge belongs here too: two layers of light sponge sandwiching raspberry jam and buttercream, dusted with icing sugar.

The puddings

In Britain, “pudding” means dessert, and the great ones are warm and generous. Sticky toffee pudding is a dark, moist date sponge drenched in hot toffee sauce, with cream, custard or vanilla ice cream. Seasonal crumbles, rhubarb or apple under a buttery topping, and grand layered trifles of sponge, fruit, custard and cream fill the winter months; summer brings Eton mess, crushed meringue, whipped cream and strawberries.

Where to taste it

For the old style, Rules in Covent Garden, open since 1798, serves game, pies and steamed puddings in a Victorian dining room, and Wiltons on Jermyn Street, which began as a shellfish stall in 1742, is the place for oysters and Dover sole. St. JOHN in Smithfield changed how London eats with its plain-speaking British cooking. Poppies in Spitalfields fries fish and chips to order. For pie and mash, Mother Mash in Covent Garden lets you build your own plate; for the Sunday roast, Lore of the Land in Fitzrovia and Rabbit on the King’s Road, which cooks with produce from its family farm in West Sussex. For afternoon tea, the Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon at Fortnum & Mason. All are in this guide.

Our advice: book a Sunday roast for your first weekend, have fish and chips at least once, and leave room for a proper pudding.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with British Cuisine before you go.