To think that restaurant food in Britain is fairly poor quality?

[partinor]

I live in a city that is supposed to have some of the best restaurants in Britain. I also am a good cook. Unless I spend £50 plus per meal, I usually end up eating a meal that is fine, but I could have easily made a meal as good or better myself fairly quickly.

Too many restaurants seem to basically buy in a combination of frozen ready made meals, and prop this up with fairly easy to make fresh food such as a fish cooked in a very easy to make sauce.

If I go out to eat I want something that is better than I can make fairly easily at home. I am beginning to think Britain must be a nation of poor cooks as I have been to so many places people rave about and I just think meh, that is fine, but no better than I made in 20 minutes after work last night.

I will carry on eating out with friends, just for the socialising.
Aibu.

I think sometimes we confuse poor food with simple food. I'm a good cook too but I can't see the problem with a steak, jacket potato and salad at a Harvester. Simple, wholesome, cheap. Not poor food at at all.

Go to a restaurant where you can see into the kitchen.

Avoid anything that is in a Michelin Guide unless you are minted!!! Its pretencious wankery a lot of the time.

There are fabulous restuarants out there at reasonable prices. You just have to know them. They often tend to cluster - so that there are areas where you'll struggle to find anywhere bad. And others where everything is dire as they have much more of a captive market / lack of competition.

I also think places like Pizza Hut, Wagamamas etc definitely have their place and I think Maccas is fab. They are great at what they do.

BUT I also like great food, and great service.

(I note another poster had a bad experience at Carluccios, and yes agreed. I've have one of my worst meals out there. It was supposed to be fresh but obviously went 'ping'.)

FWIW we have family in Nottingham and so we eat out there semi-regularly, and I must admit to feeling like everytime we've eaten out there its been really average. It might well be down to where we are being taken, but its struck me as not being the culinary capital of the UK. Sorry Nottingham.

I now make a point of not eating at pubs (generally) or chains, unless I fancy something specific from e.g. Nandos. And I've found that the quality of food I eat has improved.

I think sometimes we confuse poor food with simple food

It's getting the basics wrong or bland that annoys me. If you can't make penny arribiata without it being bland with overcooked pasta, get out of the Italian food business. The same with mushroom risotto, so many servings of bland, mushy rice pudding.

I've seen too many people get incinerated steaks at places, but I don't eat meat myself.

“ Most restaurants rely on frozen ready meals. If you go anywhere that has more than about 5 choices in the menu, some will be frozen.”

Utter bollocks. I’m a chef and that is such nonsense - unless you are just going to a franchise /chain.

Go to a family owned independent restaurant with good trip advisor reviews.

Maybe I just have higher standards for food than others?

I seriously doubt it, merely a higher standard of pseudo-superiority.

The newspapers were full a couple of years back of a very well-known chef's restaurants, where your £50 would hardly get you a seat and a starter, using frozen food.

crispbutty What kind of food do you cook at the restaurant?

Avoid anything that is in a Michelin Guide unless you are minted!!! Its pretencious wankery a lot of the time
the michelin guide includes the vast majority of restaurants in the country.
It's a gudie. They have chef and brewers and harvesters in there. The guide tells you the price range and what sort of food to expect.

If you’re in Nottingham I would definitely try Zaap, Oscar & Rosie’s, Bar Iberico, Sexy Mamma Loves Spaghetti, Cartwheel Café. Any recommendations you have would be great. I kind of agree though, having travelled a fair bit I tend to find much bigger cities better due to the diversity/immigration levels. I also think street food markets can be a great way of finding really tasty food made by people who put a great deal of effort into getting the best produce or showing their heritage.

Zaap is good, one of the few places I think is very good for the price.

Trip Advisor generally is your friend - BUT DO READ THE REVIEWS rather than simply going off the score.

There are places that try and game the system.

Think about what YOU look for in a restuarant. Its not what everyone else does.

I also think street food markets can be a great way of finding really tasty food made by people who put a great deal of effort into getting the best produce or showing their heritage.

THIS ^^

Don't discount street food places because they don't offer the facilities in the same way. The food can beat a lot of established bigger places.

I agree op.

I have also seen some pretty poor "chefs" on the professional MasterChef programme.

When I find a good quality cafe I stick with it.

I think maybe you eat in cheaper chain places too, you seemed to think 54 quid for three courses was a big deal.

Personally when we go out for dinner it's for the social experience, to have someone cook for me and I don't sit and big myself up thinking I can do better, but seldom have I had a bad meal and I'm experienced enough as a cook to know I'm not eating previously frozen food.

We tend not to eat in chains though, but even the local pub ( owned by an ex Gordon Ramsey chef) has fabulous food prepared fresh (my daughter worked in the kitchen) and places like the local Thai or Indian are clearly not providing frozen reheated food. So I have to say my experience isn't as yours.

However I have a friend who does as you do, she is always going in about how she cooks better and how mediocre it is, and having been out to dinner with her and eaten her food, I can say she's mistaken on her ability levels, but she personally feels her food is fabulous, and of course you'd have to be incredibly rude to point out that whilst it's normal decent home cooking she's not proffesional chef level, never mind better than them.

And for a burger with the kids (and occasionally without) I quite like McDonald's so it's not that I have madly extravagant tastes!

I live in London and eat out fairly regularly. I’m mostly really pleased with the price and quality of of food. I do find it much harder to find good quality affordable restaurants outside of London.

I don't think my food is fabulous at all. But I think it is at a decent level. And I never rave or boast about my cooking ever. That would be foolish.

Yes £54 per head for a meal, plus drinks and tip is at the upper of what I would want to normally pay. It came overall to just under £150 for 2 people. I do think that is a lot to spend. But then our household income is £30k a year, so forgive me if I am not as monies as you.

I've had some brilliant pub meals in England and Wales. I'd never discount a pub.

London was also easier ime.

So where I live is a factor in it.

bluntness You do know Gordon Ramsey freezes food for his restaurants? Although I don't think that is always an issue. I have more issue with brought in frozen prepared meals. And yes chains and lots of pubs including gastro pubs, do rely on them.

Indian places can be great. Some use pre pared sauces such as pataks though. So no don't assume everything is always fresh.

You can eat at fab places for less than £54 a head including drinks. Its not an unreasonable price expectation. We have had meals out for that much but its the exception rather than the rule. Our household income is more than that. So not I don't think your expectation is unreasonable.

well if you think £54 a head is a lot then you're more than likely to get low level food.
Why don't you go out more infrequently but to better places?

My ex is a chef and, while eating out with him could be a bit of a nightmare due to the critique, it was very interesting and educational.

He raved about one small restaurant we went to in a small town as well as trying to learn the secrets of the chef from the village Indian takeaway but sadly fully booked weekends was not enough to save the first in a small town and the second changed chefs/owners. The rest was rather meh.