Food in the British Isles has a reputation of being quite bland and uninspiring -- not at all what I experienced! I had some of my best meals in the Isles.
Dining in the British Isles is different from dining in France and quite similar to dining in the USA.
The day typically begins with a substantial meal rather than just coffee and a baguette -- in Ireland tehy refer to it as a "full Irish" breakfast -- typically including eggs (fried or poached), bacon, ham (sometimes sausage) toast, pastries, tea or coffee and occasionally porrige -- a good moiunt of food by anyone's standards!
Lunch is not an especially important meal as in France -- typically a sandwich or light meal eaten around mid-day -- typically no alcohol.
Dinner is a full meal consumed between six-eight o'clock with most restaurants closing by eleven on week-days. The cuisine is heavily beef and seafood oriented with patrons more likely to be drinking beer than wine or mixed drinks. Near the coasts, the seafood is typically fresh within a day and can reflect local types of fish -- for example, salmon is prevalent in Wales with fishermen selling it (fresh-caught that morning) out of coolers on the side of the road -- cod and haddock are everywhere in Scotland and northern Ireland.
If you're looking for fancy, upscale cuisine, stick to restaurants -- otherwise, local pubs are definitely the way to go for an authentic meal -- people are more than happy to recommend their favorite (try to avoid ones mentioned in travel guides as they typically, not always, have "dumbed-down" their food for the masses -- local, family pubs frequently serve excellent family recipes. One of my best meals was in a family pub on the coast of western Scotland -- fish and chips where they had tweaked the batter and coating making the dining experience truly mouth-watering.
In most of the places I dined in there was a distinct emphasis on fresh, locally produced ingredients and almost everywhere offered at least one or two vegetarian options.
England was memorable for their meat pies (although the best "pie" I had was a combination of goat cheese, cranberries and carmelized onions -- just trying it was a "leap of faith" for me but it was well worth it!) -- East Indian curries were also wonderful. Scotland had fantastic fish dishes. Ireland had more of a "Mediterranean" cuisine thing going. Wales offered a good blend of all of the above.
The one area where they couldn't compare to France was in their bread and pastries -- pretty boring -- scones were either plain or fruit (raisins) based -- not inspiring at all! The only way to "juice them up" was to consume them warm with clotted cream and jam which added a whole different dimension -- afternoon tea was an excellent opportunity for this option as well as a nice way to slow down and relax. Pastries, in my experience, were pretty much limiited to variations on apple and appricot pies, tarts and latticed squares -- generally okay but not super.
Breads were like in the States, the only exception being Irish brown bread which (when purchased from a bakery vs a supermarket) was outstanding. Potato bread was interesting and worth a try, but again, usually bland.
Local craft beers were generally good when you could find them -- surprisingly not as common as in the States -- the beer market is heavily dominated by large companies. In a pub or restaurant you'll typically find a couple of US beers (a bit of a surprise), a couple of Belgian beers and a couple of English breweries represented on tap.
Cider was a pleasant alternative -- especially when you could find a local producer -- otherwise, choices are limited to three or four mass producers which totally dominate what you'll find in large and small markets -- good, but still produced for a mass market.
Interestingly, wine options were typically Italian, Australian, USA and German, not French -- one more indicator of how the French and the English don't especially "get-along". French wines were more available in liquor stores and supermarkets than in restaurants. Shockingly, English wines (a relatively new industry in England) are almost non-existant except in liquor stores -- never did find one in a restaurant/pub to sample and the prices were sky-high in the liquor stores.
In the British Isles, as in France you will most likely have to ask your server for a bill -- tipping is more common in the British Isles but not like in the States.
Unlike in the States, most of the dining options (other than fast food) in the British Isles and France are locally-owned and operated -- not chains -- which means every town or region you visit will have unknown cjhoices -- go with the recommendations from the locals you meet (occasionally a "bust" but usually fairly reliable).
Overall, I enjoyed my dining experiences and varied cuisine options more in the British Isles than in France.
