To always be disappointed by takeaways

[FizzyPink]

We’ve massively cut down on takeaways recently but as it’s a Friday I thought it would be nice to order one.

Got a Turkish from Deliveroo from somewhere close by with 4.7 out of 5 stars and it was just so disappointing. It was totally tasteless and verging on cold. I ordered a mixed hot starter selection instead of a main and it looked like something you’d get from the Tesco frozen section at Christmas.

Thinking back I can’t remember the last takeaway I really enjoyed and thought was worth the £30 spent with the exception of an Indian which I always love but DP not so much

I think maybe I like the idea of it rather than the reality of feeling like I could have made something much tastier for a third of the price

They key is to find the right places. But they are hard to find and I do feel like quality in a lot of places have gone down.

I live in a big city with a ridiculous amount of takeaways. I have found two in my area that are gorgeous. A chinese which produces amazing food and an Indian restaurant that does keralan cuisine. We planned a Chinese a few weeks ago but we couldn't get through to place our order so we ended up having cheese toasties. We have tried the other local takeouts and they would have been too disappointing.

I made won tons the other week and it was a revelation! Bit of a faff granted so next time will fry them in advance and then reheat in the oven. Over the lockdown I have been watching Ziangs Food Workshop on YouTube and can now make a mean fried rice, sweet and sour takeaway style and a few other bits. Sometimes though I just cba and crave takeaway

9/10 they are usually a bit shit but I never learn. Fuck Uber eats though - that lesson HAS been learnt. 2 awful meals via them (1st one delivered someone elses order to us and the 2nd was pizza which was almost black) and their customer service was non existent so I will never use them again and would never recommend them.

The last time I had a Chinese they managed to get sweet and sour chicken so wrong it was inedible. I just stick to Indian now

I think it’s down to why you’re getting a take away, if it’s about getting something better than you could make and value for money you’re likely always going to be disappointed,

If it’s about not being arsed cooking, and just fancy something different, then the disappointment factor will be lower, and really only if it does turn up cold or something.

If we get a takeaway it’s because neither of us fancy cooking. And although there are times we are disappointed, we don’t eat it thinking I could have made something better myself or count up how much it would cost if we had made it.

It’s the same as if you go out for dinner, if you go out for the social aspect, so as not to cook etc, then disappointment will be rare, if you go out and look at the food counting up how much it would cost you and telling yourself you can make better, then disappointment will be more common.

@Immigrantsong

Food in the UK is dire.

You've tried ALL of the food in the Uk. Impressive

Do you have anywhere nearby that does Cantonese too op? I’d give it a try. Indian takeaways are never bad 😊 The last kebab shop order I had was for a lamb shish, it was just gristle and it cost me £9 😡

No I find them disappointing too. Me and youngest DD are vegetarian and it's not always easy to find something fancy enough that I would pay money for rather than making it at home. And we can't order from a purely vegetarian place Cos then DH and eldest DD wouldn't order anything because "a meal isn't a meal without meat" 😧

I'm also on a low fat diet so if I have a night off and have a takeaway my stomach always pays the price the next day iykwim!!

We don’t get takeaway anymore for this reason. I can make it better myself, and I know it is clean with good quality meat.

Quality seems to have plummeted. Especially Chinese food for some reason. Our fish & chip shop has done ok, serving a wider variety of fish

But lockdown has meant I’ve found about a dozen new home cook recipes that take less than 30 minutes. Which is the average time it takes to get a takeaway where I live.

I’m sick of cooking and can’t wait for the restaurants to open. I miss the local tapas bar.

Aside from a couple of good local Indian places, I rarely enjoy takeaway. We're very lucky that an Indian restaurant opened up near us that does excellent food to takeaway. I dislike McDonald's, Chinese, Dominoes. DP makes superb homemade pizzas. At a push, I'd rather get a pizza from a supermarket! We have got an excellent Japanese/sushi place but it's a bit far to collect (would go Cold by the time we arrived home) and parking is difficult.

