Finding it increasingly difficult to justify eating out at pubs etc

Yes, Indian and Thai food were known for being affordable. Now they are charging £4 or so for a small bowl of rice. They're now the same price as all other restaurants and selling wine at about £30 a bottle.

I agree with you. I said to OH this morning why are the meals so expensive, often fast food, surroundings can be dire,tired decor, rundown etc. Wine is so expensive too. I don't enjoy it anymore, we have friends over and we cook at home now for each other instead and it's much better, especially if you end up in a table by the toilets, door or noisy people. Also we can drink what we like and say what we like!

Yes, it's got pricey for fairly mediocre menus in many places. Years ago, a meal.out at a local.Indian family run restaurant was a cheap, good value option. Now as the next generation want careers with better paid jobs, those restaurant owners are employing other people and having to pay local labour rates, and overheads have increased . Now the bill is pretty much same as a pub restaurant so I don't go very often now.

You've reminded me that when I was there recently - for the first time - I had a delicious Margherita pizza, freshly made. This was in a train station right in the heart of the city and it cost me just £6.30.

I dunno, I feel it’s just another case of rip off Britain. I found the public transport way cheaper there too.

So why is this? How can other countries do decent meals/snacks cheaper than we get here? Yes, I understand all the points people make about staffing costs, rent, utilities etc., but surely these apply in other countries too?

yeah it’s become so expensive. We eat out weekly with our hobby group, and I don’t always get a meal as it becomes expensive and most of the time it’s pretty mediocre, especially for something like fish and chips / general pub food. So often i’ll just get a drink, but last week during drinks after a midweek walk, it cost me £3.50 for a diet coke.

I was in Berlin recently, had a lovely croissant and cappuccino for £3 at a nearby coffee shop /bakery round the corner from my hotel. Would’ve cost about £4.50 here even in my small town coffee shops.

Agree with this. I’d rather cook at home!

We eat out so much less frequently these days. The last few times I’ve been out I’ve been shocked by the prices and what you get for them - it’s not really worth it. It sounds a bit sad but I actually have a list of go to places now that are generally reasonable or do deals. I think I feel a bit miffed knowing that they can do good food at a certain price but other places are so much more expensive, feels like you’re getting ripped off.

Recently been on holiday and very disappointed in the cakes we had. Dorset Apple Cake was meh and dry and the cinnamon cake somewhere else was awful. Decided on our last day to have an ice cream and walked out after waiting 20 minutes for staff to come to the table and take the order. They weren't busy, but for some unknown reason just wouldn't let us order from the till area. So never did get an ice cream on holiday. I can't remember the actual prices for the cakes but would rather pay more and have a nice one

Paid £17.50 for a mushroom ravioli pasta (Burton Bradstock) - delicious. Salmon ravioli (Weymouth harbour, same price) I couldn't finish there was so much - DH had to eat the garlic bread as I couldn't manage that. This was before half term so not sure if the prices would go up for that week.

I think this is cheap , even at my local garden centre a slice of Victoria sponge is £5.95 and coffee £3.85 so more like £28 for your order .
I don’t buy it though I refuse to pay nigh on £6 for a slice of cake when I could by a whole one from M & S up the road .

I quite like a cooked breakfast out. The ones in my local places are about £12/£13 for a full veggie fry, maybe a pound or 2 more for meat option. Given the cost of buying all the separate ingredients and faff of cooking them, I think it represents good value.

Yep everything's going up.

Today on Exmouth seafront:
4 portions of take away fish & chips (albeit very nice quality) plus 3 cans of fizzy drink: £59

Not RTFT but we just don't bother with pub meals any more. They're invariably owned by one of the large breweries and nothing is home made, just heated up from frozen.

We have some excellent local restaurants in our village which although not cheap are very good quality with great fresh food - Indian, Chinese, Turkish, Italian, Argentinian steak.

By contrast we've just come back from our local nature reserve which has a cafe. To be fair they do use fresh local ingredients but their prices were ridiculous. £11 for a toastie and £17 for a burger. And they closed at 4.30 after which there was nowhere open to even get ice cream so we just bought some from Tesco on the way home at a fraction of the price.

@DuesToTheDirt. Yep - thing is the pub that does this ( and it’s a really popular one) makes a big thing about its pies - which are indeed well known ‘decent’ pie range down here . I do know why pubs have to mark up considerably regards costs , thing is though when times are tight and especially if I had a family with me I can’t help but think that£100 meal with drinks and service for 4 would cost me £22 to £28 at most to make at home using the same foods.

I definitely would have that over 25 around here

One I know actually adds service charge.Two white coffees, two cakes, (one dry, one with synthetic cream) and the cost was just short of £18.
Oh, and I had to clear the table myself of used cups and saucers.

Er, no.

I mentioned pies, unspecified supermarket and location.

Crikeyalmighty followed up with a similar experience, specifying Waitrose pies and Bath.

I really don’t want to eat out anymore as the quality in pubs is not great, there is not always a lot of choice but I do love a draft pint.

I just feel so disappointed when we go out as it always costs over a hundred for 2 of us if we also have some drinks and the quality is not there

If I eat out these days it’s a curry as I can’t make better myself

It was you that mentioned Bath and Waitrose pies.

Why do you think so many are shutting the doors.

When I worked in hospitality, the practice was a roughly 70% gross margin depending on location. Obviously more expensive addresses required a larger margin. This was the part that covered operating costs.

Using that as a guideline, it means the ingredients cost would be around £4.50 ish for the above pie and chips. Probably not far away from right.

Well my pie example wasn't in Bath, and I don't remember the price. But the chips were no doubt oven chips, and there was no other veg, so no they didn't prep anything, just heated them up.

Washing up is no big deal for me, and restaurants aren't always warm.

Yes, I apppreciate that costs have shot up and they need to make a profit, but for many of us it's really not worth while to pay these prices for food that the restaurant has bought in. I'd rather pay a bit more and have something home made.

Yeah I’ve heard good things about the Copenhagen coffee shops and bakeries.

Actually wouldn’t mind paying a bit more for nice coffee/food in pleasant surroundings, with clean toilet facilities which is why I love eating out when I travel!