Food · United Kingdom
What to eat in United Kingdom
United Kingdom's food, destination by destination.
Updated By the AMZBooking editorial team
Photo: Ilya Grigorik, CC BY-SA 3.0
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Quick answer
Start with Full English breakfast, Fish and chips and Sunday roast. Fried eggs, bacon, sausages, baked beans, grilled tomato, mushrooms, toast and often black pudding: the full English is a weekend institution and a filling start to a long day of sightseeing.
Key facts
- Dishes in this guide
- 24
- Destinations
- 8
Dishes to try in United Kingdom
Try in London
Full English breakfast
Fried eggs, bacon, sausages, baked beans, grilled tomato, mushrooms, toast and often black pudding: the full English is a weekend institution and a filling start to a long day of sightseeing.
Where: Traditional cafés ('caffs') and pubs across the city; vegetarian versions with meat-free sausages are easy to find.
Try in London
Fish and chips
Cod or haddock in crisp batter with thick-cut chips, mushy peas and tartare sauce, usually sprinkled with salt and malt vinegar. It is best eaten fresh from a chippy, wrapped to take away.
Where: Fish-and-chip shops ('chippies') across London and many pubs; Friday is the traditional fish day.
Try in London
Sunday roast
Roast beef, lamb, pork or chicken with roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, seasonal vegetables and gravy, served from Sunday lunchtime onwards. Most pubs offer a vegetarian roast too.
Where: Pubs all over the city; popular ones fill up, so book a table for Sunday lunch.
Try in Edinburgh
Haggis, neeps and tatties
Sheep's heart, liver and lungs minced with oatmeal, onion, suet and spices, traditionally cooked in a sheep's stomach and served with mashed turnip (neeps) and potato (tatties). Vegetarian haggis made with lentils and oats is widely available.
Where: Traditional pubs and Scottish restaurants across the Old Town; also as part of a cooked breakfast.
Try in Edinburgh
Cullen skink
A thick soup of smoked haddock, potato, onion and milk, named after the fishing village of Cullen on the north-east coast.
Where: Pubs and Scottish restaurants, often as a starter with bread.
Try in Edinburgh
Full Scottish breakfast
Eggs, bacon, sausage, square Lorne sausage, black pudding, haggis, tattie scones, mushrooms and beans; heavier than its English cousin.
Where: Cafés and hotels across the city.
Try in Manchester
Curry on the Curry Mile
Wilmslow Road in Rusholme, the Curry Mile, is lined with South Asian and Middle Eastern restaurants, grills, sweet shops and shisha cafés, a legacy of post-war migration to the city.
Where: Wilmslow Road in Rusholme, a short bus ride south along Oxford Road from the city centre.
Try in Manchester
Dim sum in Chinatown
Manchester's Chinatown, one of the largest in Britain, has Cantonese restaurants serving dim sum, roast duck and barbecued pork, alongside Chinese supermarkets and bakeries.
Where: Faulkner Street, George Street and Nicholas Street, around the ornamental arch near Piccadilly Gardens.
Try in Manchester
Lancashire hotpot
Lamb or mutton and onion stew slow-baked under a layer of overlapping sliced potatoes until the top turns crisp, traditionally served with pickled red cabbage. It is the defining home dish of Lancashire's mill towns.
Where: Traditional pubs and British restaurants in the city centre, especially in winter.
Try in Liverpool
Scouse
A slow-cooked stew of beef or lamb with potatoes, carrots and onions, traditionally served with pickled red cabbage or beetroot and crusty bread. The city's sailors brought it from northern Europe, and it gave Liverpudlians their nickname.
Where: Traditional pubs and cafés around the city centre, especially in winter; some pubs serve it as the dish of the day.
Try in Liverpool · Vegetarian
Blind scouse
The meat-free version of scouse, made with root vegetables and potatoes, historically eaten when meat was too expensive and now a regular vegetarian option.
Where: Cafés and pubs that serve scouse often offer a blind version alongside.
Try in Liverpool · Vegetarian
Wet Nelly
A dense, syrupy bread pudding of soaked bread, dried fruit and spice, a Liverpool take on Nelson's cake. It is a traditional bakery treat served warm or cold.
Where: Traditional bakeries and some cafés; it is not on every menu, so ask.
Try in Bath · Vegetarian
Sally Lunn bun
A large, light brioche-like bun said to date back to the 17th century, served toasted with sweet toppings or as a base for savoury dishes.
Where: Sally Lunn's Eating House on North Parade Passage, in one of the oldest houses in Bath.
Try in Bath · Vegetarian
Bath bun
A sweet, rich yeast bun topped with crushed sugar and baked with a lump of sugar or currants inside, a teatime treat since the 18th century.
Where: Bakeries and tearooms around the Abbey and the Pump Room.
Try in Bath · Vegetarian
Bath Oliver biscuits
Plain, crisp, unsweetened biscuits invented in the 18th century by Dr William Oliver, a Bath physician, and eaten with cheese.
Where: Delis and cheese shops, and on cheese boards in local restaurants.
Try in York · Vegetarian
Yorkshire pudding
A light, crisp batter pudding baked in hot fat until it rises, traditionally served with roast beef and gravy or as a starter on its own. Some pubs serve giant puddings filled with stew or sausages.
Where: Pubs and restaurants serving Sunday roasts across the city.
