Not to understand when people go to eat out and order...

[DogCalledRudis]

Beans on toast.

In our neighbourhood a new cafe opened. They have a wonderful menu and Italian chef. People come for beans on toast when they can have Eggs Benedict. Ok, thats not to everybody's taste but beans on toast? Really?

Tell them to have curried beans or beans with them little sausages.
At least it's a bit more exotic.

I mean, it's a cafe. Not Locanda Locatelli.

I will order beans and toast sometimes if we go out for breakfast/brunch. I don't eat red meat so sausages/bacon are out, and I've never been a big one for eggs, so even a veggie breakfast doesn't usually appeal. I wouldn't normally choose a fry up type meal, I'd rather go out for lunch, but if it's suggested I don't complain and order something like beans on toast with hash browns. I do resent paying money for beans on toast though.

Beans on toast: nice.
Washing up: meh, rather not.

I hate beans and tinned spaghetti and Heinz tinned tomato soup. There's something about the smell and taste of the sauce , bleugh.

But yes I find it weird when people order stuff at a restaurant that they can easily make at home. I don't go out for breakfast, but if out for dinner I'll tend to order steak which I can never cook correctly, or fish which I find a faff.

Sometimes when I go out to eat I want beans on toast with cheese and ketchup. Othertimes I want Truffle Millefeuille.

The whole point of going out to eat is that someone else is doing the cooking and washing up. It's not just about eating something you can't make yourself.

What is to wash up when you make beans on toast?

One plate, one fork, two knives and one plastic dish which heated up the beans in the micro. Its more work taking your purse out, finding the 3 pound and paying...

I eat out a lot, especially with the children at lunch time. They usually have a jacket potato or omelette. Something I could very easily and cheaply make at home. We don't eat out because the food is better but because it's nice to go out, meet other mum and kid friends and also not tidy up after!! People eat out for different reasons. Not always for the food but for the social aspect

This thread demonstrates one of the things that I will never understand about Mumsnet, which is how some posters consider even basic food preparation to be so burdensome and difficult that it is a. worth paying someone else to make extremely basic things like beans on toast so that you dont have to do it for yourself and b. it is never reasonable to judge anyone who cannot cook, never cooks, and feeds themselves and their DCs rubbish because they either dont or cannot cook, because there are always valid reasons not to do so .

And look at the number of posters who come out with statements like if I was single and childless I would never cook and live on crisps and olives or similar.

But look at the contrast with opinions on household cleaning, especially toilet cleanliness. It would appear that on Mumsnet there is never any excuse for having a toilet that is anything other than spotless at all times and anyone who fails to meet this standard should expect to be thoroughly judged. Perhaps if some people spent a little less time on toilet cleaning, they might be able to find the time and energy for a little light food preparation .

And dont get me started on attitudes towards less than perfect punctuation. I will never understand why it is considered more important on here to know how to use an apostrophe than it is to cook basic healthy meals .

There are 5 us, I have to scrape the walls down after ds3 eats - 8mo.

Blimey, maybe they're just popping in for beans on toast between shopping

I think variety is the spice of life. Yes often we have homemade lentil stew and salmon fillets or something equally virtuous, sometimes we go out for eggs and beans because I don't want to cook and want to get out of the house with the kids and meet our friends.

Yummymumtobe I agree with you. Food is often secondary to being out, socialising. I sometimes go out for coffee despite having a very good coffee machine at home

I dunno, why do people go to cafes to buy sandwiches? Any idiot can make a sandwich, why pay $7 for one?

Sometimes people just like getting out and enjoying the atmosphere with food they like. :)

I ordered beans on toast yesterday! I was in a cafe to meet a client, wasn't desperately hungry but was encouraging her to eat. We sit there and talk for an hour- its a bit mean on the cafe owner to nurse a tea for all that time.
So YANBU

I completely agree OP. How odd to go to a cafe/ restaurant to eat something you could easily make just as well at home (unless you are away from home and don't have cooking facilities).

My DH would completely disagree however- he goes out to eat for the atmosphere and surroundings and eats whatever he fancies when he gets there. I go out to eat for the food, and if I could cook to that standard I would not choose to eat out.

So it depends on why someone is eating out.

I know for me the food I order is a small part of the eating out experience for me
Sometimes when we are out cycling we will stop at amid point and have a cooked breakfast, read the papers, chat before carrying on.
We go out for meals to celebrate different occasions....then it's all about the reason for going out
We go to a new restaurant 'noted' for its food and then it might be about what is on the menu

Sometimes I order tea and just toast without the beans in a cafe. Imagine that.

My kids always preferred things from shops or cafes even though the stuff I made was nicer.

I'm sure most of us who are vaguely capable in the kitchen can make pea soup.

Does that mean that no one should order pea soup at Guy Savoy's eponymous restaurant?

Miaow ladies!!

Totally get where you are coming from OP.

Is having an opinion on something like that the same as judging someone? No.

Pasta, beans on toast, and anything I regularly cook at home are all a big no no whenever I eat out, which unfortunately for my waist is quite frequently!

there is no point in paying someone else to make it for you. The multi million pound sandwich industry says otherwise.

How clever, a typing cat

So Beebopaloolah, you dash into a hight street cafe on your way to somewhere else to grab a bit of lunch.

Grabbing something that you could cook at home is a big no no?

I can't stand food snobbery. Makes me cringe.

You could use this argument for anything. You can make coffee at home, people still want costa or starbucks. You can make a sandwich or salad at home, people still buy them. Any dish on that cafe menu you could make yourself, some will be easier than others but all are doable, so why didn't you make your eggs Benedict at home instead of getting an Italian chef to do it for you?

I had no idea people actually judged what others ate in cafés. Pathetic.