Takeaways. Why are they all so disgusting these days?

[CormorantWings]

I hardly ever have takeaways these days as invariably they are dreadful and not worth the money. Tonight I thought I'd give a Chinese takeaway a go. It was absolutely the worst takeaway I've ever had. The sauce was full of sugar. The meal was like slabs of dog meat. It was absolutely disgustingly vile. I haven't had a nice takeaway in years. They used to taste so different. How do they get away with it?

I think supermarket food has mostly gone the same way too. I enjoy reading the food reviews on the Tesco grocery website. Loads of one star reviews with people similarly asking what on earth has happened to the food that used to be nice!

No doubt using cheap ingredients to maximise profits.

They’re mostly lovely in my area.

I think it's because most takeaways and especially Chinese are not cooking from scratch but being provided by vats of sauces from wholesalers. Mind you, I discovered this well over 20 years ago so I am surprised people are just cottoning on now really. They've all been shit for years.

I remember fried rice years ago was well nicer and they used more oil and soy sauce and the rice was darker in colour Perhaps now they havd to follow guidelines on the amount of salt or summat but it seems to be much drier and lighter.

We had an amazing Lebanese takeaway on Saturday night. Fabulous in fact

I’ve not had a nice Chinese take away on a while. I was watching a guy on instagram who cooks takeaway food and the secret seems to be MSfuckingG (direct quote!) and doing something to tenderise the meat. It’s interesting to watch

We haven’t had takeaways for about 10 years, they are mostly absolute shit! I’d rather make my own, at least I know what’s in my own food.

I know what you mean but it depends where you order from.

Of the dozen ish Chinese takeaways that will deliver to us, only one is actually worth ordering from. There's also a decent one about 10 mins away that's in-person only.

Indian takeaways have gone downhill so much we've basically given up but there are a couple of restaurants that will deliver but they're ££££.

A local Turkish restaurant delivers wonderful food but is seriously £££.

Basically for the most part round here if it's a restaurant that also delivers then it's probably ok but otherwise it's quite dicey.

There's only one fish and chip shop locally that I think is worth it too. The rest are all thick stodgy batter, watery curry sauce etc.

We stopped getting takeaways three or four years ago because they're just not worth the money anymore. If I'm going to have a "just ok" meal because I can't be bothered to cook I'd genuinely rather buy a supermarket pizza and save the money.

We have some good ones available to us and some you’d never eat at. mostly though we order from restaurants who also deliver rather than dedicated takeaway/counter only type places.
very rarely disappointed, I probably have a takeaway once a month and enjoy it.
dh and ds have one a week!

Oh I totally agree. I feel like it's been ages since I have had a takeaway that's been worth it.

The Chinese I had the other day tasted like they had used the fat out of the meat and put in some gravy browning to make the gravy in my chicken meal. It was disgusting and I LOVE Chinese. The one before (different Chinese) the chicken balls were pink inside. It put me off.

And I went to the local chippy a couple of days ago and asked for a large fish, which normally it barely fits in the paper wrapping and this one was the size of a normal small fish, I was mumbling to myself about it not being the normal £8 fish which we've had every month for years!

Its shockingly bad at the moment and I know the takeaways are struggling but if the food is so bad the customers won't return . You would think with the prices being so high, the quantities have also reduced , you would expect them to want to get the quality spot on at least.

@Wegovydoesntdoforme slightly off topic but yes MSG is the key to a good Chinese food. It was avoided for may years basically due to racism. All started with ' Chinese restaurant syndrome ' myth.

My local Chinese that was amazing is now a no go, they have changed the oil they cook in and it’s vile. They told me they had changed but not from / to.

Chinese is always tricky. I rarely order it because there’s so much slop out there.

Treat yourself to an M&S ready meal instead, which i started doing. Works out cheaper and is more consistent in quality. They have a nicer gastropub range, you can pick a main, a side and a dessert for 15 quid. That is for two people.

I’ve found as I’ve got older I actually prefer my own cooking and am always disappointed with takeaways- plus the cost is now extortionate. I used to regularly spend a fortune on them but now I find them vile and barely order takeaway- I’m the same with restaurants but still go out for a meal at least once a month only now whereas it used to be weekly at least.

I’ve never had a takeaway that wasn’t disgusting. Unless it was like from a proper restaurant, not Chinese, Indian, kebab, fish & chips. This is why we don’t order them. The only real exception I make is Christmas Eve, because it’s tradition.

Well no, it's poison and causes a reaction in many people. Nothing to do with racism.

Give over, @CormorantWings, MSG is not a poison.

I agree. We do have a lovely Indian one but it's a restaurant so expensive. Dh wanted takeaway tonight as neither of us wanted to cook. We ended up with cheese on toast after agreeing take away is always shite

no. No it’s not.

it is everything to do with racism.

Really? I think takeaways have got much better. I just had a really delicious hot pizza that would not be out of place in Rome.

I've become a much better cook so a takeaway has to be really good to be worth the expense. We are quite rural so not much choice and very few places will deliver.

The only one locally that did do good food (albeit v expensive!) now has a terrible food hygiene rating and several convictions for modern slavery.

I've given up and keep a couple of emergency ready meals in the freezer.

Well in regard to Chinese takeaway, my friend who is Chinese says that they used to be manned by Chinese chefs (generally Cantonese, 1st or 2nd generation maybe 3rd if family owned). However, nowadays many are staffed by random cooks from all sorts of places who don’t know how to make the recipes.

And MSG doesn’t cause reactions in people. Those people are reacting to their food being high in salt, fat and sugar and washing it down often with alcohol!

I agree about Chinese . It’s my favourite takeaway but I find it’s full of promise but a real letdown , very gloopy congealed sauces , suspicious meat etc