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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Eating in a restaurant/ pub is not worth the money

201 replies

HoppingKangaroo · 04/10/2022 10:08

Not eaten in a restaurant or pub this year. Went for a pub meal the other day. The cheapest meal was 14 pounds. The food was just okay and not really worth the cost. I can make something just as nice at home. AIBU to think with how expensive pubs and restaurants are now it is not worth the cost? Especially if you can make something almost or just as nice at home.

OP posts:
Waferbiscuit · 04/10/2022 10:10

Most but not all pub food three days is frozen food brought in and warmed up. Def not worth is!

Quitelikeit · 04/10/2022 10:11

This depends on where you go and what you fancy!!!

I can’t cook food the way the chef does at my local so I enjoy going there

but certainly there are some places such as Wetherspoons where the food isn’t the greatest but then that is reflected in their pricing!

ReeseWitherfork · 04/10/2022 10:13

Theres a nice non-chain pub near me that does food quite reasonably. More like a tenner a meal. And they do an £8 roast. No idea how the food is cooked but it’s definitely enjoyable. I could probably cook the same for a lot cheaper but it’s worth it for me not to have to cook and clean up. Especially in the summer when we can walk the dog down, sit in the garden, and our son plays in their little park thing. Ticks a lot of boxes!

WimpoleHat · 04/10/2022 10:13

It’s a totally different experience though. Someone else buys the food, cooks it and clears it up. Everyone can choose what to eat and have something different. You can all just sit and chat without stress etc. I feel I’m paying for that just as much as the food itself.

Fuwari · 04/10/2022 10:13

I agree with you. Maybe if I could afford to eat somewhere that cost £££ it would be worth it, but I can’t. If I want something I don’t have to really cook I’d rather buy one of the “dine in” deals from a supermarket. Bung it all in the oven and done. I also like an alcoholic drink if eating out and they aren’t cheap either. Again cheaper to just buy a bottle of something to have at home.

Foxfeeder · 04/10/2022 10:13

You are right that often you could make better food at home, and you could certainly have cheaper drinks,, but usually going out to eat is not just for the food but for the experience, to meet friends, to have a night off from cooking etc.

miceonabranch · 04/10/2022 10:13

Four of us went to a Japanese restaurant last year and the bill came to £130 with hardly any alcohol consumed and only two starters. It was a bog standard place, not posh or anything.

That's virtually what I spend on clothing each year. Never again.

bananaboats · 04/10/2022 10:13

Depends on the place! If its wetherspoons frozen chips fair enough but we eat out every week at local restaurants and always enjoy it.

Hoppinggreen · 04/10/2022 10:14

We rarely go out for food, even though we can afford to
9 times out of 10 it’s disappointing and I could have made better myself .
To be honest we only really go out to get a bit dressed up and spend device free time as a family rather than for the actual food

AtomicBlondeRose · 04/10/2022 10:14

I find I’m way more likely to go to eg Wetherspoon’s because at least it’s upfront what you’re getting and the price reflects that. And we’ve found the food in our local one to be pretty good quality. I’ve definitely had sub-Wetherspoons meals for twice the price at “nicer” pubs quite often.

WingBingo · 04/10/2022 10:14

DH is a chef in a local food based pub.

their costs are rocketing. £1.85 each for beef tomatoes was a recent quote!

that’s madness.

AloysiusBear · 04/10/2022 10:14

Ive thought this for a while.

Our local pubs used to do decent roasts, simple meals like fish & chips, burgers etc. Now you can tell everything has been microwaved/reheated, yet its much more expensive. It feels like people eating are cross subsidising the bar where booze isn't making the margins it was.

AriettyHomily · 04/10/2022 10:15

I'm very picky about where we go now. I took the kids to our local Turkish place the other day and it was £90 for one alcoholic cocktail and two non, 3 kebabs and 3 sides. Portions had shrunk, service was shit. I won't be going back.

I won't pay upwards of £20 for a roast in the local either, because quite frankly mine is better!

Our Vietnamese and Thai restaurants are great and I can't make it as well as they do so happy to pay for that,

I don't mind paying for it if it's worth it but mostly its not, particularly in chains, and I'm fed up of having to download and order via apps.

Icanstillrecallourlastsummer · 04/10/2022 10:16

Eating out since covid has been really disappointing generally. It's been more expensive, quality has been worse, and service hasn't been great.

