Eating in a restaurant/ pub is not worth the money

[HoppingKangaroo]

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.

We’ve pretty much given up eating out.

since Covid the quality of food and service has plummeted but the costs have increased hugely. We’ve had too many meals where we’ve come away wishing we’d just stayed at home and cooked ourselves,

I never follow recipes very well - it was basically this one but heavily tweaked into a "what have I got and what needs using up version!" The chicken I subbed with Sunday's left over quorn roast - I may have stuck some left over celery in there. I suspect purists will throw their hands up in horror....

gimmedelicious.com/easy-20-minute-butter-chicken/

Really must find time to do some shopping!

I got Chinese takeaway for me and my daughter the other week, it cost £32. That would have comfortably covered two typical meals in the local pubs. I'm not sure if the pubs are cheap or the takeaway expensive?

I think we've become much more accustomed to eating out and getting takeaways than ever before. When I was a kid, we never had takeaway, except the occasional fish and chips when we were out somewhere. And only went for a meal out on special occasions (significant birthdays etc). Maybe the cost of living increases will send things back that way? Hospitality industry just took a battering with covid/lockdowns, but what's coming could be even worse for that industry.

Agree with you OP, there are only a very small number of places where I've eaten and felt I've got value for money. Menus are hardly inspiring anymore, all the usual suspects.
Same goes for takeaways too, we had a curry a couple of weeks ago and it was the worst takeaway I've had. We've had meals from there before and have always been OK up until then.
I make nicer food at home, and buy a food mag to give me some inspiration. Nice to have a break from cooking from time to time though.

I work in a pub kitchen. We cook meals from scratch and it's a lovely oldy worldy pub. Honest food and great atmosphere. Unfortunately we can't afford to eat there as a family now! Used to be a treat every now and then but a starter or dessert are £7 each. Mains are upwards of £14 with a steak at £23. It's not gastro/fine dining or anything, just homemade normal meals such as pie, curry, burger etc. I understand my bosses costs have increased and he must pass them on to consumers but it's just not justifiable for us anymore, booo :(

I don't mind Wetherspoons if it's something freshly cooked, like fish and chips etc (ie not ready meal style) as it's cheap and you know what you're getting. For more of an expensive treat, I prefer going somewhere from a different culture like Chinese, Vietnamese or a good Italian where you are going partly for the experience. The food is always much better than I could do at home.
I try to avoid British food unless on holiday and no choice, as you often pay expensive prices for something you could do a lot better yourself.

Thank you @Elphame , that's great I'm going to try that , I scribble my tweeks all over my recipe books , they look a mess but it makes sense to me

I agree. A lot of places have taken some of the things I like off the menu as they try to cut costs so it's not really that interesting to eat out. Particularly things like fresh fish/seafood specials which I love and would always order.

And as for lunches, I was really looking forward to buying my lunch out every now and then at work when I got back to the office, but after having lunch at home for a long time the choices in Pret and their ilk seemed absolutely rubbish, particularly if you are trying to eat a healthy balanced diet. It's all carbs and junk, even the salads are pitiful. Plus again they don't have as much choice as they used to.

I'm a very good cook, so it actually has to be a very good restaurant to make feel the food was "worth" paying for - but as I'm the only cook in our house, what I'm usually paying for is not so much the food but not having to cook it!

I love eating out. We don't have expensive holidays these days or have expensive hobbies. Eating out is our treat and it's worth it to us.

I live on my own and hate cooking so eat in pubs/restaurants every single day.

I recently had a tuna sandwich served with a few french fries and two lettuce leaves, I think it was the cheapest on the menu. Cost me £15. Not worth it.

It’s even worse as a vegetarian - I cook at home, follow new recipes and have a varied diet.

I have very low expectations of good food and go for the company rather than the food.

examples of my last few meals out in last month or so not including drinks
Only veggie choice on menu sweet potato curry - very uninspiring £15.00
work meal out only Choice Vegan burger £22.00. Literally could have just heated in oven myself.
Japanese - very good, something I could not make at home £25.00
Greek salad and flatbread - lunch out £10.00 really nice

so 50/50 enjoyable rest was just out for the occasion.

It's not judging that people are using their disposable income to eat out, it's the decline in quality of both the food and service and a big increase in the cost.

Exactly what I was going to say. The cost incorporates everything, not just the actual food. Good service, lovely surroundings, food that I don't normally cook etc etc. I find eating in restaurants a real pleasure, especially when you find a good one.
With all my belt tightening, I think I'll appreciate going to them even more now.

Depends where you go but in general I agree the quality is not great, particularly at chain places. The only benefit of those places is not having to do the washing up yourself imo.

Completely agree, and local takeaways as well. Pre Covid we used to go down the pub once a week for a meal, now we are trying to save money and meals out and takeaways were the first thing tk go! On the odd occasion we do eat out I feel like I’ve been robbed and the service is often poor for the price you pay as well, I don’t know if it’s got worse since Covid etc but seems like there are never enough staff, and it’s become more acceptable to provide poor service? Was out the other day and I had to keep chasing for the bill and the staff were standing around chatting 🤷‍♀️. Awards I sound very moody haha

I agree OP, it's the combination of lower quality and higher prices that means many of us think it's not worth it.

I feel like this more since I stopped drinking. If I’m out for dinner with someone I’ve not seen for a while it’s different, but when it’s just me and DH, the menu is limited because I’m coeliac, there’s no delicious bottle of wine to share, and we’re paying the best part of sixty quid for a dinner I could have made better at home, I do sometimes wonder why we bothered.

we dont eat out much apart from holidays or maybe a birthday or a day out, but not many times in the year.

Its cheaper to do it at home, you get bigger portions, better quality food and you dont have to leave the house.

Thank you, I agree with all this.

Yes we can sometimes do a better meal at home or getting a M & S dine in special with a bottle of wine, but bloody hell is that all eating out is distilled down to? Just the food? It’s so very much more

We don't eat out much, rather get a takeaway from the brilliant Indian restaurant near us. We tend only to eat out for birthdays, or our wedding anniversary.

Our family favourite is a local tapas bar. During lockdown when everything was shut, dh turned 50. Our dc and I decided to make tapas at home and it took us 2 days to get everything ready! I certainly don't mind paying for tapas after that!!

Depends where you go. There are lots of fantastic restaurants & pubs near us. Also I can’t cook very good Thai, Lebanese, Korean etc. so I love eating these foods out.

I know what you mean, I've been shocked the last couple of times I've been out. I do see that ingredients have gone up, and they have increased bills, but surely it's better to get 20 people through the door paying £12 for a lasagne plus drinks on top than 10 people willing to pay £15. It makes me think twice about eating out now.

I wouldn’t mind paying for a good experience. Leaving aside the food and service, though, I don’t like the environment in most places now. They are very noisy, there are no soft furnishings to absorb the clatter, people shout to make themselves heard, it’s a racket. Plus the phones buzzing and humming and the staff choice of ‘music’ aka heart attack inducing thumping. Hard chairs or even worse, benches, hard cold floors….this is not conducive to enjoying ‘your meal’.

Our favourite restaurant when we lived in France had upholstered chairs, lined and interlined curtains, a thick table protector , an undercloth, a top cloth and place mats. You couldn’t hear what people at the next table were saying. ( she did a splendid duck confit as well).