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Takeaways have taken their time in catching up with the rest of the current British eating scene, but things are changing fast. Largely driven by critical, demanding, concerned and mostly urban eaters, who are ready and willing to pay for good, unadulterated, home-produced food, takeaways are suddenly looking grown-up, smart and more than simply a default mode after a night on the tiles or a necessary lunchtime evil.

Fish and chip shops, burger bars, hot potato stalls and sandwich shops have modernised, improved and stepped into the 21st century. Takeaway food has never looked so good, with the choice now extended to soups and stews, ready-meals and desserts alongside the traditional sandwich, often packaged in stylish, environmentally friendly wrappings. Not every takeaway, however, has sharpened its act, by any means: the old rancid, fat-frying emporia, doner kebabs of uncertain origin, microwaved meat pies, ubiquitous vendors of cardboard sarnies (petrol stations have a lot to answer for!) and onion-reeking, hot dog vans are still wearily widespread, but there are enough genuine alternatives to show there is another way. With a little care, the consumer can now choose between takeaway Indian tiffin, Japanese sushi or organic soup and salad. Surely, it's a no-brainer these days to decide between the instant gratification of a real bread baguette filled with artisan cheese and rare-breed ham and the transient appeal of an industrial chicken wrap served at eskimo-friendly temperatures.

Local restaurants, especially Chinese and Indian, have long offered a takeaway option, and now others are branching out in the desire to offer ever more customer value in an increasingly competitive food world. In fact, there is a fine line now between a restaurant that will offer takeaways ready-prepared to heat up or cook at home (aka dinner party home deliveries), cooked-meals-for-the-freezer shops, and eat-on-the-spot or back-at-the-office fast food outlets. They are all dedicated to giving us high quality, fast, fuss-free eating.

The essence of a good takeaway is convenience, speed, good ingredients, skilful cooking, freshness and, arguably, romance. Nothing, for example, tastes better than really good, fresh fish and chips, golden, glistening with salt, sprinkled with vinegar, eaten on the prom as you shelter from a traditional summer downpour. Perhaps, with global warming, that nostalgic image will be replaced with grilled sardines and pissaladiere, but it's still the yardstick by which all our takeaways must be measured.

by Clarissa Hyman