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Original poster

I just want a meal out

99 replies

MoonCheesy · 15/01/2021 20:30

It's only just half way through January and obviously lockdown but I so so so want a meal out. I'm fed up of my house, I'm fed up of cooking and I'm fed up of 2021 already.

I want a decent steak or a delicious Thai meal or even just breakfast pancakes will do.

OP posts:
smallandimperfectlyformed · 15/01/2021 22:10

@fairydustandpixies oh dear, that sounds awful. I am sorry that things have got so bad that you have forgotten to eat. Is this normal for you? I hope that you have been able to manage something since then and can find something to help you feel better. Do you have anyone you can talk to? Apologies for sticking my nose in but that post made me really sad for you.

Livinglavidalockdown · 15/01/2021 22:10

I have a second job in hospitality and really miss serving guests. I get so much personal enjoyment from the atmosphere and being a small part of special occasions or celebrations.
Still can't get used to having a Friday and Saturday night free and financially it has been very difficult.
Just praying the numbers continue to drop so it is safe for the hospitality industry to re-open soon.

happytoday73 · 15/01/2021 22:15

OP Restaurants near us closed in September... Yes I too miss the simple pleasure of going out for a meal with my husband (nearly a year now) or in the summer with immediate family. Eat out to help out seems a long time ago.....

We treat ourselves to a take out once a month, im trying new dishes, teaching my kids to cook so I can cook less and started to bake... Breaks the cycle....

I think its common to miss normal little pleasures especially when you aren't thankfully at the coalface of dealing with covid..

PregnantGotCovid · 15/01/2021 22:20

I hear you. Take away just isn't the same.

BlingLoving · 15/01/2021 22:20

I also want a meal out, and feel no guilt for saying that. Obviously, even more than I want to go out, I want this virus to go away and for people to stop dying and getting sick. But I can want different things at the same time and to different levels. And I can want something while knowing it's perfectly reasonable that I can't have it.

Even more than a meal out I want the option to just wander. I want to take the kids to the south bank, wander around, do some rides, get a meal and then an ice cream from a van.

LittleOverwhelmed · 15/01/2021 22:20

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the poster's request.

SweatyBetty20 · 15/01/2021 22:27

Met my boyfriend in May (OLD then socially distanced walks before we were allowed to bubble up) and we’ve not actually been on a proper go-for-a-drink/out-for-a-meal/see-a-film type date yet. We’ve been on tight restrictions since July :-(. We have take aways, watch films at home, cook etc, but it would be so nice to sit in a restaurant or outside a pub on a summer evening. We’ve never even seen each other dressed up!

Livebythecoast · 15/01/2021 22:34

@Spud13

Meanwhile I'm holding people's hand as they die from covid and you want a meal out FFS, this is what is so disheartening about the current situation. Talk about a first world problem!!!!
I assume you've posted this on every MN thread pre-covid too? Because I assume you dealt with the sick and dying before the pandemic too? Whilst I commend nurses, doctors etc for their chosen career, surely everything is not 'first world problems' when you're a HCP. The OP is merely stating they miss a meal out like the many MN threads that are trivial in comparison to frontline work. I work in the NHS in a GP surgery, not the same as holding covid patients hands I know but I speak to many patients every day who are struggling with their mental health and other ailments and ask to speak with a GP. They might be students, SAHP, work in an office, furloughed, anything really but their struggles are real because we all have different lives and different ways of dealing with circumstances.
MarcelineMissouri · 15/01/2021 22:36

@Spud13

Meanwhile I'm holding people's hand as they die from covid and you want a meal out FFS, this is what is so disheartening about the current situation. Talk about a first world problem!!!!
Why do people always do this?!?

I miss going out for dinner. And somehow this translates as what? Wanting people to catch COVID and die? Wanting the NHS to go under? None of those things actually. It is quite possible to accept that you cannot do things right now but still miss them and want to be able to say that without being accused of wishing death on half the country or being unsympathetic or ignorant as to what is happening in our hospitals at the moment.

FuckOffBorisYouTwat · 15/01/2021 22:38

Yes the pandemic is shite, I've lost a friend and a relative and have a husband with mild long covid that is affecting every day life but I also miss eating out, seeing friends, going to the pub. I won't until it is safe but I miss it like fuck.

Original poster
MoonCheesy · 16/01/2021 03:19

I really didn't expect this to turn into a debate about Coronavirus. I thought there was a whole section dedicated to that and I didn't post this there.

I didn't know about the cook it yourself at home take away type meals. I will investigate, thank you.

OP posts:
BarbaraofSeville · 16/01/2021 06:32

Definitely worth looking into what your local restaurants are doing, as well as what people who ship nationally. The range of what's available is huge, although obviously you have to reheat or finish off yourself, but if you have a partner or older children you could ask them to do it to give you a night off.

