by Max Lehmann

Created on: January 27, 2010

The fast food industry in the UK is unusual in that it is overwhelmingly dominated by American brands. Indeed, the reach of McDonalds as a brand is such that low paid menial work taken on by the likes of students is often termed a "MacJob". In the burger arena, McDonalds and Burger King compete for custom while most people will have a preference for one over the other. As universal as the brands are, the UK market has different tastes and some of the items sold will differ from American counterparts, while others are not available - root beer, for example, is not generally sold in the UK.

Alongside the burger bars KFC enjoys deep penetration within the British market, again with a menu tailored to the UK's tastes. While a few Wimpy and Wendys exist in larger cities, they are not the general mainstay of the industry and Taco Bell has never quite made that first foothold.

While pizza and slower cooked foods are incredibly common takeaway choices they don't entirely fit the ethos of "fast food" where a buyer can queue briefly and take out a meal cooked in minutes. Alongside pizza the most popular are chinese and indian cuisine, with areas of England such as Birmingham and Manchester becoming world famous for their curries. Beyond the big chains, many smaller chains and independent shops exist. There are various instances of southern fried chicken retailers, and possibly even more kebab retailers.Without the spending power of the bigger chains, though, they may suffer in terms of quality when compared to the giant brands.

At the heart of British fast food culture, though, lives the humble chippy. Fish and chips are a uniquely British affair, and with good reason. A chip shop is a delightfully unpretentious retailer. While fish may be the main accompaniment for the ubiquitous chips, pies, sausages and pickled eggs are generally available. Many, but far from all, fish and chip shops also sell kebabs.

To experience proper British fish and chips you really must go to a chip shop. Many tourist destinations have sit down restaurants that will offer to sell you the same dish but the preparation, the flavour and the entire experience are quite different from the true concept. Chip shop chips are cut chunkily and cooked such that they have a very soft, almost mushy, interior, whilst being well enough cooked to hold their shape. The fish is battered using ingredients kept largely secret from the rest of the restaurant industry, and it is deep fried at speed, while restaurants

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