 When in England and not on a mission , Bond dines as simply as Fleming did on dishes such as grilled sole , oeufs en <unk> and cold roast beef with potato salad . When on a mission , however , Bond eats more extravagantly . This was partly because in 1953 , when Casino Royale was published , many items of food were still rationed in the UK , and Bond was " the ideal antidote to Britain 's postwar austerity , rationing and the looming premonition of lost power " . This extravagance was more noteworthy with his contemporary readers for Bond eating exotic , local foods when abroad , at a time when most of his readership did not travel abroad . 
