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.

Unless it’s spoons because it’s near something I’m doing or a full your boots Toby I don’t bother anymore. The price has jumped, the quality is often less than spoons with poor service too.

local pizza take away can do five pizzas, chips and sides for £56, tastes better than pizza express and much cheaper. Feeds five of us with left overs.

Same with the Indian, Order two set meals for one which includes a full rice, 1 curry, samosas, some chicken kebab, plus chips, 2 naans and poppadoms £24. The Indian restaurant behind us less food £20 a person without alcohol as they don’t have a licence.

They have different outgoings though so it is not really fair comparison restaurant vs takeaway.

Depends on where you go.

Our local pub does 2 for £10 on certain days for burgers/fish and chips. It's well cooked, better than the local take always and cheaper too.

I can't cook to restaurant standards and I'm happy to pay for good food. It's great to be able to get together with friends and not be fretting about the cooking, then the clearing away and washing up.

It depends where you go. Not all restaurants are offering sub standard food.

I've thought that for years TBF.

The only time I can say it's worth it is if you have a social gathering reason, like a birthday where a load of you go. Then it's about the socialising and the like more than the food.
But to just go for a meal, I'd rather go to a supermarket cafe or a nice coffee or something like that.

Before covid hit we regularly ate at restaurants but then we got use to making food indoors and trying different recipes etc during lockdown.

We now rarely eat out unless a friend/family member suggests going to one.

I'm not a great one for eating out but I've had a couple of pub meals and a restaurant meal recently. 2 out of the 3 were 100% worth the money. The food was sublime. And I think it is always worth paying a little bit just to have someone else cook for you. Your taste buds appreciate the flavours more if you have not been smelling the cooking beforehand.

We've stopped going out to eat because of the price of average tasting meals. We don't want anything particularly fancy but £14 for a meal per person is too expensive!

Depends where you go to be honest.

My village pub is bloody awesome. It’s not a chain and it’s proper ‘home cooked food’. We go most sundays. My kids have the roast dinner and I have a rump steak and Stilton baguette with a side of twice cooked chips and gravy boat 🤤🤤OR if I’m switching it up a bit I have mash and liver in onion gravy 🤤🤤

Its cozy inside, especially now they have the log fires on. I spend waaaaaaay too much money in there but it’s worth it to me!

Most pub food is at best 'okay' and most of time far too expensive for what it is. Throw in an overpriced bottle of 'okay' wine and suddenly that spontaneous meal for two is upwards of 60 odd quid. I am a pretty good cook so it is often the case of 'I can do better' which is not what you really want when going out. There is a pub near me that does amazing actually made on the premises pies that I see as a treat but as others have pointed out most pub food is made off premises and heated on site.

I agree. DS (13) loves to cook so I buy him a Gousto box for less than the price of one meal out and let him make us lovely food 🥰. I do have to tidy up afterwards though.

I always paid 14+ for maincourse😳 before covid

But the take away food is also nicer than the equivalent restaurant.

Well it depends where you go and what your expectations are I suppose. Everyone is different.

Personally it is worth the money for me. Yes, on some occasions with a lot of effort I could make something nicer (not always). However it isn't just about the food for me. I despise cooking and I do it all in our house. I work about 50 hours a week in our business and my husband about 80. So for us it's about spending time together as a couple (or family if kids are with us), having a break from the cooking and relaxing. It's a proper treat which we do regularly and we are fortunate we can afford to do so. So it's not just about the food is what I'm trying to say.

But if you don't think it's worth the money for you then don't bother.

I voted YABU for the simple reason I don't eat out for the food alone. I like the atmosphere, the chance to dress up and not having to cook. You're paying for the whole experience not just the food.

We rarely go out for meals apart from when on holiday or occasions like birthdays but we do grab breakfast out- a lot- be it sausage sandwiches, bacon rolls, pancakes etc- better value and you aren't paying for alcohol

I'm a bit like OP - I always think £80 for 2 I could have had a weeks worth of similar standard ready meals from M&S complete with starters etc!!!

Too many variables. I had a night out the other week, and spent £45 in four hours on a pub meal and a bunch of drinks, with 15 people I know. Had a wonderful night, took loads of pics, had lots of giggles, and it was a night I won't forget. So the laughs and the company and the memories were worth the £45.

You could say the same about lots of things; that they are not worth the money. I don't think hairdressers are. I know people who spend £100 on a cut and highlights, (that I do on my hair for myself,) that costs £5 for the hair blonding kit. (And I trim it myself.) No WAY would I pay £100.

So, whether something is 'worth the money' is subjective.

The one I don;t get is takeaways. unless it's fish and chips, you are way better off buying good quality supermarket ready meals. I get Waitrose Indian ones - a big starter, main each and two side veg dishes comes to about £22 for four people. I just microwave soem rice to go with it. It tastes every bit as good as local takeaway which is probably just frozen, defrosted from some central factory too.

I don't agree with this at all tbh. I think takeaway Indian or Chinese food is generally far, far better than evem posh supermarket ready meals. Our takeaway is worth every penny!

As for going out to eat - yes, of course you can cook cheaper and sometimes better at home, but you are paying for more than just the ingredients in a restaurant.

Yep, supermarket replica 'takeaways' are absolutely rank.

I am a good cook ,but love eating out
Some of the places I go ,particularly with the kids, I do think I could cook better myself,and certainly for less money,but for me that’s not the point
Its about forgetting about meal planning,calorie counting and just having a fun night with the family
having said that we will be cutting back a bit in the current cost of living crisis

I agree, if I eat out now, it's either at a fast food place or it's a roast. I begrudge paying more than £10 for a main meal when my weekly shop for 5 of us is £80-£100.

Disagree. Really good food will require you to pay up. There are endless amounts of high quality great food where I am, central London though.

I’m with you. £12 quid for two with a bottle of wine and the food is generally nicer than the local chain.

We went for our Silver wedding anniversary to a very highly regarded pub/restaurant, for the four of us. Cost was £200. Food was OK, but service was poor, very slow even though it wasn't particularly busy, unfriendly waitress, overall not impressed at all, and won't be going back. OH had a steak which we'd asked to be well done, but it came raw in the middle, so he asked them to cook it more, which they did, but came back with cold veg and they'd cremated it - literally hard, caked on blackness all round it! Waitress just basically shrugged when he mentioned the state it was in. Needless to say no tips. We expected much better for the price.

It's interesting that people are mentioning the low price types of place. I havn't read the full thread, but we often use Morrison supermarket cafes and are never disappointed. Like Weatherspoons, you know it's going to be pretty basic, but it's cheap so that's fair enough. What we do like is that the staff are usually very helpful and friendly. Eg last time we went, my OH had a bacon bun and the bacon was basically 90% fat - asked the server if we could swap and she fully agreed it wasn't good enough, swapped it in a matter of minutes and refunded it. Far better service for a meal for 4 that cost under £20!