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

[Hottubby]

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?

That is a lot of food for 4 people
We had a Chinese a few weeks ago, and between the 4 of us there were 4 mains and two fried rice. We aren't competitive under eaters by any means. The portions were huge and there was food left over.

wow thats a lot!

we tend to order 3 mains between 4 of us with 2 starters totalling £30/35.

If you are it all that is a huge amount of calorific food.

Last time we ordered a chinese it was just under £60 for 6 of us

At least two mains, plus rice AND chips...each??? And you have two plates in one night? I eat a lot but Jesus!

What does it matter if it''s a meal you and your family enjoy? The last time I visited the UK I couldn't find a decent chinese takeaway at all.

good luck to you all I say!

We're 4 (2 adults, 2 teenage boys) and have never spent as much as that. We have recently been spending about £60-65 though (so about £15/head - London) but then I put any leftovers in pots and freeze them for lunches. You do seem to have chosen some quite expensive things though, maybe that's why?

We’re not a fan of Chinese food thankfully! And we know Chinese is quite expensive. But a dominos takeout for 4 people costs us around £42 and we did this quite regularly (trying to cut down now for health reasons). KFC costs around £35 for a family of 4.
A McDonald's costs us around £25 for lunch.
It’s so much cheaper and healthier to cook from scratch these days!

Do you get takeaway regularly or as a treat? I find I spend a lot more on takeaway when it’s something I haven’t had in a long time as I find myself wanting to try everything and I want to to get half the dishes on the menu. I have spent £40+ on takeaway just for myself in the past (ordering enough to spread over several days’ meals plus freezing one or two portions).

If I’m ordering from somewhere I’ve eaten at more recently it’s easier to stick to just a couple of mains, but for me the beauty of Indian/ Chinese/ Thai etc is in having several mains and being able to have a bit of everything. I always feel a bit hard done by if I only end up with one dish!

As long as you can afford what you bought and as long as everything was eaten then I really do think it’s fine to order whatever you want, takeaway is supposed to be a treat after all.

ONE main and three rice between four? Is this the Chinese takeaway equivalent of the ,mythical Mumsnet chicken?

2 people around £40.

Our usual Chinese order for four or five (adults/teens/kids)
1/4 crispy duck and pancakes - 9
sweet and sour chicken - 5.60
char Sui chow mein - 5.80
fried rice - 3.20
It’s from a very good place, it’s delicious, and there is lots to go around.

Chinese is always double Indian

No Way! Chinese is half price of Indian! Plus better extra value as you get 3 times as many king prawns in a Chinese dish as Indian.

We have two mains (share half of both each), one rice between us and my husband gets some spring rolls. This is piles of food! It is about £30.

For two we’d have:
bbq ribs-£5
prawn crackers- £1
wonton- £4
sometimes crispy duck £8
chow Mein or Singapore noodles £5
chicken or duck fried rice £4
a main of some kind- £6

So around £30 but less if no duck. We’d definitely have plenty for lunch the next day or we freeze what we don’t eat.

with a curry we share a main but get daal, rice, nan, popsdums and a veggie side dish like sage paneer- £25.

Yes i think that's a lot. But I like to over order so that we have a variety of dishes to share, and have leftovers. At the very least, one main, side/starter and rice per person, with probably a couple of extra sides! You need a balance with Chinese food. Although in your case it's mainly prawns!

For Chinese we tend to get some mixed starters, chicken fried rice, chicken balls, curry sauce and chips and then usually one more meal that me & OH like, comes to around £35. That's 2 adults and kids age 11 and 13.

We spend a less if we use the pizza/kebab place. Me and OH can share a large parno or pizza and chips for a tenner, kids meals are a fiver each so £20 and we get a free garlic bread too.

We get takeaway about once a week, used to be 2-3 times but trying to limit it now to save money

Yes sorry. You asked. That sounds like an enormous amount for 4 people and I love a chinese takeaway blowout.

Our usual Chinese order is:
salt & pepper tofu
salt & pepper chips
veggie spring rolls
fried rice
fried noodles
seaweed
curry sauce

comes to about £30 delivered. Sometimes we might throw in a satay tofu if we’re starving as well for an extra five ish. Dp always eats half and I eat 1/4 and save the rest for the next day.

So by that basis I don’t think so. Where I am the king prawn dishes are usually about £2 more expensive than the meat dishes.

That’s loads. My husband and I ordered a chicken tikka byriani which comes with a veggie curry, with a bread and shared it.

For 2 adults and 2 dc, probably £40 (which I think is a lot!). We literally only have one about 3 times a year though, as I think it’s quite excessive. We are financially comfortable but that’s like a third of our usually weekly food shop. 😬

Considering a main course where I am is £10+ for King Prawn then you actually got quite a bargain. I love Chinese so everyone can have a pick and share, but it really does add up. I usually try and go for the set meals - but even then you're not getting what you really want.

I'm hungry now 😭

We usually buy special fried rice and pork in Cantonese sauce ribs and chow mein for DD never more than £30. Boneless duck you can buy very cheaply frozen from Chinese supermarket its about £7 for a large amount tastes the same pancakes are about a £1 for a big stack you can buy the hoisin for a £1-2 I will never spend massive money on crispy duck again.

Our regular Chinese order for two is £15 including delivery and a tip but we only have a main course and two rice. And there’s some left over for lunch. This makes it sound like competitive undereating but it’s a massive portion and we will have had a starter of a big bowl of peanuts and a bottle of wine and finish with ice cream and chocolate. We are fat bastards though 😀