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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Are we fat bastards? How much do you spend on a takeaway?

334 replies

Hottubby · 12/06/2022 21:25

I was interested to see on another thread that some people were horrified at a poster spending £40 on a takeaway and suggested she must be ordering an awful lot.
We had a Chinese last night for 4 people and it was £85- there was some left over for lunch today.
this was our order;
1x King Prawns Mushroom in Oyster Sauce 1x King Prawns Hong Kong Style Sweet & Sour Sauce 1x Aubergine Black Bean Sauce 1x King Prawns Satay 1x King Prawn Ginger & Spring Onion Sauce 1x Quarter Crispy Aromatic Duck 1x Mixed Appetisers for 2 1x Chicken & Prawns in Yellow Bean Sauce * 3x Egg Fried Rice (300g) 1x Special Chow Mein 1x King Prawns Fried Rice

so how much do you spend/order for 4 people and are we fat bastards?

OP posts:
Dinosaurhearmeroar · 14/06/2022 21:42

That is a lot of food! The rice portions are always huge - I find that one rice served two easily. My fiancé snd I get one starter, two mains and one rice.

PoleFairy · 14/06/2022 21:45

We normally spend about £35 for 2 on chinese but we get a lot. We like to have lots of dishes to try and it normally does us dinner 2 nights in a row and then lunch the third day

Starlightstarbright1 · 14/06/2022 21:45

We spent £19 Saturday for 2.. 2 mains, a rice and prawn crackers.

PoleFairy · 14/06/2022 21:48

Oh and we normally get
Special fried rice
Sweet and sour chicken Hong Kong style
Lemon chicken
Crispy chilli beef
Salt and pepper shredded chicken
Satay chicken/chicken chow mein

Prawn crackers and spring rolls free

Mirw · 14/06/2022 21:56

Would expect to eat in for that money. Bit OTT for take out in terms of ££ and amount of food.

Everydaydayisaschoolday · 14/06/2022 21:59

We ordered Chinese last week and it was £33 for three. To be fair, I have a small appetite but DP and DS are big men and big eaters. Even so, there was enough left over for DP's lunch the next day.

cobden28 · 14/06/2022 22:04

Also, how often do you slapsh out on a takeaway? I treat myself to a takeaway once a month - not more often as I'm an OAP so on a restricted income - and spend between £10 and £15 a time, but usually around £12 or £13.

Lacedwithgrace · 14/06/2022 22:09

Our order with friends this weekend-4 adults with good appetites:
1x chicken chow mein (one box chicken+veg, one box noodles)
1x cantonese style chicken (one small box of chicken pieces
8 chicken balls with S+S sauce
2 egg fried rice
4 slices of prawn toast
Enough for a full plate each+ we picked at leftovers

Lacedwithgrace · 14/06/2022 22:10

That was £38 I think

pollymere · 14/06/2022 23:05

You do not need three portions of egg fried rice, a fried rice and a noodles on top of that lot!

For two, we usually order a starter like ribs or duck, maybe a portion of soup (two if we're hungry). Then one rice dish, one noodles and one other such as sweet and sour.

1HappyTraveller · 15/06/2022 06:07

YANBU - your money spend it how you like!

That is a sh*tload of food for 4 people though 🤣

That being said if you’re eating it like a Chinese banquet and sharing then you’d order more dishes for that reason so not all bad. But if one person is doing a ‘Smithy’ then it’s a bit greedy…

Hope you enjoyed it regardless

TreacsPotNoodle · 15/06/2022 06:29

For me and my partner we spend £20-£25 on a Chinese

We order vegetable satay, vegetable chow main, egg fried rice, mini spring rolls and salt and pepper chips

Sparklehead · 15/06/2022 06:55

we had Chinese on Saturday night, for 2 adults and 2 DC. We had:

tofu in black bean sauce - main
aubergine and potato - main
tomato foo yung - main
prawn balls
egg fried rice
veg chow mein
veg spring rolls
prawn crackers

Cost about £45. There was masses of food and we had enough for lunch for all the next day.

Islandgirl68 · 15/06/2022 09:20

Wow, that does seem a lot. We get 3 starters, two mains one rice for 4. Eat it all satisfied but not stuffed. Don't like waste. The lemon chicken is enough for 2.

user1471538283 · 15/06/2022 09:23

We spend about £20 or so on an Indian but I never eat a whole meal and just have half the main and a bit of the sides. That's 2 mains, 2 sides.

That does seem like alot of food but as long as it's all eaten it's ok.

80sMum · 15/06/2022 09:30

We only very rarely get Chinese takeaway (probably a couple of times a year). Usually we would have one main dish each, plus a vegetable dish to share. Sometimes we might share some rice too.
So our maximum spend, for 2 people, would be:
Sweet and sour chicken £6.00
Special chop suey £5.90
Mixed vegetables £4.30
Boiled rice £2.90
Total £19

There is usually some left over.

DanceItOut · 15/06/2022 11:22

I do think £85 is a lot for 4 people. That’s a lot of main dishes and a lot of rice for 4 people also. Our Chinese is about £7-8 per main dish. We order 4 mains, 1x egg fried rice and 1x prawn crackers for 4 people. If we are getting fu yung as one of the mains we might get 2 of those as that doesn’t stretch as well between 4 people. We spend about £40 for a Chinese or Indian for 4 people and there is usually a little leftover.

PipeScatter · 15/06/2022 11:41

My friend and I shared a chinese takeaway a little while ago. My DH isn't keen, but shared the crispy duck pancakes with us.

We had:

  • chicken satays x 4 (one portion)
  • Quarter crispy duck
  • main chicken & cantonese sauce
  • main chilli shredded beef
  • 2 x egg fried rices
It came to £48.60!

I think my Chinese is too expensive!

Rosehugger · 15/06/2022 12:51

Our Chinese is about £7-8 per main dish

Ours is 50% more than that.

Rosehugger · 15/06/2022 12:54

I think some people aren't considering prices for picking it up themselves v Deliveroo and also living in different areas of the UK, or Ireland.

Leontine · 16/06/2022 09:52

I ordered 1 x Vegetable Chow Mein, 1 x Egg Fried Rice, 1 x Chips with curry sauce, 1 x pot of curry sauce and 1 x bottle of pop the other day and it came to £19.45 with delivery. That was for 2 people and there were no leftovers. Usually I’d order 1 main and 1 side per person though and there would probably be leftovers, I just wanted to keep it under £20 this time. I’d expect to spend about £12 per person normally, so for 4 people I’d expect it to be in the region of £50.

Purringcat3 · 16/06/2022 13:08

There was me moaning about a chippy for four at £23 🤣

Alcibiade · 16/06/2022 13:10

We would generally never order more than one main per person if eating at a Chinese. So, for four adults it would be four mains, plus four rice orders. That much does seem like quite a lot for four.

Alcibiade · 16/06/2022 13:14

King prawns really are the best when it comes to Chinese food.

MaryBeardsShoes · 16/06/2022 14:04

We would order the following for two + leftovers. Used to come to about £30 until recently it has gone up to more like £40. So yours doesn’t seem too much for 4 + leftovers

prawn toast
satay skewers
1/4 duck
2x main, 1x rice