The dessert menu took just as big a hit. Spotted dick — that wonderfully named suet pudding studded with currants and served with custard — was once a pub favourite that diners couldn’t resist. By the late 20th century, though, it started losing ground to cheesecakes, fruit tarts and trendier options.
Jam roly-poly, that glorious roll of steamed suet pastry filled with sticky raspberry jam and drowned in warm custard, was another casualty. Cheap, satisfying and deeply comforting, it was a mid-20th century staple that younger generations abandoned by the early 2000s as healthier puddings took over.
Sherry trifle and rice pudding met similar ends — both considered too time-consuming to prepare for busy pub kitchens now favouring quick-serve options like sticky toffee pudding and crumbles.
Brown Windsor soup, once regarded as one of Britain’s most beloved meals and reportedly a favourite appetiser of royalty for centuries, has virtually disappeared too. Today it’s widely dismissed as a stodgy, gravy-heavy broth that simply doesn’t appeal anymore.