To not expect to be served a ready-meal when I eat out?

[WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll]

We bought some gift vouchers for family members for a big chain 'restaurant' place named after two Italian gentlemen that they love and go to frequently. All fine.

But it got me thinking as we personally can't stand that place. When we went there with them once, the food was terrible - chewy, tasteless and thoroughly unappetising, the same as it was when we went some time ago - I suppose we were hoping it might have changed in the meantime, but it was actually worse. It wasn't cheap either.

We've experienced this at a number of other places too. Looking online, it appears that it's become the norm at a lot of restaurants to have dishes prepared centrally (often from a generic third-party wholesaler) that they then keep in the freezer and just heat up - often in a microwave - when they're ordered.

We don't have ready meals at home unless it's a real emergency - in such cases, we'd rather have something simple and basic like beans on toast or a sandwich than a microwave meal, which we invariably regret immediately afterwards anyway.

We're not snobbish in any way - we've had many a satisfying meal at greasy spoon/transport cafes and pubs where they've had a chef who actually cooks rather than just microwaving. We don't like and couldn't afford and would probably be turned away at first glance from 'gourmet' restaurants owned by a celebrity chef and with a waiting list, but we're happy to pay a fair price for a good meal.

The worst ones are carveries, where 80% of customers are eating pretty much the same thing all day, with a steady stream of demand, and yet some still use frozen roast potatoes and Yorkshire puddings.

It seems like a lot of people don't mind it, and some obviously enjoy it, which is great if you do - maybe the atmosphere and theme/surroundings is what matters most to some folk - but I really wish there was some clear way of knowing in advance whether a cafe/pub/restaurant serves food prepared and cooked on the premises or just shoves an unpleasant ready-meal in the microwave for you. Maybe something like CAMRA accreditation but for food rather than just beer?

I used to work for Weatherspoons. The food is generally ok but obviously it's prepackaged apart from anything that's cooked on the grill. Their target kitchen-table time is 10 minutes, they have a huge turnaround and the food is extremely cheap. If you want Lasagna for £6.50 served in 15 minutes it's not going to be made from scratch. If you want quality food, cooked on site then don't go to a chain. Agree F&B is crap

I'll do a bit of research OP and get back to you ;) - I don't work in the kitchen 😁

@HopelesslydevotedtoGu
I know a chef who used to work at Zizi's and he hated it because it wasn't real cooking, just opening and heating up prepacked sauces. The one time I ate at Zizi's (already aware of above) I did like it. Like many pp I avoid chain restaurants as a rule, though. There are so many great independent places.
Five Guys is the one we go to sometimes.
On a different note it always surprises me when ppl say McD is cheap? I think it's actually quite expensive for what you get.

30 yrs ago my dh had a weekend jo at a little chef. He loves to tell the story of people asking for the ‘cheese and mushroom’ omelette without cheese or mushroom (or whichever core ingredient). He would always have to say “no sir/madam, it doesn’t come without”, often to much incredulity. Even the omelettes were vacuum packed and microwaved. Nothing new!!

This is nothing new. On 1994 my then boyfriend was manager of a Garfunkel's 'restaurant' on New Bond Street. 25 years ago... Most of the food was in bags that were then 'cooked' on site.

None of the (qualified) chefs cooked anything from scratch.

I've always avoided chains since then.

PS neither of this names are Italian...

@IPromiseiwontbenaughty Cote Brasserie is definitely sous-vide (ie reheating)...

Also, even smart places like Ivy chain use this method. Most chains (of all stripes) do now , not just cheap rubbish!

If it’s done well it’s fine. We have a couple of lovely independent restaurants here but while it’s made fresh it can still be prepped in advance and may be hit and miss.

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll Love your posts and absolutely agree that you're not BU.

I used to be a nearly complete non-cook, so eating out was essential. In the 'olden days', when - as previous posters have pointed out/queried - there were no chains (just Wimpy, I think) - this meant either independent restaurants or hotels. Hotels were often an absolutely brilliant option: you could dine in their restaurants and have a superb meal for a (relatively) good price.

However as chain restaurants took over the high street and as I learned more about the (ersatz) food they provided (thank you Joanna Blythman, Felicity Lawrence et al.), I finally had to come to the conclusion that home cooking was best. Not only best but terribly necessary.

So I bought a Thermomix (a touch over £1,000 just over seven years ago), and taught myself to cook at home. From real scratch. Restaurant-quality meals.

What a revelation! Now I don't have to consider whether or not restaurant meals are 'fake'/centrally pre-prepared/manufactured or whatever - there's no question because I have a comparison; my taste buds tell me.

From eating out several times a week, and invariably at weekends, we now eat out about three times a year. The food budget has dropped through the floor (and we only buy organic - !), and our meals are just better: more taste, more interest, fresher.

Dinner invitations, which used to be accepted or declined on the basis of guests being available ("Sorry, we can't do any time this month") are now begged for ("I'm being cheeky, I know, but may we come to dinner again soon?") and I actually host Christmas dinner. My (compulsory year) ex cookery teacher would be shattered!

