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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

In wondering what people WANT from food on holidays?

124 replies

hoovercraft · 27/02/2011 16:31

Went on holiday and the food at the hotel was lovely. Huge array of salads and seafood and hot dishes. Really interesting food and salads - lovely one with avocado (my fave).
One night they had whole prawns on the buffet, another was a whole salmon. All fresh and lovely. Meat dishes were nice too. Also had a huge paella and local dishes.

But people complained about the food .
One couple we met even went to the local greasy spoon for meals. We went there at lunch and it was horrible - chips, micro pizzas, froen prawns with no flavour in sandwiches.

Im amazed. What do people want from holiday food?

OP posts:

Lovecat · 27/02/2011 19:30

Several years ago we were on holiday in a VERY posh hotel which had an a la carte and a buffet restaurant, both open to all. There were a lot of French, German and Scandinavian guests as well as English and the buffet restaurant catered for all tastes - there were entire separate areas for cheeses, salads, seafood, meats, separate stations where the chefs would cook specialities - it was lush. The a la carte was blimmin' gorgeous too; fresh, loads of interesting local dishes, well-cooked and beautifully presented.

We were taken aback by the number of English guests who would queue for the bus into the nearest concrete resort so they could get Pizza Hut and McDonalds... one night a pair of very orange young women stomped in dolled up to the nines, surveyed the vast array of food and screeched "There's norreven any fackin' chips! What kind of fackin' dump is this?" and then had a go at a woman with young children who gave her a look for swearing... it was embarrassing to think we came from the same country, tbh...

exoticfruits · 27/02/2011 19:39

I have a lovely MIL, but the only time I got cross with her was when she thought 4 yr old DS couldn't have Thai food at SIL and she wanted to cook him something separate (with her-she doesn't eat foreign food and wouldn't go abroad for that reason!)Her restricted eating habits had the opposite effect on her two DSs who eat anything-I am glad to say. (I couldn't have married a man who was fussy about food-or wants burger and chips when they eat out!)

Laquitar · 27/02/2011 19:51

We go every year to Cyprus and in the past few years there is a big Mcdonalds or Pizza express everywhere because some idiots cant live without them. On the fucking seafront! Where a taverna with yammy fresh food used to be

Mists · 27/02/2011 19:53

It's strange.

The first time I ever ate fried egg and chips as a child was on holiday in Spain in the late seventies. Fabulous

It had never occurred to my parents to make it for me at home even though I didn't eat meat, chicken or fish because I just couldn't stomach it.

Ironic but telling I suppose. Perhaps there is a long-standing tradition of having shite English food at some holiday resorts so people have come to expect it.

at micro pizzas. Why?

annielouisa · 27/02/2011 19:58

My DH and love experimenting with exotic foods on our travels and sometimes get truly embarrasssed by the chips with everything brigade!

OhNoSpaghettiO · 27/02/2011 20:21

In a chinese restaurant a few years ago my friends dad drank the bowl of water with lemon slice that your meant to clean your fingers in! He thought thats how they served their water!!

hockeyforjockeys · 27/02/2011 20:35

In regards to the Italians I remember Jamie Oliver when he was doing his swanning round Italy in a campervan number having a complete hissy fit because the locals wouldn't eat the food he'd made, even though it used all local ingredients, simply because it was different to their usual meals.

Not only Brits who are fussy, I had the pleasure of spending two weeks in Vietnam with a Belgian guy who refused to eat rice or noodles and insisted on having a big slab of red meat with every meal. His loss though, seeing as I had the best meal of my life that was vegetarian and made by Buddhist nuns, they even brought out mattresses afterwards to have a post lunch snooze. Now that is my kind of place!

JockTamsonsBairns · 27/02/2011 20:39

Last year, my mum went on holiday to China for a dream trip with a few wealthy-but-dim women from her yoga class. The others apparently complained the whole time about the 'rubbish' Chinese food, and that is was 'nothing like as good as the Chinese food in England' .

Also, ex-BIL and SIL go to Majorca every year to the same place, same week, full of Brits, and eat every night in the resort's Scottish bar. Chicken and chips in a basket apparently. "Bloody great it is" . And all for 3 Euros a head. Bargain.

HibernoCaledonian · 27/02/2011 20:40

I'm going to Germany next week and am so looking forward to trying some of the local food. I love frikadellen and wurst anyway. As long as it doesn't have mushrooms (I am allergic) I'm good.

kerala · 27/02/2011 20:46

I have travelled round India 3 times and never suffered a moments discomfort. Yet spent an entire 3 days in bed as sick as a dog with unutterable runs and unable to move because I was poisoned by JAMIE OLIVER!!! Yes its true. And when DH tried to contact the restaurant they were very rude and unhelpful.

borderliner · 27/02/2011 20:47

One of the main reasons we usually travel independently and self-cater is that I love to cook and so can go to the supermarkets/markets/to the pier when the fish is being unloaded/stop at little farms with signs out and sample real fresh local food!

