Are curries pasta their best?

But it looks as if they may have lost the crown to Italian cuisine.

More people are searching online for Italian than Indian restaurants, a survey reveals today.

Of more than 700,000 people monitored by a local business search engine, 13 per cent were looking for an Italian restaurant in their neighbourhood compared with 11.6 per cent seeking an Indian.

Tamer Ozmen, chief executive of touchlocal.com, said: “No more is vindaloo the undisputed national dish of Britain.

“Italian cuisine has replaced the hot favourite as the nation’s number one restaurant choice.

“Even in the takeaway stakes, Indian fare plummeted.”

The website, basing its findings on the first two weeks of this year, also found that Britons are becoming more adventurous when it comes to food, searching for Colombian, Nepalese and African cuisine.

Mr Ozmen said: “Britons are moving away from established cuisine to more adventurous tastes in line with international travelling habits.

“As people go to exotic places, they want to enjoy that local food when they are back home in Britain.

“For example, we are already noticing new searches for Colombian, Nepalese and African food.”

The arrival in Britain of new immigrants is also playing its part in the move to different cuisines.

“A secondary upward trend is for Polish and Eastern European restaurants in line with migration patterns,” said Mr Ozmen.

The website, founded in 1999, has two million unique users each month and they review, rate and recommend local businesses and services. It claims to be Britain’s fastest growing local business search engine.

Mr Ozmen said: “Many people now go online as a first port of call for making a change in their life or when looking for inspiration.

“So, by assessing search terms and recommendations posted by the touchlocal.com community, we are able to quickly identify upcoming behavioural trends.”