To feel like I cook better meals at home!

[WilsonMilson]

Went out for a bank holiday meal today with the family. Tried somewhere new. Same thing as usual happened when we go out for mid priced meals - felt disappointed and underwhelmed by the food.

It was a gastro pub. I had fish and chips - the oil it had been fried in tasted old, the batter was hard and burnt, the fish had bones and overall it was just edible but average. I cook much better and tastier food at home. I find this happens more often than not, unless we go to really expensive restaurants, which is not realistic to do all the time. The place gets great reviews on Tripadvisor too, so I was looking forward to it.

Anyone else feel the same way when eating out and think you make nicer food at home? I am a keen cook, and for the money we spent I could have cooked an absolute feast at home.

Lots of people saying since lockdown it has got worse.

Yes, because there is a huge shortage of chefs. Lockdown contributed to this. Some businesses just let the chefs go and that was it. Once lockdown finished, they didn't go back. Original business had no chefs.

My OH is a chef- someone he knows who did very well on Masterchef- after lockdown he realised he wanted to see his kids and have his weekends/Christmas Day. His friend is no longer a chef.

Michelin places are trying everything to keep staff- only work 4 days/increased wages etc. There just aren't enough new chefs coming through. My OH has been available to take on Apprentices for several years- they just aren't coming into the trade anymore.

This means people get promoted too quickly because lots of businesses just need someone. Or they turn to bought in catering food.

The interesting thing is often the best places in terms of food can be very simple and get overlooked as they don't look that special for a night out- two of the best here in Bath are Noyas kitchen (Vietnamese)and Rosa's Thai - both are very simple plain decor. As a tourist you wouldn't go out your way unless you were the kind that always checks out Trip advisor .

I wouldn’t have agreed with you a few years ago, but I do now. I am much more careful with what I spend and only go to restaurants where it’s food I can’t cook well at home (like our local vegan restaurant, and the Himalayan one).

having said that I ended up at one last week with friends and the fish and chips were really good. It was a chain one, in an unpromising location, but all very good including the service

Agree, and teenage kids doing the serving.

even in a high end restaurant today was kids serving, we got the wrong wine , was served someone else’s meal & they forgot to bring coffee -and was still charged the service charge.

A few years ago we went to a pub with a good reputation for food where we’d had good meals previously. I ordered a burger and it was disgusting, tasted more like ham than beef, but like an eejit I said nothing and paid £15 for the privilege.

My lodger then applied to work at the pub so I mentioned the crap burger, and joked it was probably out of a £1 for 4 packet from Iceland - after her first shift she told me that’s EXACTLY what it was!

yep realised this during lockdown, I really upped my dishes during this time and very rarely eat out now and when I do I’m disappointed.

I feel like restaurants have gone the way pubs did 10-15 years ago. People have realised they can buy it cheaper from the supermarket and enjoy it in their own home.

Who now would spend £5 for a g&t single measure all evening when they can buy a whole bottle for under £20 and enjoy it at home. Same with food, if you're a fairly reasonable cook, why spend ££s on a very average meal when you can buy the ingredients (or even a nice m&s ready meal) and have it at home for a fraction of the cost.

I'd only pay for fish and chips or Indian, or sushi

Can't cook those at home

I wouldn’t expect a pub to serve decent food. It’s common knowledge that they serve frozen ready made meals right? I remember someone posted the online meal provided here. It’s not the type of establishment where a devoted chef is slaving away in the back for you…especially with fish and chips.

I prefer cooking at home as I can choose exactly what I want to eat. Sometimes I want a certain main with certain sides and some restaurants only do one or the other. I can’t necessarily cook better than decent restaurants and I love going out to mid-high end places.

My resolution this year is to cook an approximation of Rosa's Thai at home. I can cook Asian food pretty well, but I don't have great knife skills. But DH just came home with some galangal, kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass, so going to keep trying.