I've never been to one of these all inclusive type holiday places - and if they lay on chicken nuggts and chips for the kids its another reason not to - watching them chomping into prawns and goat meatballs and salad etc in the Caribbean last year was amazing! The best one was when ds, 8 years ago now when he was 8months and we were in holiday in Italy, snaffled a tiny deep fried octopus from Dh's plate. The waiters brought him a wee bowl of them all to himself as they thought it was amazing a "british" child would do this. No charge, either.

Even uber-fussy dd1 eats well when we are abroad.

ivykaty44 · 27/02/2011 21:10

JTB...when you have spent three weeks in china and eaten the food - then you can come back and judge the moaners. It was the most ever weight I had lost in 3 weeks. Oh and I don't like the loo's there much either - not having a door to close was odd to say the least.

A1980 · 27/02/2011 21:14

"My friends go to the same resort in Egypt every year just because it's got kfc/ haRD ROCK CAFE/ MCDonalds etc, I don't understand it at all."

theycallmeher I understand that sort of thing now that I've been to Egypt. If you've ever been there, you'll know it's notorious for illness. It's quite hard to avoid getting ill in Egypt. I went with a group of friends and only 2 out of 8 of us were spared the D&V. It was grim. All of got ill after eating at the traditional Egyptian dinner buffet they had at the hotel one night there. We were all sick by the next monring.

In Europe, it's probably ok. But in places like Egypt, screw the local food experience. I'll eat food that doens't make me ill thank you! If that means bringing it from home or eating western food that I know has been cooked properly, so be it. I'd rather have a good holiday and not be ill.

JockTamsonsBairns · 27/02/2011 21:24

Ivykaty44 - I'll give you that as, granted, I've never been to China. I naturally assumed the Chinese food would be better - if a bit different maybe - to what is available here.

A1980 · 27/02/2011 21:26

JTB

Have a look at and let me know if you'd like to eat Chinese food in China

ivykaty44 · 27/02/2011 21:36

I eat everything put in front of me whilst on a cycling holiday in Southern India last November - the food was great, I did get used to no cutlery in places and eating with my fingers seemed good.

i wouldn't go cycling in China for fear of not getting enough food!

BrandyAlexander · 27/02/2011 21:54

I am with ivykaty. I have travelled extensively all over the world and one of the best bits is alway eating the local food. China was the biggest disappointment from a food perspective of all the places I have been to. Having loved Chinese food all my life, I was practically salivating on the flight on the way out there but after 4 weeks of Chinese food, I v was pleased to be home!

solooovely · 27/02/2011 22:12

Oh, it's just embarrassing!

beachholiday · 27/02/2011 22:47

I really liked the chinese food! we did group-order everywhere and found that usually about 3 out of 6 dishes would be good, two would be too strange for our western-trained palates and one usually everyone wanted much more of. In fairness I found other asian countries had even better, or more exciting, dishes but i would definately go for chinese again too.

Sanesometimes1 · 27/02/2011 23:18

I think I agree with A1980 how awful to spend a few hard earned thousands and be struck down with delly belly better to stay safe and eat something deep fried every day ! stick to being adventurous when you come home! ( we have great environmental health officers here in blighty !).

spingspong · 28/02/2011 00:38

Sanesometimes1, sorry totally disagree with you - DH and I have never been been sick on holiday in India, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Japan, or Cuba - I was sick as a dog at after eating at a bistro in oxford and DH violently ill after eating at Rick Stein's fish and chip shop in Padstow (deep fried oyster)... It's not how many thousands you pay out for, you can unlucky anywhere.

spingspong · 28/02/2011 00:41

sorry for typos, it's late and too much

thumbwitch · 28/02/2011 00:48

deep fried anything other than chips would give me gut rot anyway.

It annoyed the crap out of me when I went to Portugal the first time (Algarve) and the majority of cheaper "restaurants" were all selling pie'n'chips, egg'n'chips, pie'n'egg'n'chips etc. etc. Saw it again in Majorca in Palma. I like to try foreign food and always do - DH is the same (thank God! couldn't deal with any whiny-arse who was all "I can't eat this forrin muck, where's me pie'n'chips?") and DS has very comprehensive tastes as well.

All I want from food on holidays is a reasonable chance that it won't poison me or give me a parasite. That's not really too much to ask, I don't think.

JockTamsonsBairns · 28/02/2011 01:40

A1980 - ok ok ok, I'll be sticking to my local 'Panda Garden' from now after watching that clip thanks . I hadn't appreciated how different it would be in China, just kind of thought it would be chow mein, chop suey etc, but cooked authentically as opposed to 'made for the British palate'.

E320 · 28/02/2011 09:14

I don't understand this attitude either. My family and I always enjoy the local food.
Many years ago we were on holiday, camping in Burgundy - think local markets, lovely bread, cheese and charcuterie. My mother came back from the washing area one day killing herself laughing. She had been talking to another Brit lady, who had complained about the cost of food in the supermarket. When asked what she had bought, the response was "fish fingers and frozen peas, because I thought the children ought to have a PROPER meal". Needless to say we joined in the laughter and from then on our family definition of "a PROPER meal" has been fish fingers and frozen peas (not).

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