Try in York · Vegetarian
Fat Rascal
A large, round, scone-like cake with currants, citrus peel and spices, decorated with cherries and almonds to make a face. It is a Yorkshire speciality made famous by Bettys tearooms.
Where: Bettys Café Tea Rooms on St Helen's Square, and other bakeries and tearooms in the city.
Try in York
Wensleydale cheese with fruit cake
A crumbly, mild cheese from the Yorkshire Dales, traditionally eaten with a slice of rich fruit cake, a Yorkshire pairing that surprises many visitors.
Where: Cheese shops and delis in the centre, Shambles Market and pub cheese boards.
Try in Glasgow
Square sausage roll
A slab of square sliced sausage in a soft white morning roll, often with brown sauce or a fried egg, is Glasgow's standard grab-and-go breakfast.
Where: Bakeries and sandwich shops near stations and offices; ask for a 'roll and square'.
Try in Glasgow
Chicken tikka masala and Glasgow curry
Glasgow has one of the UK's strongest South Asian food scenes, and the Shish Mahal restaurant claims to have created chicken tikka masala in the 1970s. Pakora, often with a sweet chilli dip, is the standard starter here.
Where: Long-running curry houses around Gibson Street and Woodlands Road in the West End and on Allison Street in the Southside.
Try in Glasgow
Fish supper
In Scotland a 'supper' means the main item served with chips, so a fish supper is battered haddock and chips, usually with salt and vinegar or salt and sauce.
Where: Chip shops throughout the city; long-established family chippies in the West End and Southside have loyal followings.
Try in Belfast
Ulster fry
Northern Ireland's fried breakfast stands out for its breads: triangular soda farls and potato bread fried in the pan, alongside bacon, sausages, eggs, black and white pudding, tomato and mushrooms.
Where: Cafés across the city, hotel breakfasts and the stalls at St George's Market on weekends.
Try in Belfast · Vegetarian
Soda bread and potato bread
Soda farls are quick breads raised with bicarbonate of soda and buttermilk and cooked on a griddle; potato bread is a thin, flat bread made with mashed potato. Both are central to local baking.
Where: Local bakeries and supermarkets; buy a pack to fry at home or have one toasted with butter in a café.
Try in Belfast · Vegetarian
Champ
Mashed potato beaten with milk, butter and chopped scallions (spring onions), served as a side or on its own with a well of melted butter.
Where: Pubs and traditional restaurants, often alongside sausages, bacon or Irish stew.
Food scene by destination
| Destination | Food experience | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| London | Market grazing | A discretionary service charge of about 12.5% is often added to restaurant bills; check the bill before tipping again. |
| Edinburgh | Whisky tasting | Book dinner ahead in August and December, when the city is full and walk-in tables are rare. |
| Manchester | Food halls | Many popular restaurants in Ancoats and the Northern Quarter take bookings and fill on Friday and Saturday nights; book a few days ahead. |
| Liverpool | Victorian pub crawl | Book popular restaurants on Bold Street, Hope Street and the Albert Dock for Friday and Saturday nights. |
| Bath | Afternoon tea in the Pump Room | Book dinner on Friday and Saturday nights and for Sunday lunch; Bath's best restaurants are small. |
| York | Afternoon tea at Bettys | Book dinner on Fridays and Saturdays and for Sunday lunch; York fills with weekend visitors. |
| Glasgow | Finnieston dinner crawl | Pubs commonly serve food from lunchtime through the evening, a useful fallback when restaurants are full. |
| Belfast | Weekend at St George's Market | Many pubs serve food from lunchtime into the early evening; check kitchen times if you plan a late meal. |
Food experiences
- London — Market grazing: Borough Market by London Bridge, the weekend stalls of Maltby Street under the railway arches and Old Spitalfields Market are the places to taste your way through British cheese, bread and street food at lunchtime.
- Edinburgh — Whisky tasting: Join a tasting in an Old Town whisky bar or at the Scotch Whisky Experience by the castle esplanade to compare malts from Speyside, Islay and the Highlands.
- Manchester — Food halls: Mackie Mayor, in a restored Victorian meat market hall on the edge of Ancoats and the Northern Quarter, gathers independent food traders under one glass roof, with long shared tables and a bar.
- Liverpool — Victorian pub crawl: The Philharmonic Dining Rooms on Hope Street, with its mosaic and carved-wood interior and famous marble urinals, and other ornate Victorian pubs in the centre make a historic evening out.
- Bath — Afternoon tea in the Pump Room: The Georgian Pump Room beside the Roman Baths serves breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea under chandeliers, often to live music, as it has since Jane Austen's day.
- York — Afternoon tea at Bettys: Bettys Café Tea Rooms, opened in York in 1937 in an Art Deco room on St Helen's Square, is the city's most famous tearoom.
- Glasgow — Finnieston dinner crawl: Argyle Street in Finnieston has seafood restaurants, small-plates kitchens and cocktail bars within a few hundred metres, close enough to eat in one place and drink in the next.
- Belfast — Weekend at St George's Market: Friday's variety market and the Saturday and Sunday food markets bring together local producers, cheesemakers, fishmongers and street-food stalls under one Victorian roof.
Questions travellers ask
+What food is United Kingdom famous for?
Full English breakfast, Fish and chips, Sunday roast, Haggis, neeps and tatties and Cullen skink.