A survey has revealed the top 20 comfort meals as picked by thousands of Brits...but has your pick made the cut?
We've all got our favourite comfort meal.
Something that tastes like a warm hug feels, the meal we dream of at the end of the day, or the perfect way to close out a busy week.
But it stands to reason that we all have different tastes, which means the comfort meal to hit the spot likely switches up depending on who you ask – and this is why online cake shop Jack and Beyond has enlisted the help of 3,280 food lovers from up and down the country to devise the ultimate top 20 list.
Putting the question to the public to create the final ranking and allowing respondents to pick multiple answers, the company asked: ‘Which savoury comfort foods are the best of all-time?‘ – and the answers came in thick and fast.
Taking the top spot as the UK’s favourite comfort food is cheesy pasta, with a whopping 71% of Brits describing the dish among the best meals of all time.
Image: The Hoot Leeds
Does this sound about right to you?
In second place is pizza, receiving the title of best comfort food from 68% of the country, while taking the crown of the UK’s third favourite comfort food is the British classic, a roast dinner – which is a dish voted as a favourite by 67% of Brits and let’s face it, it’s not hard to see why.
A hot meal that’s easy to make (and even easier to order from the local takeaway) is the humble curry, which takes the fourth spot with 65% of the British public voting it among the best comfort foods ever.
A simple cheese toastie rounds out the top five, receiving 62% of the vote.
The UK’s Top 20 Comfort Foods
Comfort Foods
Percentage describing it as the “best comfort food of all-time”
1
Cheesy Pasta
71%
2
Pizza
68%
3
Roast Dinner
67%
4
Curry
65%
5
Cheese Toastie
62%
6
Sweet and Sour Chicken
59%
7
Lasagne
54%
8
Macaroni cheese
51%
9
Poutine
46%
10
Carbonara
45%
11
Chips
45%
12
Crumpets
41%
13
Pesto pasta
40%
14
Bacon Sandwich
39%
15
Biryani
39%
16
Fried Chicken
37%
17
Full English
36%
18
Jacket Potato
33%
19
Sausage Roll
32%
20
Bangers and Mash
30%
Following in sixth place is sweet and sour chicken – an authentic Chinese dish that appears to be the way to a Brit’s heart as voted by 59% of people – and placing in seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth position is lasagne (54%), macaroni cheese (51%), poutine (46%), and carbonara (45%).
A bacon butty, bangers and mash, sausage roll, and of course, a Full English breakfast also feature in the top 20.
Our mouths are watering just reading this list.
Have your favourite comforts foods made the cut? What you you add to this list?
A Leeds pizza takeaway has received a glowing review from popular review duo.
Edges Pizza opened up their first permanent spot in Leeds back in June this year, after making a name for themselves slinging out pizzas at multiple pop-ups across the city.
Owners Grace and Edge from Harrogate opened Edges Pizza two years ago, taking inspiration from trips to New York over the years.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
Their pizzas are a love letter to the class New York slice, think thin and crispy rather than chewy and floppy. But above all else, think absolutely delicious.
And now, they've caught the attention of a major review page, with Bite Twice Food Reviews (a page with almost 300k followers) paying Edges a visit.
The food review duo of Gerry del Guercio and Paul Delany popped up in Holbeck beneath the arches to get their hands on a pizza, and the outcome is brilliant.
In the video, Bite Twice said that the pizza is 'f**cking exceptional' and up there with 'one of the best pizzas in the UK'.
Before even taking a bite, they said: "On aesthetic, I don't think anywhere in the UK is doing pizza like this".
Images: The Hoot Leeds
Then after the first bite, they go on to say: "There are very few pizzas in the UK that create this, I’m a little bit blown away".
As Londoners themselves, they go on to say that Edges is 'easily hitting with the best that we’ve got down south'.
And if that's not high praise enough, they sign off the video saying: "Leeds has got an absolute gem. I give this a stamp so hard my foot went through the pizza. Edges. Don Level."
The 42-year-old Kirkgate Market stall serving freshly shucked oysters for £1.90 a pop
Clementine Hall
Tucked away in Leeds Kirkgate Market you'll find a wonderful seafood stall selling freshly shucked oysters for £1.90 each.
It's places like these that remind us why we love Leeds so much.
Established in 1880, Hayes Seafood is widely regarded as the oldest trader within the historic Kirkgate Market.
For the past 42 years, it has been run by Cliff and Michelle, the loveliest couple who welcome every customer with open arms.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
The menu here is small but perfectly formed, focusing on fresh, ready-to-eat seafood that you can enjoy with a squeeze of lemon and a dollop of mayonnaise at most.
Delivered fresh every morning, there's pre-cracked crab shells, brown and white crab meat, cockles, crawfish tails - all perfectly prepared for you to eat at their bar or high tables opposite.
But, it's the oysters that you'll see people queueing for. And rightly so.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
Everything here is prepared to order right in front of you, and for no extra fee. You can choose from two types of oysters: super salty Lindisfarne oysters or the slightly sweeter English Loch Fyne.
We recommend having a couple of each, pulling up a stool right by the counter and getting stuck in. If you ask Cliff nicely, he might tell you a bit about the history of the place - but you may have to order a couple more oysters for that.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
You're left to dress them yourself, whether you prefer dash of fiery tabasco or a few pickled shallots. But to be honest, they're delicious just as they come.
This spot is a real piece of Leeds history, and the queues at lunchtime as well as the repeat regular customers proves just how special it is.
All it's missing is a champagne stall next to it...now wouldn't that be perfect?
Emily Sergeant -
18th August 2023 
