Ozzy Osbourne's Order At A Luxury Italian Chain Left Everyone Absolutely Baffled

The late metal legend Ozzy Osbourne was known for being more than a little peculiar. But while many celebrities have strange and specific rider requests before a performance (or are just generally eccentric), not many of them would order food the way Osbourne did in a 2013 trip to C London, an upscale Italian restaurant that's part of the Cipriani restaurants chain.

According to the original report from The Mirror, Osbourne was at dinner with his wife, Sharon, and some of her "X Factor" co-hosts when he told the server he was in the mood for a curry. The fancy Italian restaurant had no curry to offer him, but the rocker was undeterred, repeatedly telling the server (and the musician's befuddled dining companions) that he wanted a curry.

Because you don't just tell the godfather of heavy metal "no" if you can help it, the restaurant reportedly sent an employee to a nearby Indian restaurant to order takeaway curry for Osbourne. An employee told The Mirror at the time, "They rushed it back and served it up — still warm — on C-branded plates as the rest of the table were served their dinners. Ozzy was delighted."

While insisting on an Indian curry (which is distinct from Thai curry) at an Italian chain is certainly baffling, even for the Prince of Darkness, Ozzy Osbourne's love of curry is not unusual in the region. Curry is considered an adopted national dish by many Brits. In 2009, the BBC even called it "Britain's favourite food." Although classic chicken tikka masala is arguably the most popular dish, there are many different types of curry, virtually all of which are popular at Indian restaurants in the U.K.

There's no denying that Britain's long history of colonialism is a significant part of why curry is so popular there, and most of the curry houses in Britain are immigrant family-owned. While that has long meant delicious, generations-old family recipes, it has also made it difficult for restaurants to survive in economic uncertainty. According to The Guardian, the number of Indian restaurants in the U.K. declined from about 12,000 in 2011 to approximately 8,000 in 2023. But the demand for curry is still high from hungry Brits, and it's not going away anytime soon — whether or not diners are at an Indian restaurant.