Im going to give Turkish/Lebanese a go for my birthday next month.

Absolutely agree. And everyone where I live, crows on the local Facebook site about how amazing all good from all takeaways is.

@hopingtobedally

Ahh Mumsnet- where nobody ever enjoys anything other than a homemade mung bean and ricotta cassoulet

Especially if they are batch cooked

I tend to regret it but I think more because it comes cold and in polystyrene. When we eat out from the same places I enjoy it!

Now, rather than spend £30 on cold chips and a can of coke I pop to the supermarket and get a load of ready made stuff and a bottle of wine.

@Immigrantsong I agree. I've yet to find anywhere that does nice food here.
It's all either stodge or badly cooked crap, and overpriced at that.

Like you I often feel disappointed with Take outs .Not too keen on Chinese really .Like Indian but only Chicken Tikka! Varies so much as well. Dont want to go to F and C nearby .Quite a small shop .Also have to wait outside and standing for 10 minutes is not good after a long day! Doing home cooked chips tonite just for me! plus some dusted sole from the freezer at S/B! Miss pub quiz as really nice Fish and Chips (and a pint of Guinness to wash it down as well!)

Completely agree.

Although being honest I guess it depends where you live. When we lived in London we had some amazing take aways- the Indian one we had was so good people would actually be queuing up and down the road on a weekend. Since we’ve moved to Norfolk they’re all crap. The local Indian one just seems to do everything in a bright red coloured coconut sauce and adds various amounts of curry powder to make it hotter and calls it different dishes. So disappointing. The fish and chips is the only decent one we have and that costs us £35 - the same as a Chinese or an Indian for 4 of us. Chippy used to be a cheap option!

Yanbu. Dont understand why they so popular. We do it very rarely if worn out no time to cook or no food in etc.

I agree! I hate getting takeaways, only get them once in a blue moon and am always deeply disappointed.

South west London here and at least 50 local restaurants who do takeaway within 20 min walk from me
They all have to be good to keep their business.
And the takeaways are mostly great, we have been ordering tons in lockdown compared to normally eating out 2-3 times a week.

I really think it depends on where you live and the choices around you. I used to live in a rural area and the takeaways there were shockingly bad - the chip shop was good, but other than that, the offerings were absolutely dire.

We moved to a big city and the takeaways are fantastic with lots of choice. Very rarely get a bad one.

@hopingtobedally

Ahh Mumsnet- where nobody ever enjoys anything other than a homemade mung bean and ricotta cassoulet

And where someone has the time, skill and money to produce it.

I’m not a great cook so can’t just whip up a curry, pizza or good Chinese. Lived in a few places and just depended on the area about the quality of the takeaway food.

Me and DH have never really been fans of takeaway. We both love cooking and are pretty good at it. We did used to order indian sometimes as we can cook a decent curry but naan breads really need to be cooked in a tandoor oven.

We lived in Essex and had quite a few good indian restaurants close by so would eat in or get takeaway.

Since moving further north the indian restaurants are really terrible and yet people rave about them.

Last week we got a pizza as a neighbour had said how delicious they were. It wasn't. I will stick to making my own in future. It wasn't as bad as Dominoes but not good at all

I have a couple of Indian restaurants I order from. And a gourmet burger restaurant that is still closed but is doing takeout. And Dominos!

Delicious.

It's very hit and miss isn't it? There's a vegetarian Indian restaurant which is always fantastic when we order and a pizza place which is cheap and gorgeous and would not pass muster if you wanted authenticity but is absolutely lush, and a chip shop which is great... but so many others are real "I can't believe I spent money for this" disappointments. I ordered Pizza Hut recently with a discount code and it was pathetic, cost loads and wasn't nearly as nice as supermarket pizza. And Greek food last year, tiny portions, delivered late and cold bearing little resemblance to the descriptions on the menu.