Australians are turning to unique comfort foods to provide relief from the social isolation inflicted by COVID-19, but our national picks for quarantine cuisine are not the greasy and sweet comfort foods you might have expected.

National searches for breakfast and brunch are soaring on the Uber Eats app, up nearly 100 percent from the same time last year, and the early morning munchies have bitten harder in the suburbs than in the city surrounds.

In moments of lockdown we’ve discovered searches for “Vegan” are down, while “Comfort Food” and “Dessert” have broken through into the top searches. 

Since social distancing took hold, families have been turning to their takeaway treats earlier than before the pandemic. With the work-home commute no longer delaying their need for a culinary treat from their favourite local restaurant Australians are moving towards earlier dining times – more concentrated towards 6pm than before the pandemic which witnessed more dining spread across the evening towards 8pm.

Melbourne’s most popular meal from independent restaurants is the Halal Snack Pack, a trend mirrored by the Gold Coast, Geelong and Canberra. While there’s a bonanza on butter chicken in Brisbane as Sydney’s local legends are cranking out Pad Thai. Hobart bucks the trend with sustained activity towards healthier search terms. 

We’ve also witnessed more Australians relying on our convenience offering with orders for everyday essentials such as bread, eggs, milk and toilet paper up more than 60 percent in the last couple of months.

Full cream milk continues to be a popular go-to nationwide, with Caltex’s Star Mart Full Cream Milk the most ordered everyday essential in Victoria and South Australia; a trend mirrored with BP’s Whole Milk, being the most popular everyday item in NSW, Queensland and WA.

Eaters are showing their deep appreciation for local restaurants and delivery partners during this period of lockdown with tipping up for delivery partners. The new restaurant tipping feature was only introduced in April but already more than 17 thousand restaurant partners have received a tip.

Uber Eats has matched these tips dollar for dollar, turning $1 million of eater tips into a $2 million payment for restaurants in the first few weeks since the program went live.