To prefer eating in to going out for dinner/lunch?

[Purplepansies]

I really do not enjoy going out to eat any more.I find it tedious waiting to be served,it is a gamble as to whether the food will be good/bad/mediocre,it costs a lot for a family of four and always makes me think what else we could have spent the money on, and yet its one of those things that everyone else seems to really enjoy.
I have two teens who really don't enjoy it either and there is endless faffing with things like "I'll have the beef but I don't want the gravy on it,I'll have the chicken but no sauce,I'll have the burger but plain with nothing on it".
Am I the only one who is like this?I far prefer cooking something myself at home ,eating it where and when I want and not handing over large amounts of cash for average food.
I have no problem getting a takeaway now and again its just the sitting down that drives me nuts.
I am being unreasonable aren't I?

[JohnnyBarthes]

In my Lotto fantasies, in which I have small apartments just for me in various locations, I eat out pretty much every day [wistful]

[Bunbaker]

"I think the common feeling is the better you can cook the more you notice when the food is average out."

I agree. When we were in Costa Teguise, Lanzarote several years ago everyone we talked to told us the food was really good everywhere. We thought it was pretty ordinary and came to the conclusion that they didn't eat very well at home.

[Sicaq]

Sparklingbrook

[Sparklingbrook]

Oh no Bun, with that logic and DS thinking a £5.69 sarnie is great, he must think my sandwich making skills are terrible...

[Bunbaker]

[squoosh]

Teenage boys are obsessed with Subway. It's one of the great mysteries.

[MarshaBrady]

I like eating out at nice places. Feels indulgent, especially for lunch or breakfast.

Without the dc though. I prefer eating at home if I have the dc.

[Sallystyle]

I like Togo out once a week. I am a good cook but eating out is my favourite thing to do.

[Sparklingbrook]

They really are squoosh. Whenever we suggest a takeaway DS1 always says 'Subway!' and I have to remind him that is a sandwich.
Our Subway is next door but one from the chip shop so Subway and Chips is what DS1 thinks is a meal.

[FurryDogMother]

I love cooking - it's more of a hobby than a chore, but I like to eat out once every couple of months or so. I think of it as research - if I find a dish I really like I analyse it to see how I could try to reproduce it at home. I try to only ever order things I don't know how to cook, so fast food, most pasta dishes, pizzas, roasts, and burgers are out - but I've had loads of inspiration from restaurant food - although I suppose nowadays I get most of my inspiration from recipes I find online, so we eat out less often, and in better quality restaurants (ie places where they have proper creative chefs) than we used to. I'm still dreaming of one day trying the tasting menu at The Fat Duck!

I do enjoy all the ritual stuff of eating in restaurants - I actually like it when wait staff ask me if everything's OK, and when they pour the wine for you to taste, and all that good stuff - and the best bit is walking away and leaving the detritus for someone else to clear and wash up!

[Creamycoolerwithcream]

I banned Subway once DS2 and 3 started asking for foot long ones.

[JohnnyBarthes]

Indeed, Precious

You'd have to have at least eight million condiments, salad, meat and cheese options to recreate the Subway experience. And a selection of baps. In a way, 5+ is a bargain.

Shame they're rubbish, though

[whatever5]

I love eating out at restaurants as long as the food is good and interesting. I think I'm a good cook but would prefer it if someone else did the work and all the washing up.

[SauvignonBlanche]

I don't like ordering something I could cook myself and carveries are my idea of hell. I do like restaurants though but DH doesn't. We had a table booked in one of Michael Caine's restaurants tonight to celebrate my birthday but I cancelled the booking as DH had just list his job.
We were supposed to be going somewhere cheap and cheerful but have just had a row and he says he's not going anywhere.

[hm32]

I love eating things I couldn't get at home, but don't see the point in paying to eat what we could have made ourselves.

[Lizzylou]

I love eating out if the food is worth the money, I hate coming away feeling ripped off, or that the food/service was crap.
Dh and I both love to cook, I do the bulk of it but it is nice to not have to clear away and to try something new.
We went out for a fab lunch today, visited a town about 30 miles away we'd never been to before, really good food, great children's menu, fab service.
If you live in Garstang, you are bloody lucky!

[SauvignonBlanche]

Where did you go Lizzylou?

[Lizzylou]

Ooh, are you local to Garstang?
Pipers, the food was fab and for lunch just as cheap as a crappy pub chain but infinitely better. Really lovely, lucky you if you are local!

[Mintyy]

Oh I love eating out! No shopping, no cooking, no clearing away. Love it, and wish we could do it more often.

[JohnnyBarthes]

Oh no :(

(((Sauv)))

[LaurieFairyCake]

Bunbaker - doing DIY every day, spent my entire time is paint and mud spattered pyjamas - look dreadful most days.

[Lizzylou]

Oh Sauv, have just seen your post, Happy Birthday, hope you get to go out

[peggyundercrackers]

We eat out quite a lot, twice a week?, but we have a few places which are regally nice not far away. We avoid carvery's and Chinese/Indian buffets as they are usually crap food which has just been reheated and don't eat mcds, KFC, subway etc. or any of these types of food places either, they just aren't appealing. If you are paying a lot for average food I would suggest you change where you are eating.

We generally eat food I couldn't cook at home, we both avoid steak when we are out, I'm told I make the best steak ever, tbh when I make it it just melts in your mouth and I make my own sauces to go with it. Venison is prob my favourite thing to have if we go out. What are also lucky in that dd will eat anything just now, if we have something she wants a bit of it and usually ends up eating half of it, I don't think there has been anything she hasn't turned down yet - this might change as she gets older though as I was really really fussy when I was little and my parents couldn't go out a lot because me and my brother were like that.