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 agree, I haven’t enjoyed the last few takeaways, whether they’re Chinese, Indian or pizza places so I’m not going to bother again. The last one I had was some fried chicken that used to be really, really good. I opened the box and the most awful smell came out. I couldn’t work out what it was, it smelt almost like burning rubber and seemed to be coming from the chicken coating. It was so offputting. Maybe it was old oil that had been used too many times, I don’t know. After many years going there I won’t be back.

I agree. Not just takeaways but pubs/restaurants too where everything comes out of the same lorry (Brakes, Bidfood, 3663 etc). There's a reason why so many takeaway/pub/restaurant menus are virtually the same! It's very rare to find somewhere that actually makes things from scratch rather than opening a bag/box!!

Persian food is underrated. I can get a Gormeh Sabzi and saffron rice to my door within 30 minutes, and not have to cook it myself!

Bog standard Chinese is always a let down - think you are just not going to the right places OP!

How do you know?

I miss the food scene from London. Now in Surrey and struggling to find anything as good as what I took for granted.
The only place I like now is Five Guys and a local Thai. Everything else is oily, sugary shit.
I do like Lidl’s DeLixe sourdough pizzas for a fakeaway

I was just saying this to DH last night! The last 5 or so times we’ve had food delivered (or we’ve picked up) it’s been awful 😣 no one outlet either-Chinese, Indian and pizza…all enough to make me stop using them.

Chines takeaways have never been authentic. They were originally started by sailors who jumped ship - as it was women that cooked in china they had no idea of “authentic recipes” so made stuff up, and that’s how the UK staples of Chinese takeaways emerged - they have little to do with what you would eat in China. Obviously over the years some have sprung up that are more authentic, particularly in areas with strong Chinese communities.

The ones in my area aren’t great. I rarely bother now - whenever I do I’m disappointed 😅 they used to feel like a treat but definitely not anymore.

I live in a town in a rural county, so the options are fairly limited due to that alone. I would imagine places like London, Manchester etc are still going to have lots of decent places.

Ours are pretty good. The very best are from a proper restaurant. You have to collect but it's worth it.

Where I live it’s really hard to get a decent takeaway. Visit friends in cities and they have far better choice. Here it’s small blobs of meat floating in brown gravy and flourescent Chinese…very little veg. Honestly if I can’t be arsed I’ll buy a decent ready meal.

Ours is variable - Indian is fine for all the meals, there's a great fish and chips van once a week which is all cooked from scratch, Chinese is variable - the vegetarian and king prawns are very good and fresh veg, some sauces cause be very sugary and thick. The kebab place quality has gone down as cost of living has gone up, the lamb went from nice to like pet food, beefburgers the same so no longer go there. Thai is amazing but £££ but would rather pay and have a nice meal.

How do you know what dog meat tastes like? Or are you just being racist?

Generally the better takeaways are in areas that have populations from the relevant ethnic groups - local Chinese takeaways are dire, but in the nearest major city there is a university with a huge Chinese population so the takeaways are much better.,

I think part of it is the Deliveroo/ Uber Eats effect. When you order takeaways your contract is with those companies and they take a big chunk of the total cost. So the restaurants/kitchens providing the food care less and are trying to save on ingredients.

I avoid takeaways but had one the other night at work as I was working late. It was a chicken noodle dish that should have been delicious but it was just so disappointing. It was clear to me that the chicken used was precooked chicken from a catering supplier that had been recooked with some seasoning. If I had made it at home it would have been much nicer and much cheaper.

I agree takeaways are horrible now. They cut costs on everything and it really shows. But judging by the amount of those bloody annoying little motorbikes rushing around and parking all over the place, everyone is getting a crazy amount of deliveries. I wish itd stop. Those delivery motorbikes are an absolute blight.

I am in London and I think there are many people - particularly in their 20s and 30s - who have at least one takeaway a day, including breakfast. I find it bizarre.

I agree, hardly any sauce, sparse toppings. Not worth it now.

So do I. Is it ecologically a good idea? Doesn’t it use a ton of packaging, and petrol, and does Khan think it’s good for our air quality ?
Im longing for it to stop.

We do have a brilliant Indian restaurant nearby and get a takeaway occasionally which tastes amazing.

Whst I have noticed is the quality of ready meals is now in the toilet. I assume all cream has been removed from the sauces so they have this very weird consistency. Hardly any protein. The absolute worst is the ones pretending to be healthy. Then it’s literally all rice and a few leaves.

I’ve never liked really Chinese takeaway apart from the chips and a spring roll. I think I was the only teenager who would groan when my parents announced we were getting a takeaway.

Our best takeaways are from restaurants, they’re lovely but expensive. The Thai is especially good. Our Chinese takeaway went down hill after the Chinese family who’d had it for many many years sold it. The new owners are not Chinese and it’s definitely not as good.

I definitely things have gone down hill in regards to takeaways and pub restaurants.

It makes me smile when I see the "Just Eat" and "Deliveroo" adverts - Its all very well being a great delivery service but all the food is crap 😂

Im usually disappointed by take aways as well.
I think its because I dont really eat food with alot of oil or salt/sugar in regularly so alot of take away options just taste too gross.

There's a chinese vegan restaurant in my city, amazing.. don't use it often because they open quite late & I like to eat early, but it's fab.
Also a family run Thai restaurant where you can see the open kitchen & everything being prepared. Local chippie is great.
But I agree re the Just Eat type stuff that my dd likes. Ugh. Some like dog food.

@FFSItsTooHot my God, re the basa.. I knew of someone who almost died after having accidentally eaten that stuff (she did have other health problems, but even so..)

The last time I had butter chicken from a local takeaway it tasted nothing like the dish I’d had in the same restaurant, which has now closed down. I was in Camber Sands with my boyfriend recently and their local Indian restaurant, said to be good, wasn’t great. It was edible but not like before apparently which was good.