RyanYESorNO · 04/10/2022 10:17

It's not worth it to YOU. Fair enough.

I can't think of one pub / restaurant that I've been to in the last 12 months where I didn't really enjoy the food. I go out to eat for the atmosphere, for the company, to eat a range of foods I wouldn't always make at home, to have everything done for me: the prep, the cooking, the clearing away, the washing up.

I enjoy going out for Sunday dinner too, and it's actually the one thing I make really well at home, but it's just not comparable: making a delicious Sunday dinner at home involves shopping, lots of prep, lots of being in the kitchen and lots of cleaning and tidying. I often do it, but I also very much enjoy going out for one. So very much worth it for me.

If it's not for you, then don't go. All the pubs and restaurants I've been to this year have been packed too, so I think you'll find a lot of people think it's worth it.

FlounderingFruitcake · 04/10/2022 10:17

I’d probably agree if you’re only comparing cheap pub food to homemade although there’s still something to be said for not having to cook/clean up! There are many really fantastic restaurants and also pubs though where you couldn’t possibly recreate it at home. I’m happy to spend money on that, not everyone is though, it’s all a question of budgets and priorities!

MrsSkylerWhite · 04/10/2022 10:18

Agree, rarely worth it.

latetothefisting · 04/10/2022 10:18

WimpoleHat · 04/10/2022 10:13

It’s a totally different experience though. Someone else buys the food, cooks it and clears it up. Everyone can choose what to eat and have something different. You can all just sit and chat without stress etc. I feel I’m paying for that just as much as the food itself.

Agree with wimpole hat. The actual food itself is only a small proportion of what your payment goes towards. It's the same as the coffee thread on here last week - paying £3.50 for a takeaway coffee is expensive when you can make something very similar at home for a fraction of the cost.

£3.50 to sit somewhere warm for an hour or so to chat with a friend, have a drink made for you and washed up etc is understandable.

Read the news, restaurants are already charging prices as low as possible and barely meeting their overheads let alone making any profit, if they charged any less they wouldn't be able to open. Not sure what you want out of this thread, if everyone in the uk agrees pub food is overpriced and stops going the end result won't be that everywhere agrees to start lowering prices and staff work for free, it will be that the vast amount of affordable pubs and restaurants close down, so eating out becomes only for the rich again....

Hbh17 · 04/10/2022 10:18

You need to go to better restaurants! Yes, you pay more, but taking into account ingredients, utilities, rent, wages & the need to make a profit, I would suggest that a good restaurant is excellent VFM. If someone is taking on all the managrment, accounting, purchasing, preparation, serving, clearing & cleaning in a lovely environment where you are given some actual courteous service then it is vastly better than anything that could be done at home. We should be supporting the hospitality sector.

Iheartmykyndle · 04/10/2022 10:19

Well I can't make it better. Because I'm not very good at the cooking. And because my kids are philistines.

I love eating out, even cheap meals. Anything where I don't have to cook, clean or wash up wins for me. It was the main thing I missed in the pandemic.

Original poster
HoppingKangaroo · 04/10/2022 10:20

I’ve definitely had sub-Wetherspoons meals for twice the price at “nicer” pubs quite often
The meal did seem like a wetherspoon meal but at atleat 2 times the cost. I remember the food being better when I went last year, so it seems they have decreased the quality while increasing the price.

OP posts:
MossGrowsFat · 04/10/2022 10:22

The children's set meal before covid was £4.99 for three courses and a drink
After covid £6.99, then £6.99 no drink.

They have just had a refit, no set kids meal, if they have the three cheapest options (soup, chicken nuggets, brownie) is is £22.50 without a drink.

ContadoraExplorer · 04/10/2022 10:22

It's nice to occasionally go out, have someone cook then do the dishes whilst you relax with friends/family. That's worth it in my mind.

Thesearmsofmine · 04/10/2022 10:23

I think it depends. Some pubs do great fresh food, my local does really nice meals but other places do the Wetherspoons cheap and cheerful frozen type food but want £££ for it.

GiltEdges · 04/10/2022 10:24

WimpoleHat · 04/10/2022 10:13

It’s a totally different experience though. Someone else buys the food, cooks it and clears it up. Everyone can choose what to eat and have something different. You can all just sit and chat without stress etc. I feel I’m paying for that just as much as the food itself.

This. It’s the same principle as getting a takeaway surely, you’re paying for the convenience/experience as well as the food itself .