Desserts in general are huge in the Middle East (particularly in Qatar). I remember cupcakes featuring heavily in the best Dubai malls, and a lot of the desserts eaten in the swanky cafes on the Pearl in Qatar seem to be quite cupcakeish.

I think we might have hit "peak burger" in the UK in the last 6 months or so. I feel like the banh mi is still on its way in, so that would be quite a welcome move if it replaced the hamburger.

The big trend at the moment is potentially bubbletea - It's been imported to Europe in the last year or so (having been previously only in chinatowns) and for some odd reason is taking the place by storm. We could really do with some decent Mexican food too.

This BBC article on the bubble tea phenomenon in Britain was published quite recently

The four-year spread of bubble tea across the UK

The intriguing part of the story for me is the photograph showing a boba tea drinking competition in Germany. Never seen anything like the rainbow striped little balls in the competitors' tea.

Anyone know what they are?

Edit - also has it's own Dining Buzz thread here. Been around for quite some time and still picking up steam. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/dinin...ubble-tea.html

i'd say they hit the USA around turn of millenium.... 2000 and still doing decent 14 years later

I keep hoping that it's vegetables. ;) :D

I feel the same about cupcakes. For the money I'd rather have a slice of cake or pie. The bigger form factor of a cake or pie allows for flavors to be combined in more ways than simply two inches of colorful frosting heaped atop dull cake.

Couldn't agree more.

Yes! ^

They're far too rich to be using to make a burger.

Anything containing kale.

I 100% agree with the cupcakes. Expensive..


I hope Froyo doesnt die out. I feel the market is over saturated though

Those 5 minute pizza places are pretty damn good for the time it too to make them.

And i 100% agree with slapping organic, gourmet, etc on something and then jacking up the price w/o a quality increase. like why...

^

Quinoa you are no longer welcome

For some reason, I found the gourmet cupcake trend incredibly irritating. I won't mourn its passing.

I wouldn't be surprised if the fro-yo market thins out substantially. There was a big fro-yo trend in the nineties, too, but then all of those places just disappeared.

I'd bet on the pizza places--customization is hot right now, pizza never goes out of style, and it's a lot easier than 6 people with different dislikes trying to figure out what toppings are mutually acceptable.

Yes, I agree that brioche (and any big, poofy sandwich buns, for that matter) can't go away soon enough.

^^^^

I would go beyond that, and wish for an end to the demonization of specific ingredients: gluten! Sugar! Dairy! Fat! Baaaaaaaaaaad! (We all keep waiting for it to come around to vegetables, but somehow it never does.)

I have found one upside to the anti-gluten trend--increased marketing of hard cider in the U.S., because unlike beer, it's gluten-free! (And yes, it is--often prominently--labeled as such.)