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.

I love eating out but I’m not keen on pub grub.

I agree, eating out is just so expensive now.

Paying £15 + for a crappy tasteless burger and chips, just not worth it.

But you could say that about anything in life.It’s cheaper to not go to the cinema, but to watch a film at home.
Its cheaper to stay at home rather than go on holiday.
Some people buy million pound houses, some buy 100 k houses.
Football fans pay a fortune to watch a match rather than watch it at home.
You’re paying for the experience of it it all.

Choose carefully. This week we had a beef, bacon, venison pudding. With roasted carrots, cabbage, broccoli, creamy mash with a red wine gravy. It was sublime. That I wouldn't be making at home.

Agree the main reason to eat out is for socialising or because no other reasonable option & need sustenance. Eat-out food is too salty, not enough veg and not even that tasty. I've felt this way for 5+ years. Even worse when I see platefulls uneaten by other customers. Appalling levels of waste.

Our local greasy spoon cafe is fab.
Cheap and cheerful
We celebrated paying the mortgage off in there with a cup of tea
You don't always need a posh night out !

True. But people are saying that the experience is no longer worth the cost in many cases.

After all, it's not the only way to meet up with friends and relatives. Go to each others houses, go for a walk or picnic.

Also, not the only way to 'have a night off cooking'. Supermarket takeaway deals or make something really simple.

When it costs about the same as a weekly shop per person for one meal, people are questioning the cost, especially when the neither the food, or the experience, is anything special.

Not worth it in some places.

Depends where you eat.

I normally choose something I can't cook myself so I'm not comparing.

I like my own lasagne the most, I usually have steak or risotto etc when I am out as I can't cook them that well.

I used to enjoy going out to eat a lot but I agree with you. Even mediocre at best food seems expensive to me now.

Depends where you go, surely?

Main meals in pubs around here are £7-12 on average and all homemade on site. Between us we go out for some kind of meal or food every couple of weeks and we've never had a bad experience.

I love eating out, and not having to do any domestic stuff to get food on the table

I was thinking about this thread last night.

I had the £3.50 21 day aged sirloin from Aldi with roast potatoes, parsnips and peas.

It was comparing pretty well with the £8.50 large cod and chips from the local chippy. It's gone up over £1 in the last month.

I agree with you. There is the odd place where the food is lovely and can't be replicated at home, but I find most places are overpriced and shit food.

Totally agree. We used to love eating out esp at gastro pubs but really struggling these days. Went to one recently that came highly recommended and it was awful. Felt genuinely upset that we paid for sub standard food and that was with my meal being taken off the bill as it was nearly inedible (I didn't it more than a couple of mouthfuls and I eat everything!)
I also feel I can make everything better and more cheaply at home and don't mind doing so tbh.
Only place we love now is our local Chinese - just discovered their salt and chilli chips too so now have that with a sausage as a treat instead of the actual Chinese!

I would say the air fryer improves home cooked stuff a bit too.

I've never had a deep fat fryer, so if I want fried stuff it has to be takeaway or eat out.

The air fryer crisps it up halfway between what you might get in a restaurant and what you might get if you oven bake with oven chips for example. They are not quite as nice as say chip shop chips, but some way towards it.

The whole point of eating out is that I don't have to cook. Yes I can cook better than some pub/restaurant chefs (sounds braggy but I'm a good cook) but I like eating out. £15 is about the going rate per main here. I tend to choose things that are harder to cook at home or dp doesn't like.

Sometimes we eat at the other pub which is £10 for a burger and a pint

@Fairislefandango

I agree, supermarket ready meals are rank, especially the Indian/Chinese food ones. I either cook from scratch or order in

I like Tescos Indian ready meals.

It depends on the pub! We have a local in the village that cooks delicious homemade food and costs about £16 per head for 3 courses. Surrounding villages have good pubs with varying costs, and the independents are usually much better than chains.

I'd rather have a M&S ready meal in the comfort of my own dining room than the disappointment of most of my local Gastro Pubs. I'm happy to pay for food value, but not for disappointing food.

Totally disagree about supermarket Indian food! I love a waitrose curry with all the sides! Not greasy either.

You just need to go to better pubs and restaurants.

Surely you go to places that serve good food you expect to pay the price? Weatherspoons isn’t somewhere I’d go for a number of reasons, but I’d not expect haute cuisine if I did.
We had a very pleasant meal in a pub restaurant last week. All local produce, all freshly cooked to high quality and a pleasant setting with friends. Not cheap, but worth it. Not a burger in sight.
A good seafood restaurant is worth paying for, in my opinion. I’d rarely prepare crab or lobster at home.

Me too. Their butter chicken is my fakeaway of choice.