In the United Kingdom, a cafe (without acute accent over the "e") was traditionally a working-class restaurant, or greasy spoon. In recent years, these restaurants have been in decline due to the rise of Continental-style cafés (with acute accent).
Food
The typical greasy spoon serves mainly fried or grilled food from a more or less invariable repertoire: bacon, sausages, fried eggs, fried or tinned tomatoes, fried mushrooms, baked beans, chips, and sometimes black pudding, bubble and squeak (a fried mixture of cabbage and mashed potato), American style grits, and fried bread. These are served in a variety of combinations and usually it is possibly to order any combination. This part of the menu is generally referred to as breakfast even if it is available all day.
Other food varies:
- Hamburgers,
- Limited cooked meals such as shepherd's pie.
- Hot and cold sandwiches featuring ham, cheese and ingredients from the breakfast menu. The bacon or sausage butty (sandwich) or BLT (bacon lettuce and tomato sandwich) are particularly popular.
- Toast with toppings: beans on toast, cheese on toast.
Despite the origin of the word "café", the main drink in British cafés is tea. Coffee will often be instant.
This type of café is also provides traditional British desserts: bread and butter pudding, steamed pudding , apple crumble and rhubarb crumble - all except the first with custard.
Trends
The demand for its cuisine has resulted in the establishment of greasy spoons all over the world and particularly in European coastal resorts located within an hour's coach ride from charter airlines' destinations. At such locations, full breakfasts may be consumed on an all-day basis (to accommodate late rising clients) and are sometimes accompanied by day-old copies of The Sun.
In the United Kingdom, the traditional greasy spoon has been in decline for many years as a direct consequence of the ubiquitous franchising of extensively marketed fast food chains. However, they remain numerous all over the UK, especially in certain parts of London (especially the "East End"), Manchester, and many seaside towns, including Blackpool.
A relatively recent trend in Britain is the growth in popularity of more upmarket cafés on a different model, influenced by the traditional French café, and the Seattle espresso boom. These places serve real coffee (including such variants as espresso and cappuccino), a variety of teas (including herbal tea) and different food, such as more elaborate sandwiches and cakes. These establishments are usually referred to in an approximation of the French manner, to distinguish them from the more traditional "caff". In addition, with the relaxation of licensing laws and growth of gastropubs, many larger pubs now open for breakfast; in particular the Wetherspoons chain specialises in selling a low-cost English breakfast.
See also
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