In recent years, food trends felt the weight of the cost-of-living crisis and the pandemic. But for 2025, there’s a refreshing return to fun. Diners are rewriting the rules and having a blast. They’re grabbing fancy stuffed sandwiches for lunch. They’re sipping craft limoncello. Also, they’re diving into sports betting Zambia while they eat. Eating crisps in high-end restaurants is also a growing trend. Chefs, retailers, and food influencers give some unexpected old favorites new life. TikTok, in particular, keeps shaping what’s trending on our plates. Many food trends are moving from the app to grocery store shelves. Here’s a quick look at the cocktails and Korean drinks we’ll enjoy more next year.
Supercharged Sandwiches
In the UK, supercharged sandwiches are quickly becoming the go-to lunch choice. Gourmet sandwiches have been popular, but this new trend is changing. In 2024, London buzzed about Sandwich Sandwich. People lined up for its vast, extravagant sandwiches. Rogue Sarnies and Dom’s Subs have created a strong fan base with their amazing sandwiches. Manchester has Fat Pat’s, and Leeds has Silver’s Deli. This trend is due to social media, where crazy sandwiches go viral fast. A New York deli named Seven Brothers Gourmet made headlines in the U.S. with its pickle sandwich. Instead of bread, they use a giant sliced pickle! Chopped sandwiches have also been all over TikTok lately. Sandwich Sandwich is planning to launch the largest sandwich shop in the UK at London’s Fenchurch Street by 2025. Plus, Milan’s famous De Santis paninis are coming to London too.
Clarified Cocktails
Clarified cocktails are popular in New York and London. They have now reached bar menus around the world. Check out the ghosted colada at Alleybar in Singapore. Another option is to gamble at The Living Room in Masque, Mumbai. The gamble is a clear cooler with pisco, mezcal, celery leaf, guava, ginger, and sea buckthorn. Some bartenders wonder if clarification is a visual trick. But this trend is here to stay. There’s a market for clarified cocktails that you can drink right away. A good example is the Invisible Lychee Martini from Myatt Field’s Cocktails.
Crisps on Restaurant Menus
Crisps are the trendy snack in London restaurants. Chefs are turning this simple treat into gourmet delights. Oma/Agora in London Bridge is one of the year’s hottest new places. They serve hot potato crisps with a range of fresh Greek dips. On the other side of the Thames, Toklas offers handmade salt and oregano crisps. They top them with mussels escabeche. You can enjoy crisps in Fitzrovia in July with a currywurst spice mix. Leydi, the new Turkish restaurant, serves crisps. They are topped with Baharat spices, sumac, garlic, and parsley.
Pimped-up Instant Noodles
Instant noodles are trending again, thanks to TikTok. People are adding fancy toppings to make them more exciting. Sales of instant noodles have jumped 50% on Ocado’s website in the UK. Searches for toppings like chili oil, nori, and crispy onions are rising, too.
Some popular social media recipes are:
- A simple mix of garlic, butter, eggs, and soy sauce.
- Ramen carbonara with spicy Korean Buldak noodles.
Bookshop Bars
In 2024, listening bars were a significant new trend. This year, it’s all about bookshop bars — places that are part bookshop, part café, part library, and part bar. They’re a relaxed, old-school answer to our digital world, with many banning laptops and Wi-Fi after 5 PM. Instead, they offer events, book readings, and happy hour drinks. You can enjoy craft beers at Liz’s Book Bar in Brooklyn. Also, check out the special Riesling wine menu at Golden Sardine in San Francisco. The UK is getting in on the fun, too. Places like Gulp Fiction in Oxford, BookBar in Finsbury Park, and The Last Bookstore in Glasgow are popular. They offer small plates and literary-themed cocktails. Plus, The Last Bookstore has 8,000 books to browse.
Korean Sool
Korean culture continues to make waves worldwide, from its movies and music to its cuisine. But sool, a range of Korean alcoholic drinks, hasn’t gained as much traction in other countries yet. Interest is rising. Soju, a distilled rice spirit, is gaining popularity in the UK. In 2024, Jinro soju sales soared. Now, you can find it at Sainsbury’s and Ocado. A craft movement of independent makgeolli producers is on the rise. Yunguna Brewery in Copenhagen can now ship to the UK. New York has Hana Makgeolli, while Seattle offers Rainbrew.
Haute Dogs
Hot dogs are popular in the US. They had a short run in the UK in 2012. That’s when Bubbledogs, a hot dog and champagne bar, opened. It closed in 2020. Now, hot dogs are making a comeback. Jason Atherton’s Hot Dogs by Three Darlings has opened at Harrods. They offer fancy choices like The Texican. It’s topped with guacamole, chipotle, and tortilla chips. In London, visit Engel. They have a hot dog trolley with German sausages. Top them with truffle mayo, Gruyère, fig jam, and crispy onions. New wine bar Quill is also getting in on the trend, offering hot dogs covered in cheese and mustard fondue. In 2025, Rake will run The Compton Arms in Islington. They will offer Cumberland sausage hot dogs with rich French dip gravy.
Specialist Seaweed
According to Whole Foods Market’s 2025 trends report, interest in different types of seaweed is rising. This includes sea moss and duckweed. They are celebrated for their health benefits and sustainability. In the US, new seaweed products include sea moss mango juice, kelp salsa, and sea moss gummies. Interest is also rising in the UK. Câr-Y-Môr, a sustainable seaweed farm in Wales, now offers seaweed ketchup, pesto, and spice mixes. Chefs are embracing seaweed. At Mountain, Tomos Parry mixes Câr-Y-Môr sea kelp into his crab omelette. At Aulis, Simon Rogan pairs seaweed custard with tendons, Scottish girolles, and roasted beef broth.
Conclusion
In 2025, food culture embraces creativity, nostalgia, and indulgence. It’s a time for new ideas and cherished memories on our plates. This year is all about fun food. You can try gourmet hot dogs, sip clarified cocktails, or enjoy the newest viral snacks.