BritBox, a new Netflix-like streaming service geared at British expats and Anglophiles, lets users pick and choose whatever they want from over 2,000 hours of UK TV shows for $6.99 per month. If you’re a fan of detective dramas, period pieces, and classic UK comedies like Fawlty Towers and Absolutely Fabulous, you’ll likely find a bunch of things to pique your interest here. The service also has a decent selection of food-related shows, some of which have never been available to U.S. viewers before. Here’s what’s on BritBox for food and restaurant obsessives:
• Nigellissima: Nigella Lawson cooks iterations of Italian favorites on this BBC show, which originally aired in 2012. Across its seven episodes, Nigella offers recipes for things like fregola with clams, stuffed pork loin, eggs in purgatory, and coffee ice cream. This series aired on the Cooking Channel after its original run in the UK, but BritBox has a Christmas special that’s never been seen in America before.
• Rachel Khoo's Kitchen Notebook: London: Cookbook author/lifestyle guru Rachel Khoo cooks dishes inspired by London, where she was born and raised. One episode focuses on the city’s artisan scene, while another features dishes from Chinatown. This BBC show also had a run on the Cooking Channel.
• Hairy Bikers: Si King and Dave Myers are two middle-aged dudes who travel all over England on their motorcycles, with frequent pitstops at food shops, bakeries, and restaurants. It’s kind of like a UK sibling to Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, but each season has a different theme. Britbox has one season where Si and Dave ride across Europe in search of the best baked goods, and another where they explore “everyday gourmet” experiences.
• The Restaurant Inspector: Fernando Peire, the director of London celebrity hangout the Ivy, helps struggling restaurants bounce back. It’s kind of like a high-minded version of Kitchen Nightmares, except this show focuses more on the front-of-the-house operations than the action in the kitchen.
BritBox also has a food-themed documentary series called Supermarket Secrets, a cooking show about the Irish coast called Rachel’s Coastal Cooking, and two series that cover the lives of farmers in the English countryside. For more ideas on what to watch, check out Eater’s guide to food TV shows and documentaries on the big streaming services.
• Britbox [Official]
• British TV streaming service BritBox launches in U.S. [Tech Crunch]
• All Coverage of Food TV [E]