Eating out

Although it is far less unusual than it used to be, going to a restaurant is still a comparatively rare event for most British people. Regular restaurant-going is confined mostly to the richest section of society. Partly for this reason, there is an element of snobbery associated with it. Merely being in an expensive restaurant sometimes seems to be more important to people than the food eaten in it. For example, in 1992 a survey by experts found that most of the caviar in top London restaurants was not what it claimed to be (the most prized beluga variety) and was often stale or going bad. The experts commented that restaurants used the mystique of caviar to hide the low quality of what they served because 'the majority of people, … don't really know what they're eating."

Another expression of snobbery in the more expensive restaurants is in the menus. In a country where few public notices appear in any language other than English, these are a unique phenomenon - all the dishes have non-English names, most commonly French (reflecting the high regard for French cuisine). It also makes the food sound more exotic and therefore more exciting. Many customers of these restaurants have little idea of what actually goes in to the dish they have chosen. But when, in 1991, the government suggested that menus should give details of ingredients in dishes, all the country's chefs and restaurateurs were outraged. They argued this would take the fun out of eating out. The assumption behind this argument is that going to a restaurant is a time to be adventurous. This 'adventure' concept is undoubtedly widespread. It helps to explain why so few restaurants in Britain are actually British. Because they do it so rarely, when people go out for a meal in the evening, they want to be served something they don't usually eat. Every town in the country has at least one Indian restaurant and probably a Chinese one too. Larger towns and cities have restaurants representing cuisine from all over the world.

Eating places which serve British food are used only for more everyday purposes. Apart from pubs, there are two types, both of which are comparatively cheap. One is used during the day, most typically by manual workers, and is therefore sometimes described as a workman's cafe" (pronounced 'caff'). But it is also used by anybody else who wants a filling meal, likes the informal atmosphere and is not over-worried about cleanliness. It offers mostly fried food of the 'English breakfast" type and for this reason it is also sometimes jokingly called a 'greasy spoon'. Many of them are " transport cafes' at the sides of main roads. In 1991 Prime Minister John Major deliberately and publicly ate at one of these in order to prove that he was 'a man of the people". The other type is the fish-and-chip shop, used in the evening for " take-away' meals. Again, the fish is (deep) fried.

Fast food outlets are now more common in Britain than they are in most other countries. Cynics might claim this is because the British have no sense of taste. However, their popularity is probably better explained sociologically. Other types of eating place in Britain tend to have class associations. As a result, large sections of society feel unable to relax in them. But a fast food restaurant does not have such strong associations of this kind. Although there is sometimes local middle-class protest when a new one appears in their area, people from almost any class background can feel comfortable in them.

(from Britain The country and its people)

Translate the following expressions and recall the sentences from the text in which they are used:

Answer the following questions:

1 How often do the British go to a restaurant?

2 Is restaurant-going a comparatively frequent event in Britain? Why? What is a reason for it?

3 What is more important for people who go to restaurants?

4 How do restaurants hide the low quality of caviar?

5 Why do the dishes in British restaurants have commonly French names?

6 Why were many restaurateurs outraged when the government suggested that menus should give details of ingredients in dishes?

7 What types of eating places apart from pubs are more popular in Britain?

8 What do they serve?

9 Why are fast food outlets more common in Britain?

10 What is their greatest advantage over restaurants?