Totally agree with you, we, as a couple in our 60’s got fed up of eating overpriced, mediocre food, I can cook much nicer, tastier food at home. We enjoy our ‘nice food’ & resent paying for food out, that’s either microwaved or deep fried. Tend to spend evening with friends cooking & vice versa.
We have now decided, that instead of going out lots, we would rather make an occasion of going somewhere really nice & enjoying ‘good food a lot less often.

We do have a lovely restaurant and a pub near us that do great food but I am generally picky as I'd rather do it Lisette otherwise!

DH is a good cook and it has rubbed off on me. We do still go out to eat sometimes but tend to stick to specific places we enjoy. These aren't necessarily high end (Pizza Express is a family favourite). I also like going for sushi or mexican, as these are things we don't particularly cook.

*myself, not Lisette!

I agree with you. This is because most places to eat out, the food isn’t really cooked, it’s either reheated or deep fried. Unless you spend loads the chef hasn’t really made a meal with seasonal ingredients that might be comparable to what you cook at home ( take veg for example, usually if you order a side of veg in a typical restaurant it will be over cooked and gross - not as nice as you would do at home). I’m thinking of places like pizza express where pasta sauces are literally just warmed up, nothing better than a Lloyd gross man jar of sauce.

this isn’t generally the experience I’ve had on holiday (in France, I think you are still more likely to be able to get a nice salad, homemade food, seafood, a nicely made sauce etc) in a mid range non chain restaurant.

Yes all the time. I'm vegetarian but since veganism became fashionable, vegetarian food in restaurants has become a rare thing indeed.

I don't want to eat fake meat straight from the freezer but more often or not that is my only choice.

We rarely bother to eat out now.

I prefer to eat at home, these days, I'm a good cook( or so I'm told) and enjoy it, there are very few dishes that I can't replicate, and make more cost effective. I refuse to pay for mediocre, overpriced, food, and even worse service, I've yet to find anywhere that I can honestly say was amazing and would want go back to

Yeah, I was a vegetarian for 10 years and I HATE goat’s cheese, which was usually the only non-meat option on the menu. The local pub did a really good lentil shepherd’s pie though. As a meat-eater again, I’d probably order that shepherd’s pie now, if they still did it.

I absolutely love eating out and do it as much as possible. I can eat better at home most of the time (depending on the cuisine) but I’m paying for someone else to do the shopping, prep, cooking, clearing up and also bring it to my table for me and that’s what I’m happy to pay for.

It only seems to be on MN that 90% of people say they have "disappointing" food every time they eat out. Maybe they all live in the same town

I’m so glad others agree with me, it’s the middle priced dross that’s the worse.

I wondered if I was turning into moaning old cow who isn’t happy with anything! I mean, I might also be that, but seriously these mid range restaurants, especially chains and so called ‘gastro’ pubs, really seem to have gone downhill.

I did try to order something I wouldn’t make at home, hence battered fish which I never do at home, but it was just unpleasant.

We only had main courses, so it didn’t break the bank, but it’s definitely made me realise that we will just stick to the few nice cafes we enjoy for occasional lunches and home bakes, and go out less frequently but to the more expensive restaurants that genuinely produce fantastic food.

London! :) I am not an amazing cook but I can generally cook Asian better and healthier than many restaurants.

I am a shit baker though, so often will still do cake and coffee at nice cafes.

Such a good idea - I do this! I'm vegetarian and often a few different starters ands sides are better than a lame vegetable burger.

Also has anyone noticed how bad many restaurants are with lasagne? You can tell that it isn’t fresh as the lasagne itself is a dry cube, then restaurant tries to be smart by throwing a splash of random ragu around it. I can tell it’s two completely different sauces 🤮

The thing is that if you're a good cook, like trying new recipes and perfecting them then most times you eat out you'll be critical because you know how it's really supposed to taste.
It's the same with any other thing you might be good at, you'll find that you're always disappointed when you pay for the same/similar item and realise you could do it better.