How fast food became fine dining: Lobster kebabs, deer curry and foie gras burgers show that even the most basic dishes have now gone gourmet
Britain has undergone a food revolution in recent years, with fine dining becoming more and more popular as the country develops a greater appreciation for a variety of cuisines.
Now the appetite for more adventurous eating seems to have spread to fast food, with burgers, hot dogs, curries and even kebabs undergoing a makeover - and getting an inflated price tag to match.
And the dishes are increasingly paired with fine wines by customers who are adamant that fast food can challenge even the most luxurious of traditional restaurants.
Going upmarket: This squid kebab on a wrap stained with squid ink is one of the gourmet meals offered by Le Bab, a new restaurant in Central London
FROM 'DIRTY DONERS' TO SEAFOOD SPECTACULARS
An innovative new restaurant aims to rescue the reputation of the classic late-night guilty pleasure, insisting that kebabs can be a 'fine-dining dish' - and charging a price to match.
Le Bab, whose head chef used to work at Michelin-starred Le Gavroche, offers elaborate kebabs featuring ingredients such as venison, lobster and grouse for up to £14 a dish.
And the restaurant in Soho, Central London has a wine list to match - with a well-stocked cellar of rare vintages costing up to £2,000.
The concept is the brainchild of two 26-year-old Oxford graduates - Stephen Tozer, who previously worked in private equity, and Ed Brunet, who trained as a chef at Le Gavroche under Michel Roux Jr.
Typical dishes include roe deer kebab with kimchi and Jerusalem artichoke, or pork shawarma with winter salad and burnt quince puree.
'Kebabs have descended further than anything else' Mr Tozer told MailOnline. 'There is nothing worse than a dirty doner.
Adventurous: Another dish involves half a pig's head which is then cut up and divided into individual wraps
'People don't think of kebabs as something that can be gastronomic - kebabs are something that can very easily be taken as "dude food", greasy but delicious. We are trying to say this is fundamentally a fine-dining dish.'
The restaurateurs plan to change their menu with the seasons - and in future the range of meats will include monkfish, lobster, grouse and octopus.
Le Bab also encourages kebab fans to pair their food with fine wines - boasting a wine list which ranges from budget options such as Riesling from the Czech Republic and Slovenian Chardonnay, up to a range of rarities priced between £100 and £2,000.
THE FOIE GRAS BURGER IN A FIVE-STAR HOTEL
Burgers were perhaps the first category of fast food to be dragged upmarket, with high street diners routinely paying upwards of a tenner for a patty made with quality beef.
The growing popularity of chains such as Gourmet Burger Kitchen, Byron, Five Guys and Shake Shack means that pricier burgers are routinely competing with the likes of McDonald's.
Meaty: The BB Burger at Bar Boulud, in the Mandarin Oriental hotel, incorporates foie gras into the dish
But at some haute cuisine restaurants, the burger has been elevated even higher and sits alongside other top-class dishes on expensive menus.
Perhaps the most glamorous burger in the UK is the 'BB' at Bar Boulud, in the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Knightsbridge, which combines the usual beef with foie gras and horseradish mayonnaise.
The burger, which comes in at £24, is made with short rib rather than cheaper cuts of mince or mechanically removed meat, which is used at some budget burger joints.
Gourmet: Bubbledogs serves high-quality hot dogs which it pairs with a wide selection of champagne
STREET FOOD THAT NEEDS A SOMMELIER
Hot dogs - the ultimate street food - are usually paired with fizzy drinks rather than pricey wines.
But one London restaurant has become notorious for offering the popular sausage snack along with a glass of vintage champagne.
Bubbledogs, which opened three years ago, has nothing on its menu except hot dogs and a handful of sides dishes such as sweet potato fries.
Among the hot dogs on offer are a breakfast-themed one with fried egg, bacon and black pudding, a version with chorizo and caper aioli, and a sausage served with mango chutney.
The restaurant has an extensive champagne list, with dozens of different varieties starting at £6 a glass but including a number of luxury options up to around £200.
THIS ISN'T YOUR MOTHER'S MAC AND CHEESE...
For many people, macaroni and cheese holds a special place in their heart as a comfort food that could always cheer them up in childhood after a miserable day.
In most homes it is usually made with basic pasta and cheap American cheese, or even from a box which provides the whole meal if you just add water.
But for the oligarch who fancies a taste of nostalgia, the Social Eating House in Soho serves an £18 version of the homely, stodgy meal.
The restaurant's rendition of mac and cheese is glammed up with two types of cheese, Montgomery cheddar - made by a Somerset farming family - as well as Parmesan.
It also features chanterelle mushrooms and 'shaved mushroom' which is apparently meant to evoke truffles, one of the most expensive ingredients available.
WILD BOAR AND SCALLOPS REPLACE VINDALOO AND TIKKA
Curry house: Gymkhana offers Indian dishes such as guinea fowl pepper fry, left, and wild boar vindaloo, right
Curry houses have traditionally drawn much of their trade from laddish men who enjoy wolfing down an extra-spicy Indian meal accompanied by lashings of beer.
They have thrived by offering heavy, oily food, often with just small tweaks to a basic formula which produce a large menu of only slightly different dishes.
But a new generation of South Asian restaurants have aimed to transform the way we look at curry, by offering a much greater range of regional specialities and subtle dishes.
A few restaurants have taken the dish into the realm of fine dining - for example Gymkhana in Mayfair, which draws on surprising ingredients to appeal to a wealthy customer base.
Gymkhana's seven-course tasting menu includes curries such as turkey tikka, wild boar vindaloo and aromatic scallops.
The establishment also offers a £90 'biryani feast', with rice dishes which incorporate goat and wild muntjac deer.
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