It’s the thorny issue which leaves the nation in disarray every weekend. Curry or Chinese? And according to new research, as many as 40% of British couples are locked in a bitter takeaway war, routinely coming to blows over what to order.
The findings have been released as Deliveroo launches Food Market in the UK, allowing Brits to order from multiple restaurants in just one order, so they can get starters from an Indian and a pizza for mains – hopefully putting an end to the dicey issue of what to order for dinner. Food Market launched in London in September and will now be rolled out across the UK.
The nationwide survey by Deliveroo has revealed UK couples order an average of two takeaways a week, taking an average of 16 minutes to deliberate over what to choose.
But it would appear, when it comes to ordering in, it pays to be a same-sex couple - as women prefer Chinese (29% of females chose it as their all-time favourite) and men prefer Indian (24%).
The winners of the takeaway wars appear to be women, who manage to they get what they want 63% of the time, compared to men who say they only get their choice 37% of occasions.
Overall, Chinese remains the favourite, with 26% of people voting for it, with Indian coming second (22%), pizza in fourth place (12%) and fish and chips landing fourth place (13%).
But the constant carping between couples means that for one in every ten takeaways - one partner refuses to eat what has been chosen.
Four percent of Brits even admit throwing food across the room because they don’t like what has been chosen while eight percent have sulked for over a day and two percent have even split up with someone because they didn’t get their way on the order.
The most common cause of disagreement was timing with 30% of rows caused by people just not wanting what their partner wanted at the time.
One in five rows are down to someone wanting spicier food than their partner while the cost of the food causes 17% of rows and one person in the couple being on a diet causes 12% of arguments.
Dan Warne, UK and Ireland Managing Director at Deliveroo, said, “The number one thing Deliveroo customers ask us for is the ability to order from multiple restaurants in one order, with Food Market we’re making that a reality – so now everyone can get exactly what they want ”
Forty percent of couples admit to having compromised and ordered two takeaways in one night to keep everyone content.
Chinese food won once more as the sexiest takeaway with 22% saying it was most likely to lead to a night of passion, however after that, Italian food (not pizza) stormed into second place with 19%. Indian came in third with 15% and pizza was after in 13%.
As you get older, the ordering clearly gets more into a groove as only 6 percent of over 60s have ever rowed about their order (compared to the national average of 40%) and perhaps not surprisingly, none of them will admit not eating what they are given.
Regionally, Glasgow was the city most likely to fall out over food choice with 54% of people admitting to rowing about what to choose.
Food Market is powered by Deliveroo Editions, super kitchens that host some of Britain’s best restaurant brands and street food vendors.