Eating out is always an expensive let down.

Lucky you for having that choice. Sadly some people don't get the choice to frequent non-chain restaurants as there are none where they live.

I have a few independent cafés but all our restaurants are chains. We have a great independent pub in one of the villages nearby but it's not as easy to get to, you can't just hop on the bus to get to it. You have to drive.

We have tried quite a few places and none have been good.

A roast dinner has to be freshly cooked (not kept warm), dished up immediately and have home made roast potatoes and yorkshire puddings. If your place does that then that is great.

We will stick with making our own delicious roasts

Our local Bar & Bistro roasts are so good. Definitely nothing frozen and everything just tastes amazing. You are obviously not dining out in the right places.

All homemade. It's small though so concentrate on quality rather than the quantity of diners.

I'm told I'm a good cook but oh the joy of going out for a meal I haven't had to plan, shop for, prepare, cook, serve up and clean up afterwards. And if we have family or friends round there is the added stress of having everything ready at the right time and keeping it hot without drying out, etc, etc. Would much prefer to go out and concentrate on them and not what's going on in the kitchen.

Meal planning, shoping and cooking day after day after day is something I detest.

We are lucky to have several pubs locally that do really nice food at reasonable prices.

I know what I’m getting, yes. In both cases pretty boring, sub standard food.
I prefer a non-chain restaurant where the people running it actually care.

Can’t knock this answer. Same for the Pizza Express club.

Avo toast is really a breakfast/lunch dish.. I'd be a bit surprised to see it at dinner!

It's not as simple as you say though.. one restaurant we love is The Coal Office at Kings Cross.. even if they had that on the menu, the other flavours they offer are exceptional and I would expect to pay more there than a basic avo/toast at a basic place.

I find restaurants are either consistently good or consistently bad.

A friend took me to a local curry restaurant on Monday. Jammed to the rafters at 6pm - thankfully we'd booked. I went with another friend to a Middle Eastern restaurant on Tuesday. Both meals were excellent.

I detest eating out, it’s expensive, never cooked the way I like and I end up with a bad back because the chairs are so uncomfy.
We last went out for lunch in December for DH birthday, £80 for 2 mains, 2 puds and 2 drinks. 😱
Ordinary pub in Cheshire.

I always think this! There is a really fancy place local we go on special occasions and don’t eat out any other time as it’s a let down!

I agree that a lot of meals out can be a let down. There are a couple of local independent cafes I like to go to though. The food and service are always good and prices are very reasonable.

there's a local cafe around here that does a really good avocado on toast, with egg that frankly, I could probably make it at home but the faff factor, ingredients etc, isn't worth it. So i think it does depend a bit.

Our one is really lovely bread, avocado, a perfectly poached egg, then it's topped with some mixed salad, tomatoes, and a little chilli and lime dressing which has the perfect amount of heat without being overwhelming. The balance of flavours and textures is really good and something I'd probably struggle with to get 100% right at home. It's totally worth the £10 I pay for it.

On the other hand, when I see places charging similar amonts for what is basically just a slice of toast with some scrambled egg and sliced avocado.... yeah, not so much!

This is probably not the kind of establishment you were thinking of OP but the price of TGI Fridays these days is astronomical. Luckily they sell their products in Iceland for a fraction of the price so I get it from there and cook at home but it's a shame as it was a good middle of the road place to eat out that catered for everyone.

Agreed, although I do wonder sometimes if they're playing to the audience because of the number of people who write positive restaurant reviews based on "large portions" or "big plates" is just depressing.

When did we change into a nation of gluttons?

Don't knock the smashed avocado on toast a whole generation of millennials spent all the money (they should have used to for mortgage) on it.

Agree OP, I've felt like this for ages and it's so much worse now. I would rather go out 1-2 times a year and spend ££££ than regularly and spend £££ for mediocre (at best) food and crap service. Pub food is especially bad and overpriced, £20+ for a burger and chips!

That said I am a good cook and love cooking/experimenting. We like cocktails and good wine so eating at home is a no brainer really. Wine especially is now a ridiculous price - at a restaurant recently the cheapest was £30.

This really surprises me. Which one was it? I've been going to Hawksmoor for years and never had a bad experience. Properly love the place.
The first time I went there I asked what one of the drinks was and they gave me one to try..free and someone walked past and spilt a bit of my friends drink..only a few drops, and they replace that for nothing also.

There are still a few left. Have you been to E Pellici in Bethnal Green?

I don't know how anyone makes a decent business out of preparing food. Fuel and premises and staff costs are so high that the quality of the food is bound to be affected. I love eating out, but find it hard to justify unless it's a real social occasion. DH thinks I'm a proper tightwad sometimes, but I'd honestly rather we ate a meal deal in the car than spent £30 on a dull lunch in a cafe. Because cost is an issue for us. I used to be able to take the kids to eat out nearly every week, and it didn't matter if the only thing I fancied was something I could make at home. It was about more than simply fuelling up for the afternoon. That luxury isn't available to us any more. It feels ridiculous, rather than an indulgence. And it should at least feel like a bit of an indulgence.

Totally agree
We don't eat out much
I can make avocado on toast at home with nice cheese and sauce
As well as the cost and then disappointment,it's also the noise
Everywhere seems to have loud music on ,no chance I can follow a conversation or enjoy a coffee in peace

Wagamama is the best imo and always worth every penny.

Given up on Wagamamas and their stupid ‘we bring food when we can be bothered to cook it’ rather than coordinate cooking to ensure all meals are ready at the same time. When the rest of the party have finished their meal five minutes earlier and you are still waiting on someone’s dishes then you know it is nothing to do with ‘bringing it straight away so as fresh as possible’ and everything to do with terrible service. Oh, and if the prawns are grey and translucent that means they are still raw.