Why Are English Restaurants So Expensive (and generally dreadful)?
Bunny asks why the basic standard English Restaurant is such a dispiriting experience for those coming in from other countries. I’m sure that there are many reasons but here’s just a few: 1) We industrialised (and thus de-ruralised) earlier and more completely than other countries. We are therefore further from our roots and the natural cuisine associated with what grows in these isles. 2) I’ve seen it suggested that it is in fact worse than that. We urbanised when the basic form of bulk transit was the canal, whereas those who came after us did so when railways were vastly faster. This means that the newly urban masses were forced to feed themselves on those products which could survive the slow delivery process. 3) We’re a small and crowded country. Good farmland is around 4,000 pounds an acre. Quite obviously this makes food expensive. 4) We are members of CAP. A recent estimate is that this raises food prices (as distinct from the tax bills that go into the subsidies) by 5 pounds p