I'd never pay restaurant or takeaway prices for steak as it's quick and easy to cook, but we've found a couple of festival and wedding caterers that usually run food vans and have been having excellent wood fired oven pizza, lovely Indian Street food etc.

My dream is to find a proper Greek mezze where all the bits are delivered for a day or two of grazing but I haven't found one yet.

trappedsincesundaymorn · 16/01/2021 06:40

I haven't had a meal out since early March, I so want one now.

Frownette · 16/01/2021 06:51

@Spud13 you're allowed to feel down about things you miss pre lockdown whilst still caring deeply about the work HCPs do and people seriously ill with COVID.

I don't miss eating out at present, just seeing friends and other freedoms.

OP I know you said you are fed up with cooking but could you try a few Thai recipes?

Original poster
MoonCheesy · 16/01/2021 06:59

@Frownette I would love to try a new recipe except my 1 year old is going through some severe separation anxiety and hysterically cries every time I leave the room. It's tense.

OP posts:
Eminybob · 16/01/2021 07:01

I do miss going out with friends for a nice meal, but Sometimes I’m happier with a takeaway. Especially if it’s just me and DH, with a bottle of wine having put the dc to bed.

One silver lining from this shit show is that so many more restaurants are doing takeaway. It used to be a choice of Indian, Chinese or pizza in my town, but now I can have my favourite Thai restaurant meal delivered to my door. Or when I’ve been homeschooling or wfh, I can get my lunch delivered from a local sandwich place for a change if I don’t fancy making something.

toolazytothinkofausername · 16/01/2021 07:21

It’s been a year since I’ve travelled. In February 2020 I stopped using public transport and I don’t drive.

For a special treat I used to drop the children at school, then I’d get the train into central London. I’d visit a gallery, then have lunch at a restaurant. Best day out.
I miss it so much Sad

Obviously I feel worse for the people that are dying from coronavirus, and I’m angry this virus ever happened Angry

MinnieMountain · 16/01/2021 08:01

I know what you mean OP.

DH and I had a meal out on 18th December. It feels like ages.

I’m currently sitting in bed wondering what to have for this week’s takeaway. It’s not the same.

VintageStitchers · 16/01/2021 08:18

Yes I miss eating out too but it’s not something I do very often.

My DH won’t eat in front of other people/strangers so we haven’t had a meal out together since 2008 on holiday. He has lots of food anxieties so we don’t even eat meals together at home. He sorts his own food out.

I do occasionally have meals out with friends but the last one was November 2019 and it was a Christmas lunch in a pub with a group of older ladies.

I’d love to go on holiday and have a lovely meal in a quiet restaurant but I’ve accepted that isn’t likely to happen unless a single friend wants a travel companion so I’ll probably be waiting a bit longer than the rest of you.

Blowingagale · 16/01/2021 08:31

Yes I miss restaurants and spontaneous trips out. I can hold that at the same time as dreading a relative dying without getting to see them, sympathy for Covid patients and their families and sticking to the rules to try to minimise the stress on the nhs.

ThroughThickAndThin01 · 16/01/2021 08:33

@Spud13

Meanwhile I'm holding people's hand as they die from covid and you want a meal out FFS, this is what is so disheartening about the current situation. Talk about a first world problem!!!!
Awful bloody comment, typical of the strength of division this situation is making.

Me too, OP.

EssentiallyDelighted · 16/01/2021 08:36

Me too. DH and I had a meal out just before lockdown 2, lovely Thai restaurant, we were seated far away from the other customers, enjoyed choosing food and eating starters. Then more customers came in and were seated at the tables either side of us, much closer than 2m. We hurried our main courses down and legged it home, couldn't telax with other people that close. I long for it not to be a problem.

We have also had mezze from a local Turkish restaurant but TBH it wasn't great, it came in huge foil dishes and you couldn't really scrape all the hummus etc out into serving dishes so we had to eat from the big foil dishes. It just wasn't the same as having all the little dishes brought to the table, the hot stuff had gone a bit cold, the cold stuff had gone a bit warm, it just didn't really work. I hope it survives because the food when eaten in the restaurant was superb.

LarsErickssong · 16/01/2021 08:37

Yep eating out is what I'm struggling the most with too, takeaways just aren't the same! We've been under local restrictions since September but were able to eat out as a household up until the November lockdown but even so it still feels like so long ago!

MaudesMum · 16/01/2021 08:41

It really is worth checking out what local restaurants are now doing - there are an increasing number doing nice take-outs, and your order will help them to survive.

Frazzlefrazle · 16/01/2021 08:42

Me too! And we only really did it a few times a year any way. I am going to pick up a takeaway tonight from my favourite restaurant. Its a 25 minute drive but I just miss it so much.

I have been searching through cook books and cooking lots of delicious meals but it's just not the same as a restaurant.

Also NHS but I'm still human and miss things.

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