http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_cuisine

English cuisine still suffers from a relatively poor international reputation, being typically represented by dishes consisting of simply cooked meats and vegetables that need to be accompanied by bottled sauces or other condiments after cooking to make them more palatable. Many Francophiles think that food served in England often fails to reach the same general level of excellence that can easily be found across the English Channel in France. In fact French president Jacques Chirac in 2005 openly proclaimed that English food was the second-worst in Europe, after Finnish. This view of English food is changing: the poor reputation originated from poor quality foods in restaurants that did not really represent the quality or taste of food cooked in homes. Jacques Chirac's comments were widely condemned for being out of date and out of touch. Traditional English food, with its heavy emphasis on 'meat-vegetable-and-potatoes' falls squarely into the north European tradition extending from Austria and Germany to the Low Countries and Scandinavia, albeit with a marked French influence.

During the Middle Ages, English cuisine enjoyed an excellent reputation;[citation needed] its decline can be firmly traced back to the mid 20th century when the quality was compounded by the effects of rationing during two World Wars (rationing finally ended in 1954), followed by the increasing trend toward industrialised mass production of food. However, in Britain today there is more interest in food than there has ever been before, with celebrity chefs leading the drive toward raising the standard of food in the UK.

In 2005 British cuisine reached new heights when 600 food critics writing for (British) Restaurant magazine named 14 British restaurants among the 50 best restaurants in the world with the number one spot going to The Fat Duck in Bray, Berkshire and its chef Heston Blumenthal.

Despite the availability of better quality fare, pre-packaged "ready meals" that require little preparation time have become more popular over the last 30 years - but they have themselves advanced considerably from their very basic beginnings.