But that's all changed. These days consumers are far more likely to make a day of it when they go shopping - perhaps sitting down to lunch in a coffee shop, such as Costa or Starbucks, or to dinner at one of the casual dining restaurants which are continuing to succeed in the marketplace. Food courts are more often being phased out and replaced with individual catering units, operated by the likes of Nandos, La Tasca and Pizza Express - where people can sit down and dine in a relaxed environment. And often these restaurants are located in one designated area of the mall.

Westfield is breaking the mould with its Eat Central concept in Derby. Here, they're putting a new upmarket spin on the typical food court/fast food set-up as people can sit, watch their food being cooked and enjoy the entertaining atmosphere.

Tracey Mills of Davis Coffer Lyons says: "Landlords are responding to consumers' increased interest in food as a result of cookery programmes and other media. The result is the integration of a wide range of food outlets into their schemes."

At Westfield London, for example, Mills says more than 10 per cent of the scheme is dedicated to catering, where in the past that would have probably been limited to roughly 3 per cent.

Jonathan Doughty of Coverpoint says that today most shopping centres in the UK turn 8 to 10 per cent or more of their space over to catering, a figure that has grown from an average of 4 to 6 per cent 15 years ago. However, he points out that in Europe, 12 to 14 per cent of space is dedicated to A3 usage while in Dubai, the Middle East and North Africa that increases to a figure in the range of 20 per cent.

"In the UK we'll be getting up to 20 per cent," Doughty reckons. "I've long been a fan of the fact that shopping centres are about shopping, entertainment and experience, so we should really call them 'experience centres'. It's a combination of shopping, eating and leisure activities, of browsing and social interaction. If you look at other centres around the world, they're a focal point of their communities. It's more about social interaction - eating and drinking and socialising. If it wasn't a social thing we'd do our shopping online."

The end result is happier shoppers, longer dwell times and frequent visits, with shopping centres staying open much later to take advantage of the evening economy.

So with consumers' expectations now so high, how do developers ensure today's savvy shopper chooses to visit their scheme?

Developers are introducing various catering concepts in their new schemes. Davis Coffer Lyons is working with Westfield London on introducing another Eat Central concept, but in line with its sociodemographic. Meanwhile, at Liverpool One, Grosvenor has a terrace offering branded restaurants, family-friendly restaurants inside the cinema complex, and more aspirational outlets around the park, with external access to attract the evening trade. In addition, existing centres are catching on to the importance placed on catering. For example, Bullring Birmingham is changing some of its retail units back into A3 usage.

One of the key trends is the overlap between food and retail. Carluccio's, for example, has been going from strength to strength with its concept of casual dining alongside a deli counter/retail set-up. While its profits are led by the restaurant, Tony Horton, of Tricon food service consultants, says Carluccio's maintains the deli as a point of difference.

"A lot of retail in restaurants is there to make them unique and bring something different to the marketplace, rather than something commercially viable in its own right," explains Horton.

But while introducing something different is valuable to an asset, Mills adds that it's just as important for consumers to understand what a new concept is all about. Yo! Sushi, for example, had little success when it first opened in Bluewater. People saw the dishes whirling around on a conveyor belt and didn't know what they had to do, so they avoided the outlet. By contrast, now the concept is well known, it's central mall position is proving hugely successful. "It was perhaps four years ahead of its time," says Mills. "It's all about location and timing. Yo! Sushi is embraced to a far greater extent nationwide than it was six years ago."

Horton agrees that some concepts are introduced ahead of their time. He points to the Whole Foods Market that has come across from America and recently opened a huge department-style store in Kensington. While he says upmarket customers are becoming more concerned with sustainability issues, he believes the Whole Foods concept is still a little ahead of the game.

According to Horton, people are not understanding the concept on their first visit. When he went, it took him two hours of shopping to understand what a Whole Foods Market is aiming to achieve and what its values are. "It's getting criticism because people don't know what it's about," he says.

But sustainability is definitely a trend that other stores are gearing up for. M&S has introduced its Simply Food range, and Horton says Tricon has been working with various clients, including department stores, who want to change their food provenance offer to focus more on local supply and sustainability.

Horton points to Benugos, which is a new, upmarket fast food offer, mainly providing made-to-order sandwiches. "There's a greater demand now for made-to-order sandwiches rather than boxed sandwiches. Benugos is trading in St Pancras and I think it's one of the most successful units in there. Supermarkets are having to adapt to this type of trend. They're being given a hard time and will have to change. The anchor stores are also having to alter the way they behave. There was a time where they would have a café that was all things to all people, but now they're becoming more specialised, with a greater range of cafés, juice bars and snacks offering quality food and drink.

"We're also moving away from satisfying basic sustenance needs and towards eating for pleasure, as a treat, in shopping centres. Good food is seen as a form of entertainment and that's why fast food may well suffer in the future."

Mills also believes there's a trend for restaurants run by high-profile chefs, such as Jamie Oliver's new, affordable, family-friendly high street restaurant, Jamie's Italian.

"You may start to see other chefs of similar stature who look at this market," says Mills. "Fine dining is being affected to an extent by the credit crunch, but many of us will still happily spend £25 on a meal."

Doughty definitely thinks there will be more well-known chefs following this trend in the near future. "Ken Hom already has a chain of restaurants and it's quite clear that the demand is there from the consumer," he says.

Certainly, whatever happens in the future, we can expect a far more sophisticated catering choice when we go shopping.

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