What time do you eat your evening meal?

[AgneathaTheCat]

I am intrigued after a conversation with my DP, he has always naturally eaten his main/evening meal quite late (to my mind) compared to myself.

If work/family constraints were not a thing, what time do you think you would naturally feel ready to eat it? I am curious since we all live by such fairly diverse patterns these days compared to the past - I know someone who eats her main/largest meal at 3pm since she starts work at 5pm, although she does revert back to a more typical pattern when not working.

Same here!

I do like a big lunch - but only if I can have a long nap afterwards!

Usually 7-8 but occasionally a little earlier and often up to 9pm. DD often works until 8.30pm so if I'm making something for everyone then I'll have it ready for her getting home at 8.45pm.

Pre-DC I'd say 7:30/8pm but because we all try to eat together now it's much earlier - more like 5:30/6pm.

I used to think that when the DC get older or leave home I'd revert to a later dinner time, but I'm now so conditioned I'll probably stick to 5:30/6pm forever.

8pm, although it's more often 9pm.

Why so late?

As near to 5pm as we can. Doesn't always work that way if me or dd is working late. Latest would be 7pm.

I don't really like an "evening meal", so never really. I eat in the morning and afternoon.

If it's going out, then maybe 7pm? later than that and I get indigestion.

Kids eat at 6pm (nanny cooks), DH and I eat at about 8:30pm once we'd put the kids to bed. Ideally I'd prefer to eat at about 7:30. Any earlier sounds weird to me, but in my entire adult life I've never worked a job where anyone would leave the office (as a regular thing) before 6pm. So even pre kids it would be 7:30 before we could commute home, change, and cook a meal.

Genuinely curious - all of you who eat at 6pm, what on jobs do you and your partner do? Do you have really short commutes (I'm in London with a 35 min commute and regard that as quite short). Are you cooking from scratch and doesn't that take an absolute minimum of 15 min for something quick like fish but more like half an hour for most things? How on earth do you manage it?

Around 8 now the children are older. It used to be 5/6 when they were little.

I don’t generally get in until around 7/7:30 and I like to go for a walk after to wind down before bed.

6-7 usually

We eat at 6.30 so a bit later, but it’s combination of slow cooker/short meals that take little time to cook/jobs where the 8/9-5 is more the norm/wfh so no commute. Both of you not getting in till much later than 6 means the DC’s are not able to go to clubs etc so we made the decision not to go down that route.

5-5.30pm.

Have found that my weight has stabilised and I snack less .

Just me and DH and we eat between 7.30 and 8pm. We go to bed about 11.30pm.

Since we moved from London to East Midlands we are amazed how many restaurants stop serving food or even close at 8pm.

5-6pm

This

5-5.30 on a normal day
Used to be more like 7/8 before having a child, but now we like to get the dog out, cleaned up, bath and bed for ds so we can relax 😅

We eat between 6-6.30 so I can eat with my 6 and 11 year old.

I'd prefer to eat around 9pm alone once the house is silent and I can eat on my lap in front of the TV😁

Bedtime is about 1-1:30am

Between 9-10pm. It is far from ideal but we have a child who is crap at sleeping.

We eat together with the children so dinner is usually between 6/6:30, 5:30/6 on the weekends.

Why not? If it suits people then what’s the issue?

I couldn’t be arsed coming home and straight away worrying about food.

7.30pm because that’s the time my parents had dinner and I’d eaten at that time so long that once I left home, my body was primed to eat at 7.30pm. It is also the correct time for working in London, travelling home, stopping at Sainsbury’s Local, and battling housemates for the hob. Nowadays, we eat more like 8pm after the kids are in bed. We eat breakfast and weekend lunches as a family but it is a fucking delight to eat separately from small children every evening – I’ll wait for them to stay up later and join us, rather than eat at 5pm.

We are the same. In London - reasonably short commute (25 mins) and if I get home for 7pm that is pretty early.

It depends.
If Im home, alone, Ill eat when Im hungry, which can be anywhere from 7pm to 10pm.
If going for a meal, even if it is at someones house, arrival time is nearly ALWAYS 8.30, to start eating after 9.