Fast food, Euro-style

From fish 'n' chip to food trucks, there are many excellent (and inexpensive) British versions of fast food to try

Every country has its own equivalent—usually two or three equivalents, actually—of fast food.

Oh, sure, they all have McDonald's as well, but that's not what I mean. 

You don't need McDonald's. Not when the British Isles are flush with pubs where you can cozy up next to a fire, get a pint of ale, and dig into a hearty shepherd's pie (beef stew capped by mashed potatoes) or bangers and mash (sausage and those potatoes again).

In Ireland, the fire's likely to smell of rich peat and the main food is a toasted ham-and-cheese sandwich—toasted whilst still in its plastic wrapper. (No, seriously. Good, though.) 

You don't need McDonald's. Not when food trucks have taken over the streets of London and other British cities, serving up a United Nations of world cuisines and odd fusion foods.

You don't need McDonald's. Not when England has its chippies, where you get wonderfully greasy batter-fried cod, whitefish, even skate, and your fish is accompanied, as always, by a pile of chips (that's the word by which the Brits, due to some kind of transatlantic mix-up, call French fries, leaving potato chips to be called "crisps.") 

You know what? You don't need McDonald's at all. Forget I said anything about "Fast food." This is just delicious food that happened to be inexpensive and fairly quick.