Member Article

British food is choice of the day for NE diners

British cuisine is now the North East’s favourite food, according to a recent survey. Of 200 diners surveyed across the region by The Gourmet Society, 23 percent said they prefer to visit British restaurants with Italian (22%) and Indian (18%) cuisine following close behind.

The survey has marked a dramatic shift from previous surveys conducted, where Italian took the lead as the North East’s favourite restaurant to eat in. Reasons for this change might be attributed to the increased disposable income and the number of British restaurants opening across the region.

the state of the restaurant’s toilets also proved to be very important for North East diners. Ninety seven percent of those questioned rated the cleanliness of restaurant toilets as very important, stating that the toilets were a reflection of the careful attention paid to food hygiene regulations in the kitchen.

Most voters also said that one thing that was missing from the North East’s restaurant scene was more variety, and they would like to see an increase in good quality vegetarian and vegan eateries.

Rob Collins, North East director of The Gourmet Society, said: “This survey has proved to be the most interesting yet and show that diners’ eating habits are changing. Historically immigrant boats brought many Italians here after the Second World War who settled and set up Italian restaurants here and for many years that was the main choice when dining out.

“It also shows that seventy percent of people eat out at least once a week so it’s inevitable that diners are becoming more discerning. This survey helps us evaluate what is important to them so we can advise restaurants accordingly.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .