Fish and Chips named Britain’s national dish with only 3% chosing chicken tikka masala

Just under half of all Britons (49 per cent) declared the title belongs to fish and chips in a landslide for the deep fried pairing.

Chicken tikka masala has long been touted as the country’s national dish, with former Foreign Secretary Robin Cook declaring it to be so during a speech in 2001.

The Labour frontbencher argued the dish reflected Britain’s openness to new influences and acceptance of multiculturism.

However, the fresh data has proven the wider British public do not agree, with just three per cent of respondents saying they believed the Indian takeaway favourite was the national dish.

The roast dinner was voted as the runner-up, with 24 per cent of Britons believing the traditional Sunday staple was the worthy winner of the title.

Some six per cent of respondents specified a beef roast as their pick.

Around two per cent named “curry” or named a different kind of Indian meal as their national dish, while a handful nominated the full English breakfast (two per cent), bangers and mash (one per cent) or cottage or shepherd’s pie (one per cent).

Across generations of Britons, fish and chips was picked by every single age category.

However, the polling revealed 18-24-year-olds are less likely to have nominated roast dinner as Britain’s national dish (14 per cent, versus 21-29 per cent of older age groups) and are more likely to have selected chicken tikka masala overall (11 per cent).

The YouGov survey also found that 86-90 per cent of British adults enjoy eating fish and chips and roast dinners.

Meanwhile, just 68 per cent of Britons reported they like eating chicken tikka masala.

More than half (52 per cent) said they have roast dinner at least once a month, compared to just over a third (35 per cent) for fish and chips.

Just over a fifth (21 per cent) reported they eat chicken tikka massala at least on a monthly basis.

However, the majority of Britons (52 per cent) say they eat curry in some form at least once a month.

Meanwhile, a quarter of Britons say they “never” eat chicken tikka masala, compared to eight per cent for fish and chips and four per cent for roast dinner.

Chicken tikka masala is believed to have been invented by a Pakistani chef who worked in an Indian restaurant in Glasgow – but it is not confirmed whether this often-recited claim is true.

Previous YouGov polling has found despite its reportedly Scottish origins, the majority of adults have not adopted it as a native dish.

Just 39 per cent of adults believe it is a British dish, compared to 46 per cent who say it is not.

Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter