20 best dishes

The dish was first served at eton college in the late 19th century at school cricket matches and is now popular all over britain. Chicken tikka masala is served in almost all restaurants across england. The next day, people fry up the leftover vegetables to make ‘bubble and squeak' and eat it with slices of the cold meat. Mushy peas — peas that are boiled and then mashed with salt, pepper and, in this recipe, lemon zest and butter — are a popular british accompaniment to fish and chips.

Brits have been eating fish and chips since the 19th century. Below, a collection of restaurants that might not be known for one particular dish but can be relied upon to serve thoughtful and delicious british food. Re-create the favorite british pub food in your own home by frying cod or haddock fillets in a few inches of oil british food near me serving alongside chips (aka fries) and malt vinegar or tartar sauce.

A gingerbread cake, parkin or perkin, is traditionally eaten on guy fawkes night (5 november). Opt to have your fish and chips fried in beef drippings, not vegetable oil, for an old-school taste. It's a hard, yellow cheese with a nutty flavour and often enjoyed in sandwiches, grilled on toast or eaten with a hunk of bread, salad and chutney in pubs as a ‘ploughman's lunch'.

About fifty years ago, mince beef pies replaced the eels and have now become the traditional pie and mash that people know. So let's tear down some of those british bad food myths. While it's undoubtedly true that the tremendously diverse offerings in london make it a great place to eat, there's another story: of familiar foods which, if they're prepared well by a good chef, can be a revelation.

A ploughman's lunch — a snack or meal composed of cold ingredients like cheese, meats, butter, fruit, salads, spreads and crusty bread — is a popular item in british pubs, usually served with beer. Tins of nestlé's condensed milk sold in britain often feature the original banoffee pie recipe, taken from the hungry monk restaurant in sussex. The fry up - or ‘full english' breakfast no one in the uk would eat this breakfast every day but most people admit to indulging every now again.