Brits falling out of affection with Chinese meals as examine exhibits lasting impact of pandemic

The average Brit is eating less than half the amount of Chinese food from a restaurant or takeaway than they were before the pandemic, as fears for the industry emerge

Folk are falling out of love with Chinese restaurants. The amount of Chinese food we eat out hasn’t recovered from the effects of the pandemic.

It’s not the same for other cuisines (if you can call it that) with pizza chain Domino’s opening in at least 50 new locations. But attitudes may be changing, as people go “back to basics” with their food.

In 2007 the average Brit ate 15g a week of Chinese grub outside the home, but by 2023 that had halved to a meagre 7g.

And experts fear it could fall further as second generation Chinese don’t want the back-breaking work of running restaurants and takeaways.

Sky-high rents, leaping employee costs and changing tastes are also adding to the problem, they say.

Figures show that going for a Chinese has always been popular in the UK – until recently.

In 2006, Brits ate an average of 14g of Chinese food outside of the home per person per week. It peaked at 15g in 2007 and 2008, according to data from Defra collected by Statista.

But in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 it dropped to 12g and by 2017/18 it had fallen further to 10g. In 2019/20 it fell to a mere 2g – no doubt fuelled by restaurants closing thanks to the pandemic – but has still not recovered.

In 2021/22 it stalled at 7g and the following year remained there – fuelling fears that Chinese restaurants that closed during the Coronavirus outbreak haven’t reopened.

Gordon Chong, of the British Chinese Society, said there were many reasons for the drop off. He said: “The Canton style should decline as generally the second generation don’t want to get involved.

“The work is back breaking and many are more educated and tend to be getting into professional work unlike their parents as first generation immigrants.

“Furthermore, the migrants after the Hakka Chinese tend to be from other areas of China as well as migrants from other ESEA communities meaning the palates and tastes are different and the offering more varied.

“The Canton style food is truly dying in the UK, but other cuisines from Shezhen, the Northern regions, as well the growth of Thai and Korean due to K-culture are in fact growing.”

And he added: “The decline is also a systemic general decline of the high street and something the government should try to help with – rent, rates, employee costs.”

The first recorded Chinese restaurant in the UK was The Chinese Restaurant in London’s Glasshouse Street, Piccadilly Circus, which opened in 1908.

Chinese is still Britain’s favourite takeaway, however, with 26% of those polled last year citing it as their top choice.

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