It’s quite interesting how Brits always get super defensive about their cuisine, but one would be hard pressed to find a “British food” restaurant in any of the food capitals of the world, except London for obvious reasons.
Maybe it’s fantastic food that somehow appeals only to a few and is not as universal as some others. Maybe it requires a sophisticated palette that most of us are happy not to have developed.
For me, it’s more about the ingredients.
I already listed the range of sausages (and you didn’t say which ones you had actually eaten).
Many top French restaurants get their beef specially from the UK because it is so good.
I could go to my local butcher in the UK and get a brace of pheasant, lamb shanks, sausages, a pork joint with the fat still on it (my kids still talk about the time they had roast pork with crackling in the UK and that was years ago).
Don’t give me that crap about special orders for cuts of meat or that you buy your meat from abroad - the quality of a country’s food is what you can buy everyday, locally.
I claim Irish Pubs serving English food are everywhere.
Look at the Oliver Twist in Zürich serving Mr. Winkle’s steak & ale pie
Slow-cooked beef in London Pride Ale with mushrooms, carrots & potatoes, topped with puff pastry, served with chips
Where else can you get onion rings.
Acquired tastes matter too.
I grew up in a region where Holstein hybrids for hot climate milking cows were reared. I had no idea I loved Holstein beef until I went to a restaurant and where the menu specified Holstein. At the time, I remembered one of my uncles mentioned how Angus has a higher status in consumer minds on the other side of the Atlantic. So, no restaurant menus only show Angus and other varieties are simply not shown, even if it’s a protected variety.
I just ordered the Holstein steak and…my mind was blown. It was that flavor of the milking cows, fat was not that yellow and meat was less chewy, but the flavor was there.
Until today, I miss the yellow and plentiful fat in meat from milking cows. I have gone to local butchers looking for milking cow meat and all I have found is the inferiority complex of the local population. Butchers tell they only sell “top quality” products.
FFS we live in a country proud of their cheeses, it can only be proud of the meat of their milking cows.
Probably, most people would say yellow fat chewy beef is bad quality. But there are some generates out there…
Onion rings…? Burgerking
The Oliver Twist is not an Irish Pub
I was replying to the claim of no British Food restaurants which is why Oliver Twist was in another paragraph
Main meals aside, you can find High Tea at the most exclusive establishments around the world e.g. Hotel Les Trois Rois, Basel.
My partner took me there for my birthday and it was most civilised 
And I believe we also have a strong dessert game, the French may turn their noses up at it but they are undoubtedly joyful and delicious, transporting you back to childhood.
I think some are so ubiquitous it isn’t even thought of as British any more e.g.
Not sure a British Restaurant will work well commercially given the eclectic mix of tastes and styles.
My favourite: Cranachan
At the Croixe Blanc in Vich they have a South African chef. One of his specials is Bread and Butter pudding. Rated highly by my spouse!
The name may be British but little else. Sandwiches have existed for as long as bread has existed.
One thing on the list of things to try is a „John Bull“ with gravy and mushy peas.
Yes, goulash/gulyas is Hungarian no doubt; it’s a bit different from the Austrian goulash soup if you ask me. At home we cook the Hungarian version.
Ah… was hoping someone would fall for that. Years ago I posted a ‘mushy pea’ thread on the old EF debating this point. For authenticity, you need to start with dried Marrowfat peas which I couldn’t find anywhere… except Amazon.de for a ludicurous import cost. I tried a few other dried pea variations but none were as good as a can.
Those pissing contests are nothing short of hilarious.
Please continue!
You can buy them in 10kg bags for probably just a bit more than a can of mushy peas.
Look for marrowfat peas under Kapuziner Erbsen or Graue Erbsen.
Was this the thread?
Some people are passionate about food. Others just see it as a source of energy.
I suspect you fit into the latter category.
