Diners growing tired of hipster food trends

A survey of 2,000 British diners found that just five per cent would choose a restaurant based on whether trending dishes or ingredients were on the menu.

Those aged 18-24 were also less likely to choose a restaurant based on whether they served popular products than those aged 35-44.

Bookatable says the survey showed diners were suffering from ‘food fatigue’ and turning their backs on fads such as freakshakes, green juices and chocolate avocado mousse.

Sustainability, local sourcing and handling of food waste were more important for the majority of people when choosing where to eat, the study found.

“We’re moving away from fad trends, and moving towards small, family-run restaurants with high quality products, or even restaurants that use local and sustainable ingredients,” says Michal Markowski, manager at Cucina G&V in Edinburgh.

“We change our menu at least once every season, making sure to add special menus based on popularity and guest feedback, which do tend to be more traditional dishes, all with a homemade twist.”

Bookatable found that the most popular restaurants booked through its platform in the last quarter tended to shy away from faddy dishes.

Those topping the list include Aqua Shard, Hutong, OXO Tower Brasserie, Tredwells and Jamie’s Italian.

“Despite the countless predictions that the ‘hipster’ food trend is here to stay; we now know that we’re growing tired of this ‘trend’, and most importantly, it isn’t influencing menus as much as we first thought,” says Josephine Ellis, head of communications at Bookatable Europe.