If you’re not familiar with the cuisine of Britain these days, you might think that modern British food is just Fish & Chips at The Shard (or wherever else in the UK that’s currently considered contemporary).
But modern British food is way more than that. At least, that’s what we Brits tell ourselves.
Don’t get us wrong, all the classic British dishes like Pie & Mash and Shepherd’s Pie are still the backbone of UK food, but nowadays, there’s a bit more to British cuisine than there once was.
Modern British cuisine is the food eaten in Blighty today, while we Brits try to forget Britain’s culinary past. This still typically involves traditional British food, often with a modern twist or reinterpretation, or, food that’s just evolved over time and simply reflects the UK in the present day.
But beyond a generic and somewhat evergreen definition that just states the obvious and allows minimal edits of this article about modern British food, if you want to know more (and where to eat yours), then this is the place to be.
What Is Modern British Food?
“Modern British cuisine is not so much a revival of old dishes, but a re-interpretation, often with an element of fusion, taking the best of traditional stews, roasts, pies and puddings and re-inventing them.”
GoDine
Modern British food is practically a standalone cuisine in itself it seems, completely separate to what most people know as traditional British food.
Many people simply associate modern British food with fine dining in the UK and Britain’s Michelin Star restaurants, because this is naturally where a lot of Blighty’s culinary innovation takes place.
In that context, the best of the best modern British food is usually said to involve some or all of these things:
- Seasonal and locally sourced ingredients
- A story behind the ingredients / dishes
- Quality over quantity on the plate
- Imagination
- International influences, e.g. ingredients or cooking techniques
- Dishes based on traditional British food but reinvented
- Top notch cooking / execution of technique
But we at BritishGrubHub.com prefer to use a broader meaning of the term ‘modern British food,’ even if the only reason is that we get to link to topics like where to eat in London right now, or, the best places to eat in Britain this year 😉
For the purposes of this article at least, modern British food just means what Brits eats today, whether that’s food from fancy-pants Michelin star restaurants, the most iconic places to eat in London, or epic pub grub across the UK, to name just a few elements of Great British cuisine.
The Rise of Modern British Food
Food in the UK is always changing and evolving. A good job too, considering British food used to be terrible. Not to mention, how else would we promote the best places to eat in Britain this year?! 🤪
Anyhow, modern British food (by definition) is the result of Britain’s culinary history, despite when it may be that you’re reading this.
Whether it’s due to the impact of the Second World War, improved farming methods, famous British chefs, or food from the rest of the world helping us out (to name just a few key influences), modern British food is just a reflection of the past. Good or bad.
The Best Places To Eat Modern British Food
Whatever modern British food means, all we know is that there’s some seriously epic food being dished up in Britain nowadays, as you’ll find out if you hang out at BritishGrubHub.com regularly.
There’s always the option of checking out articles from places like Forbes or Country & Town House on where to eat modern British cuisine if you like. Or, another (better) option is to just take a peek at our map of Blighty giving awesome suggestions of where to eat in the UK today…
British Grub Hub
The home of great British food
