When it comes to food trends, the focus is frequently on the next best thing, but these days nostalgia and comfort are driving a comeback for the dishes of yesteryear. From baked Alaska to beef Wellington, “grandma food” is back in vogue on restaurant menus and on social media, where old-school dishes are racking up millions of views.
In December, chef Tommy Banks dedicated an entire collaboration menu with Uber Eats to classic dishes such as prawn cocktail and Glamorgan sausage, while Great British Bake Off star Briony May Williams’s debut cookbook, The Retro Recipe Society, champions timeless recipes including sticky toffee pudding and toad-in-the-hole. “Food has the power to take us back to simpler times,” she says, “and I think that appeals to people at the moment when the world is so complicated”.
Here are seven old-fashioned British dishes enjoying a culinary comeback.
Pineapple upside-down cake
Popularised in the 1920s when a recipe competition run by Dole (of pineapple ring fame) prompted plenty of entries for an upside-down cake using the fruit. It became an American favourite, thanks to its simplicity, only to be replaced by more elaborate sweet treats – but its Instagrammable appeal and affordability have helped it make a comeback. In December, popular food blogger In Jamie’s Kitchen declared a recipe for it her most-viewed of 2025, thanks to the fact it’s “easy, delicious, and brings ALL the nostalgia”. Pineapple upside-down cake is all over social media, as well as on James Martin’s Saturday Kitchen, thanks to chef Ronnie Murray’s “retro classic”.
Try our recipe here.
Prawn cocktail
A creation supposedly dreamt up by a 19th-century California miner who mixed his oysters with a cocktail of ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and spices to create an “oyster cocktail”. Fanny Cradock is credited with popularising the prawn version in the UK in the 1960s, but despite becoming a staple hors d’oeuvre at restaurants and dinner parties, its popularity waned in the 1980s as people saw it as outdated and naff. Not so much now. These days chefs from James Martin and Jack Stein to Marcus Wareing and John Torode have a recipe or video showing how to make the perfect PC, while the seafood cocktail served at Rosi in Mayfair, London, is “as magnificent as it is retro,” says Telegraph critic William Sitwell. On social media, prawn cocktail is unashamedly loaded into tacos, rolls and “cups” of lettuce leaves.
Try our recipe here.
Devilled eggs
The history of devilled eggs can be traced back to Spanish stuffed eggs in the 13th century, and perhaps even further back to Roman times. The modern approach of mixing cooked egg yolks with mayonnaise emerged in the late 19th century, with the addition of spicy seasoning (mustard, paprika and cayenne) inspiring the “devilled” name. Piped back into the hull of the egg whites, this once outmoded invention is back, with all sorts of incarnations racking up millions of views across TikTok and Instagram. You can enjoy a devilled egg (with caviar, no less) at Prince Arthur in Belgravia, London, while at Embers in Shropshire, tuck into a Chinese devilled egg with kewpie mayo, crispy chilli oil and toasted sesame seeds.
Try our recipe here.
Glamorgan sausage
This vegetarian sausage – made from cheese, leeks and breadcrumbs – hails from south Wales and is believed to date back to the mid-19th century (perhaps even earlier). It was during the Second World War, when meat was heavily rationed, that it became a household favourite, only to fade in popularity over the following decades. In February 2025 a study by Ninja predicted it would become “extinct”, but Tommy Banks saw fit to revive the recipe for his recent Uber Eats menu, tapping into the current trend for frugal cooking and traditional recipes.
Try our recipe here.
Duchess potatoes
Pommes de terre duchesse originated in France in the 18th century, apparently in a bid to make potatoes more appealing to nobility. The piped and baked potato creations went on to become synonymous with French haute cuisine and were a classic side dish at state dinners, including at the White House. Their aesthetically-pleasing appearance makes them perfect social media fodder today, with creators including “potato queen” Poppy Cooks dedicating how-to videos to the method (hers has generated 14,000 likes on TikTok alone). Meanwhile Jamie Oliver encouraged his Facebook followers to embrace the Eighties in a recent demo of the recipe.
Try our recipe here.
Faggots
Faggots grew popular in the 19th century as a cheap, nutritious meal for rural, working-class communities. They used all parts of an animal and were a calorie-heavy meal that could be cooked in bulk and kept warm, ready to be scoffed. Like the Glamorgan sausage they gained popularity during Second World War rationing but declined in popularity thereafter (despite the efforts of the well-known brand Mr Brain’s, from Bristol). Thanks to the growing focus on nose-to-tail eating, faggots are back on the menu and fully back in favour – not least at Michelin-rated Bull’s Head in Craswell, where hogget faggots are served with braised lentils and stout gravy. Marco Pierre White recently shared his rave review of the faggots at the Welsh House in Cardiff on Instagram, calling it a “proper lunch” – something we’re all craving in 2026.
Try our recipe here.
Arctic roll
This dessert of vanilla ice cream with raspberry sauce wrapped in sponge cake has yo-yoed in popularity since its invention by Dr Ernest Velden, a Czech immigrant, in Eastbourne around 1958. It was still all the rage when Birds Eye took it to supermarkets in 1970, until the company stopped production in 1997. However, the retro favourite was revived in 2008 thanks to customer demand. In 2023 Ocado reported that sales had risen by 143 per cent and interest hasn’t waned, judging by versions created by chefs including Jamie Oliver, who served up a chocolate orange arctic roll in his Cook-Ahead Christmas series in December. There has been a twist on the classic at Cotswold gastropub The Wild Rabbit, in Kingham, which incorporates sweet woodruff. Even M&S dragged arctic roll into this decade, with a Swiss-roll-fusion frozen dessert in the form of an Arctic Colin the Caterpillar.
Try our recipe here.
Vol-au-vents
These bite-sized delights star in Briony Williams’s book but are also flooding the internet thanks to their versatility when it comes to fillings. The name “means flight in the wind, referring to the light and airy puff pastry that makes up the case,” explains Williams, who adds: “I could write an entire book just on fun fillings for the vol-au-vent!” She settles on smoky chickpea and zesty avocado in The Retro Recipe Society (Found, £24.99), but these days you might see smoked mackerel with rhubarb versions at the Sardine Factory in Looe, or crab and caviar at the wine and snack bar Isla in Stirchley, Birmingham. Want to go the whole hog? London’s Mount Street Restaurant runs a menu starring not only vol-au-vent pies but Portland crab cocktail, lamb faggot and devilled kidney omelette. Now that’s a culinary comeback.
Try our recipe here.