6 Foods That Prove The Brits Really Have This Whole 'Drunk Food' Thing Figured Out

British food tends to get a bad rap. Even though Britain hosts some of the world's best fine dining restaurants, Indian restaurants, and steakhouses and is currently experiencing a craze for seasonal, local ingredients, Britain still has a reputation for its fried food, sausages, fish and chips, and the like. But you forget one thing: All of those crazy-unhealthy traditional British foods can trace their roots to pubs, which means that they make for perfect drunk food. Here are six quintessentially British drunk foods.

Curry Chips

The British chip — thicker, stubbier French fries — are at the core of British drunk food. (The chip butty, essentially a fry sandwich, is something we Americans will never quite understand.) One of the best ways to enjoy your chips is doused in curry sauce. Traditional chip shop curry sauce has a base of onion and apple, and it's fried up with curry powder and a little tomato sauce and thickened with a roux (a lot of supermarkets also sell a pre-made powder in a jar). It's almost better than ketchup.

Battered Jumbo Sausage

Just what it sounds like: an extra-long sausage link that's been dunked in the same batter used for fish and chips and deep-fried, usually served alongside fish and chips. It's a major hangover buster.

Scotch Egg

If you're out drinking and feel a pang of hunger, nothing will knock it down better than a hard-boiled egg that's been wrapped in loose sausage, breaded, and deep-fried.

Beans on Toast

Literally just canned Heinz beans on toast. Don't knock it till you've tried it.

Pie

No, not a fruit-filled pie, a savory one. Small enough for one person to eat with his or her hands but big enough to fill you up, the best pies are made with a beef-fat crust and are filled with such delicacies as, for instance, beef stew in a Guinness gravy.

Doner Kebab

We call this a gyro in the States, where it hasn't nearly achieved the same drunk food status as it has across the pond. And that's a shame. It's a giant slab of meat (usually individual chunks of marinated lamb or chicken, instead of the solid block we get here) slowly crisping up on a vertical spit, shaved off into a pita and topped with lettuce, tomato, a variety of other veggies, and white sauce.