The more you cook from scratch (really from scratch: I make the mustard, the sauces, the butter, the stock...), the more you understand how food is made and how it should taste. Consequently the more you realise how crap is restaurant food (and the ingredients in supermarkets).

The other aspect to this is health. Crap in, crap out, basically. If you eat the offerings of the food manufacturing industry - whether in restaurants or in the supermarket - you won't thrive. If you eat fresh, well sourced, food then you will.

The average estimate of my or my partner's age is around ten years younger than the reality. A common response to people seeing either of us after a long absence or for the first time is "You look healthy". And, despite our rather advanced ages, we're not on any medications and shrug off and/or just don't get viral infections.

Food is what you are and how you live and thrive. This is not a side issue - it's vital.

Good thread, OP.

On a different note it always surprises me when ppl say McD is cheap? I think it's actually quite expensive for what you get

How so? Where else can you get a filling hot meal with a drink for under a fiver?

A few weeks ago decorating was being done which meant we were too busy to cook as wanted to get it done before dh went back to work on the Monday. Saw an advert on fb about a little tea room in town that had started doing traditional roast dinners on a Sunday, delivered. So thought great, just the thing. Ordered it the day before for delivery next day at 14.30.
Well, it turned up in silver foil trays, dished it up, the veg was supermarket packet frozen steamed, the potatoes were frozen out of a packet and so was the Yorkshire puddings! The only thing fresh was the roast beef! It was awful! I could have bought it all frozen and dinged it in the microwave myself! We were so looking forward to a home cooked roast too.

Great thread.... chain restaurants are so not good.. hate them knowing that we get better at home.
We like to eat out every week but struggle to find places that aren't independently run.

Great Aunt Mary - whilst I agree with you on the whole, I also have a Thermomix and definitely don't look ten years younger - what am I doing wrong???!

@ILoveautumnleaves any time

'Exactly like supermarket bread then'
You can buy freshly baked bread.........

"'Exactly like supermarket bread then'
You can buy freshly baked bread........."

This is not what most people in this country do when they want to have beans on toast.

"On a different note it always surprises me when ppl say McD is cheap? I think it's actually quite expensive for what you get

How so? Where else can you get a filling hot meal with a drink for under a fiver?"

Quite a few pubs have something like 2 meals under 8 pounds. Lots of cafes have meals for a fiver. The quantities are quite small in McD. I think even a hot sandwich from Costa would be more filling and a similar price.

I agree with you op. Paying good.money for a reheated meal 🙈

Quite a few pubs have something like 2 meals under 8 pounds.

And then screw you with the cost of the drinks on top.

In MaccyD, you get the drink included for under a fiver. I've never found a hot meal anywhere cheaper. Of course, it's cheaper to make your own, but we're talking about eating out.

Yanbu!

Round our way there's a local independent 'nice' place and when I went to pick a dessert, every single option was gluten free apart from ice cream

It came obviously microwaved (that slightly chewy texture if you don't eat it quick enough). I wouldn't mind but I actually like food and would never even microwave my own puddings at home. Obviously every dessert option bought ready made from the suppliers.

Cost me £5.50!

Quite a few pubs have something like 2 meals under 8 pounds. Lots of cafes have meals for a fiver. The quantities are quite small in McD. I think even a hot sandwich from Costa would be more filling and a similar price

YY to pubs doing cheap food screwing you on the cost of a drink. A medium drink in McDs is 99p, most pubs charge over £2. Some cafes will sell meals for £4/5, but again, a drink is extra on top.

Also, with independent cafes, you often have no idea how long the food will take, and it is quite often far longer than I have time to wait, if having lunch when out for work for example. Or there is no parking nearby.

Disagree about a Costa sandwich being more filling than McDonalds, and probably nearly twice as expensive for a sandwich, side and drink.

McDonalds wouldn't be my first choice of somewhere to eat, but they are a lifesaver when you are out on the road and need something hot, filling, fast and not ridiculously expensive. I don't like cold sandwiches much, especially straight out of the fridge as available in supermarkets, garages etc.

"I've never found a hot meal anywhere cheaper."

Fish and chips probably cheaper by weight. Not that many of them have seating to eat in I suppose.

'This is not what most people in this country do when they want to have beans on toast.'

it's the same thing whether you have it on freshly baked bread or packaged bread.
When most people buy their bread they have the option for fresh or packaged......

"When most people buy their bread they have the option for fresh or packaged......"

I don't agree. Smaller supermarkets don't always have freshly baked bread.

I once tried to order plain pasta with butter for my fussy toddler in Pizza Express and was told they couldn't do that. When I pointed to the pasta dishes on the menu they said they were already in sauce and they did not have any dried pasta they could boil. A supposedly Italian supposedly restaurant that couldn't rustle up a dish of plain pasta. It made me look at the place differently.

I am happy to go to McDs, I used to eat takeaway kebabs and they were tasty, but op YANBU.

I'd rather have a bowl of fresh made soup and a piece of bread.

The plain pasta thing happened to me in a very expensive "bistro" that had opened up in a big museum. Their prices implied a chef onsite but I guess they didn't have one.