A lot of people come over here with the impression that English food consists of grease, grease and more grease. This is not the case and you can find pretty much any kind of cuisine around the country, from deep fried Mars bars up North to Cornish Cream Teas! Mealtimes in Britain are quite varied. Breakfast is normally the first meal of the day, which is eaten before going to work or class. Most people tend to eat a light breakfast, consisting of cereal or toast. Alternatively, if you are feeling adventurous you could try a "full English" The definition of a full English breakfast varies from where you come from but includes something along the lines of sausages, bacon, eggs (normally fried) mushrooms, baked beans and tomatoes, plus toast and tea. You may also find people adding black pudding, hash browns or fried bread, depending on where they come from. Traditionally the Brits take a tea break, called elevenses, at around 11.00am. They would normally have a cup of tea and a biscuit. Lunchtime is anywhere between 12 and 2. Most people will eat a sandwich. Popular fillings include cheese and pickle, ham, egg mayonnaise, tuna and chicken. Some people go to the pub for a pub lunch. You can find things such as a ploughman's, or a soup and a sandwich. At the weekend, particularly on a Sunday people will have a Sunday lunch, where they sit down together as a family. Normally they would have a joint of meat, with potatoes and veg. The sauce is very important. Most meats are served with gravy, but lamb is often served with mint sauce, beef with horseradish sauce, and turkey with cranberry.

In the early afternoon people sometimes have tea, which is usually between about 3 and 5pm. People may drink tea, and often eat biscuits cakes or savoury foods such as sandwiches, crumpets, English muffins or tea-cakes. Occasionally people may have a full afternoon tea or a cream tea, which includes a scone with jam and cream as well as a selection of sandwiches and cakes. If you want to have a traditional English tea when you are in the UK then somewhere like Browns, or Claridges serve an excellent spread.

Dinner is eaten anytime between 6 and 8.00pm. Traditionally the meal would consist of meat and 2 veg. Now Britain has very varied taste, and many people eat in front of the TV, or get a take-away. Britain's most popular dish is curry. Dinner is normally followed by dessert, or pudding, which would be something sweet such as trifle or ice-cream.

Eating out can be a little expensive, and you might want to consider using a supermarket to buy basic provisions. For vegetarians - most food in restaurants as well as supermarkets is clearly labelled as to whether or not it is safe for vegetarian consumption. Some of the major supermarkets are listed below:

Tesco www.tesco.com
Tesco is the UK's largest retailer. They offer an excellent online delivery service if you are looking to order in bulk. You can often find money-off vouchers in-store, or online if you type in "Tesco online discount" They are very reasonably priced, and often have special offers that change on a weekly basis.  

Sainsbury's www.sainsburys.co.uk
Sainsbury's is very similar to Tesco, although they can sometimes be slightly more expensive. The prices in smaller stores are a lot higher than in Tesco.

Morrisons www.morrisons.co.uk
Morrisons is one of the budget supermarkets, and is not found very easily in the centre of London. The nearest store to the Anglo apartments is in Camden, or Holloway. They have the reputation for having quite poor customer service, but are cheap, and often have good quality fruit and veg.

Waitrose www.waitrose.com
Waitrose is probably the best out of the "quality" supermarkets, but it is going to be a bit more expensive than Tesco or Morrisons. You will find more unusual good, and they often have American products, such as tinned pumpkin.

Marks and Spencer www.marksandspencer.com
Marks is primarily a clothing store, but their food departments are also quite large. They are very good for ready meals, and the food is of a very high quality, but they are a lot more expensive than all of the other retailers.

Some foods that you might encounter, and like to try, are listed below:

Savoury foods

English Breakfast - The traditional English breakfast is not really eaten very much anymore, but you may be offered this at hotels, or see it on menus. It normally consists of sausage, bacon, fried eggs, mushroom and tomato. You may also see black pudding on the side.
Ploughman's - traditionally a farmers lunch but now popular in pubs and restaurants. Consists of cheese, bread, Branston pickle, and maybe a pork pie.
Sunday lunch - Previously it was always the custom for families to have a large meal at lunchtime on Sundays after Church. This has changed slightly but the general idea is still the same. It normally consists of roast meat (pork, beef or lamb) Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, roast parsnips, peas and carrots, all covered with gravy.  
Fish and Chips- Fish deep fried in batter, with proper chips are one of the firm favourites in the UK. You will see "fish and chips" advertised everywhere but the best are found in the dedicated fish and chip shops. You can also find things such as pickled onions, sausage in batter and various meat pies.
Shepherds Pie - Minced beef or lamb in gravy topped with mashed potato and baked in the oven
Steak and Kidney pudding - Steak and kidney in thick gravy encased in a suet pudding
Cornish pasty - pastry case stuffed with meat and folded over
Yorkshire Pudding - savoury batter pudding made with eggs, flour and milk
Toad in the Hole - Yorkshire pudding with sausages baked into it
Bubble and Squeak - patties made with leftover cabbage, potatoes and vegetables and then fried
Black pudding - sausage made from blood and cows fat
Haggis - Traditional Scottish dish made with sheep's stomach
Sausage roll - minced sausage in a light pastry case
Pork pie - heavy meat pie, often eaten at picnics
Scotch egg - hard-boiled egg wrapped in minced pork and breadcrumbs

Sweet foods (desserts or puddings)

Treacle pudding - sponge pudding topped with treacle and steamed
Victoria sponge - 2 sponge cakes layered with jam
Bread and butter pudding - made with left over or stale bread, which is buttered, soaked with milk and then raisins and sugar are added. It is then baked and served hot.
Mince pies - pastry cases enclosing a sweet mix of dried fruits, and mince
Spotted dick - Sponge pudding filled with raisins
Fruit Crumble - stewed fruit topped with a crumble mix made out of butter, flour, sugar and water
Trifle - sponge biscuits, jelly and fruit topped with custard and whipped cream. Often contains sherry
Cream Tea - Scones with jam and clotted cream normally served with other small cakes and possibly sandwiches