Restaurants in Milton Keynes: things to know before you go

As a new town you’re unlikely to find that Milton Keynes has many ye olde type pubs lurking around the centre, but it still has plenty to offer. It has ample Chinese restaurants, vegan eateries and steakhouses, plus you don’t have to stray too far to find an older pub serving quality nosh. Read on to find out more about the best restaurants in town.

What are the top-rated restaurants in Milton Keynes?

There are plenty of great restaurants in Milton Keynes to choose from, so we’ve whittled it down to three of the best:

• Akasaka has locations in central Milton Keynes, Wolverton and Northampton. It serves a fusion of Japanese and Korean cuisine with dishes such as sushi, sashimi, grilled food, tempura and rice and noodles all gracing the menu.
• Antep Kitchen is one of several Turkish restaurants in Milton Keynes, providing tasty Mediterranean meals. If you show up in a group try the family platter, with adana kofte, chicken shish, lamb shish, chicken wings, lamb ribs served with bulgur rice and couscous and a fresh mixed cold meze.
• Papa J’s sounds like it’s going to serve you pizza, but it actually serves a delightful Indian take on tapas. The Milton Keynes location is the second in the business, and locals love it.

Where can I get afternoon tea in Milton Keynes?

For a modern town there’s a surprising number of cool cafes, hotels and top restaurants serving a scrumptious afternoon tea. Here are three of the best choices:

• Harben House offers a slightly boozier take on your traditional afternoon tea, serving it with a spot of prosecco – let’s raise a glass to that!
• Kopi and Krem is a Sri Lankan street food restaurant, which doesn’t seem like an obvious choice for an afternoon tea at first glance. Pay closer attention, though, because it serves a unique take on the meal with its ‘afternoon chai’, which comes in an Indian tiffin box style that contains street food, snacks and desserts.
• MGallery by Sofitel is set in a 19th century manor house with 100 acres of parkland around it, so you can enjoy your afternoon tea in the luxury it was meant for.

How many restaurants in Milton Keynes are there?

According to the Food Standards Agency there are 460+ restaurants in Milton Keynes at the time of writing, and they would know since they visit and inspect every single one of them.

The figure includes restaurants, cafes and canteens, so may not include pubs that serve food.

Amongst all these eateries you’ll find a plethora of delicious dishes to tempt your taste buds. From Michelin-starred dining, to fast food, posh French restaurants and everything in between, you won’t go hungry here.

Why is Indian food so popular in the UK?

Indian food was among the first ‘exotic’ cuisine to arrive in Britain from a far-flung region and it’s safe to say the UK quickly got the hots for it. Basically, as British tastes began to expand in the mid-20th century, Indian food in all its spicy deliciousness answered the demand, quickly making Indian food one of the UK’s favourite.

There have, of course, been strong connections between India and Britain for hundreds of years due to the British Empire’s presence in vast areas of the Indian sub-continent. The first-known appearance of a ‘curry’ in an English cookbook dates back to Hannah Glasse’s 1747 book The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy.

The first recorded curry house in England was the Hindoostanee Coffee House, established in 1810 by Sake Dean Mohamed.

It was the arrival of Indian and Pakistani migrants in the post-war period that really established Indian restaurants in the UK, however.