Do restaurants really serve microwaved 'ready meals'?

[AtleastitsnotMonday]

As it says really. This has come up several times on threads about eating out recently. Basically people saying they are not paying restaurant price for microwaved food. Is this really true? What's the point in having chefs if it's a case of sticking things in a microwave? Surely they wouldn't get away with it. It's often mentioned in discussion about pasta dishes in Italian chain restaurants, surely buying in ready made meals would cost them a whole lot more that cooking a bit of pasta and sauce anyway.

I had something at an expensive place near me last Summer that was still frozen in the middle 😒

In my brothers restaurant they work 8am-12pm just to prep the stuff they then serve from 12-2 and 5-9pm. Anywhere that serves all day can’t really possibly be prepping it all from scratch.

Even where the restaurant offers "home made" food, the pudding menu is usually entirely frozen and bought in.

In fact the "dessert" menu is generally pretty much identical wherever you eat!

It should not be allowed. Restaurants should be banned from having microwaves on the premises.

Before microwaves existed presumably restaurants did have to cook.

It's not just chains and cheaper end places, expensive places are prey to frozen, but passed off as fresh food too.
In my younger student years, I had a part time evening / weekend kitchen job as a washer upper in a very upmarket and very expensive London hotel. The kind of place that caters for wealthy Arab clients etc. ( The wealthy Arab clients usually bring their own chefs to be fair )
Everything was frozen or packet mix, even the roast meat, the joints would be cooked at the same time and then sliced, portioned up and put in the freezers ready for orders.
The soups were powdered and came in big containers, as were sauces, just add boiling water and stir well.
Vegetables were frozen and cooked to order.
Desserts were always frozen and we're brought out of the freezers in the morning to defrost ready for the days custom, which would be calculated roughly on the amount sold the previous week.
All this was passed off as freshly made or home cooked.
The freshly made part came from the chef's adding a drizzle of this and a drop of that to the item.
The home cooked, see above.
It was all about the presentation and they charged an absolute fortune for the same meal that you would get anywhere else at a fraction of the price.

The ivy does change

My dad works as head chef in an independent Mediterranean restaurant and I know he cooks meals from scratch as he often sends pictures of his cooking.

Unfortunately the boss has decided to soon close the restaurant as it's been limping along since COVID and is hemorrhaging money.

Microwave meals might end up being the only option for most when eating out because people choose the cheap chains.

Yeah I learned this in Pizza Hut as a teen - asked for a pasta dish without mushrooms and they admitted it was a micro meal

I thought this was common knowledge.

Unless you are spending about £50 per head for two courses, somewhere in the process of bringing your food, there is some abbreviation of the processes involved.

We are fairly foodie, I am a skilled home cook and DS has worked in near-Michelin starred restaurants. Between us, we can do anything that a London hotel would put on a banquet menu, except for the patisserie. We just couldn't do it quickly enough for fast food service, and we couldn't make living wages for both of us running a gastropub, although we have the skill to do so.

Really? Even when the kitchen is open and you can see them cooking?

Its even cheaper than you think, because its legal to use cheapest liquid eggs, beaten eggs from a carton. Liquid eggs are the low-grade eggs that failed the standard to be sold as whole eggs in the shell.

I’m sure Premier Inn do that as the 3 times ive had their fish and chips I’ve ended up with a hugely bloated tummy, severe pain and we won’t share what happens next but you can guess! Initially thought a coincidence but after third definitely not it’s something in the batter I suspect.

My OH is a Head Chef. He makes everything from scratch. But- it costs.

The only thing he doesn't make from scratch is coeliac friendly bread. If there is a coeliac eating, another part of the kitchen is cleaned down and a chef will prep everything in there away from main kitchen to prevent cross contamination.

It costs because of a) time b) fresh ingredients c) cooking in smaller quantity

However, he gets loads of customers who have dietary requirements because it is made fresh. So often guests will call ahead and say I am allergic to this, this and this, can you accommodate this? Almost all of the time he can make an adjustment so he can. But again, this costs in time and effort. And the price of gluten free flour would make you weep.

But yes- and most puddings in chain pubs are also mass produced. Think pre-cut gateaux type things with 45 portions etc.

However, there are some very well thought of, talented chefs working as development chefs for these chains. It's often cheaper because of economy of scale and buying power- it doesn't always have to be awful, poor quality food.

He was doing some agency work a few years ago to earn some extra holiday cash- one place he went to was selling the Heinz tins of Macaroni cheese as Mac N Cheese. It was dirty as well, so he didn't go back there.

But yes, Ping Ping Chefs are a thing.

I have worked in many different establishments. Most pubs serve microwaved food, they batch cook and freeze because a lot of pub kitchens are small so they don’t have the space to cook a full menu from scratch. The only places I have worked that don’t do this are higher end hotel/restaurants where they have good size kitchens and people pre book tables. A lot of places can’t afford to keep fresh food available when they may not get a high number of customers come in. Generally you get what you pay for, go to weather spoons and you will get microwaved food, bought in frozen and already prepared, got to a posh restaurant and you will get cooked to order fresh food.

I think most restaurants have elements that they cook and allow to cool and then microwave to get ready for individual meals…but more for things like sauces and certain puddings (sponges etc)?
without a huge team of chefs (that most places cant afford these days, unless you want to be paying £30 a main at your local pub/small town restaurant) then cooking every single element from scratch for every meal just isn't feasible.

We only go out to eat once or twice a year. This is why - we would rather pay much more for one great meal in a great restaurant. We eat very well at home instead, since we both love cooking.

@EffortlessDesmond Not true. I go to a Thai place with meals about £13-16 plus rice that you see them cooking fresh.

Harsh. What about a sign in the window - Microwave meals served here! Some people would probably see it as a positive - no risk of getting something unfamiliar. No wonder all the big chains have been able to comply with the new law about displaying calories on menus. All calculated by Brake's nutritionists.

I actually thought it was pretty refreshing that Costa was so proudly advertising that the food they serve is all from M&S now. No pretence about it.

When I worked at Wetherspoons 20 years ago, it was individually packed portions of things like red pepper and spinach lasagne, 5 bean chilli, beef cannelloni etc but it was created by Egon Ronay, made in a good factory somewhere and shipped out. The food was actually good quality and tasty, but reheated in the microwave.

Steaks, mixed grills, eggs, jacket potatoes all cooked fresh on the day.

Lots of frozen things for the fryer like battered cod and chips.

To be honest, at the time it was such good value for money and the hygiene was excellent. Always happy to eat at Wetherspoons. Their fresh pizza is lovely.

food factory that should say

Absolutely yes.

Worked in one in Lake District for years.

Look at the menu. If its too large, it will be microwave (unless you order steak etc of course).

Greene King certainly do microwave meals. Even mash potato comes in frozen.

That's why I hate chain restaurants.