Take away cost

[DyslexicPoster]

I know it's luxury and we hardly ever get take away now. Maybe once every three months if that.

I tried a new Chinese this weekend. There was no price list in the shop ( all covered over) no menu leaflets to take away so no prices anywhere.

Bought
Beef chow main
Chicken chow mein
Singapore noodles
2 lots of lemon chicken
5 mini spring rolls
Prawn crackers that was missing once I got home

In a rather rough deprived town it cost me £47. I did think it was really expensive at the time but with price hikes thought maybe it's all gone up a lot in three months.

Just checked the prices in my usual Chinese in one the most desirable SE towns to live ( according to the independent) and the same order but with twice as much spring rolls would have been £32 when I last ordered

It's made me think. 1) checking the menu and prices snd collection is more hassle than cooking 2) for two takeaways I could get a whole weeks food shop for 6 peopke for less than £94.

Restaurants have got very expensive but for a birthday or special occasion I don't feel to guilty.

But for £47 ( £15 more than the same takeaway two towns away was three months ago)I feel like a right stupid twat paying for it. I'm going to get a local menu with prices to see if it's just that takeaway but almost 50% price rise in three months?

I didn't think it was worth going back for the prawn crackers. I should have noticed in the shop at the time. It was my first try there and i won't be going back. They are free in the other shop come to think of it. Even if my usual is now this price I'd still rather go there. Five mini spring rolls is such a stupid number too. One kid got two, the rest of us had one each.

Another hassle to stress over for the easy option, check you got what you paid for.

In this economic climate it doesn't take much bad service to not want to try again. Forgetting the crackers I'm afraid was a one strike and your out 🤣

As it should be 😂😂😂

I don't think small takeaways are generally profiteering. And we shouldn't expect people to work for free making food for us.

Unfortunately a lot of businesses will probably fail, which will be good for the ones that do survive, but prices are unlikely to get cheaper, because they still need to make an income, which means charging enough above the cost of ingredients, cooking oil, utilities, rent/rate, delivery costs, tax, staff costs, etc etc.

I initially thought that was pricey so decided to add those items to the basket of our local takeaway. £47.20 here (South) but we would get 10 mini spring rolls rather than 5.

Yes that's about what we would be charged, although our takeaway does throw in a free bottle of coke if you spend £50.
What annoys me is the "we only take cash" rule by some takeaways. Everyone knows it's a tax dodge.

It is really expensive nowadays. I've long been priced out of takeaways. Markies do decent "fakeaway" I love the butter chicken. My dc really like gyoza dumplings. I serve them with sticky rice and noodles, stir fried veg and bao buns.

I would expect £8/£8.50 for mains and a fiver for the spring rolls.

Our takeaway consumption has plummeted too.

Your post seems to say that you bought in-person at the takeaway.

Legally they must display a menu with prices so that consumers can see them before they decide to buy - the same goes for restaurants. It's why most restaurants display a menu outside - it's not just to entice customers.

I think you were subject to sharp practice, even if prices are going up. Have a word with local Trading Standards.

I think that's about right for the amount of food you ordered tbh.

That's four meat main dishes, noodles with more meat, a side dish plus crackers - £47 sounds pretty bang on to me.

DH and I order two mains, plain rice or noodles and chips, and that comes to £19. Prawn crackers are free.

That would be the price for the cheap one in our area. The more expensive just as rubbish one would be closer to £70 for all of that. We r in London.

Yes they are all cash here too. Another pain in the arse.

Go to the bank to get cash. Think of what you want and cost it up when there's no available price list. Collect it. Find out some is missing. What's easy about Chinese? I only buy it as its the one thing I can't make the same at home.

It's not that I want anyone working for nothing or expect things for free, it's not that all. It's more of can we keep getting takeaways personally as a family.i don't doubt that for every person who decides its luxury choice they no longer want to make, there's plenty who still do. But it's that mental tipping price point when you think no it's too much. £40 feels like a luxury. £50 feels too much. It's just over 3 hours of dh wages pre dedications. So it's all relevant.

but its personal what too much is. Paying for a food shop is a bit different when it keeps going up. I can't choose to stop buying food. I can live without Chinese. I think. Actually I'm sure I want to contemplate that.

Sad times for me. I am going to the local bang on 5pm to get a price list 🤣 god I am craving Chinese again now.......

We used to get a takeaway most weekends but we don’t anymore. The portions have got smaller and the prices have increased. Even my local chip shop charges almost £16 for fish and chips now and the portion is small. I haven’t missed it thankfully.

What's easy about Chinese? I only buy it as its the one thing I can't make the same at home.

I agree it’s not the same; but that’s because home cooking does not contain a shed load of MSG, sugar and oil. SIL is Chinese, and learnt to cook from his mother. He told me how much sugar, oil, etc there is in a takeaway main, and it was astonishing!

However, there is a website Recipe Tin Eats. I find her Asian recipes relatively simple, and taste very good! The chicken with cashew nuts is lovely:

https://www.recipetineats.com/category/collections/asian-takeout/

Thank you for that. I will give it a try. I do know a asian Lamb dish that tastes amazing. Just like the chinese. I never wanted to cook it much due to the price of lamb but its actually much cheaper now to buy lamb than takeaway.

If I could do a few more mains then I'd only need the noodles. I actually bought spring roll and wonton pastry sheets last week. I need to get trying. Then see if it freezes OK. I'm sure MSG is the key here. Can't buy MSG in the Chinese supermarket weirdly. Not tastes like it either. You can buy it on Amazon.

That does seem expensive. I always feel let down by take aways anyway. You don’t get the restaurant experience and most often it’s nicer to just cook your own food. They’re always a bit greasy and rubbish imo.

Top tip: never buy anything without knowing the price first.

I think that is really good for 4 mains

I'm from quite an affluent area in the south and I'm shocked at some of these chow mein prices people are putting. My local Chinese which is the best around for miles is £6.70 for a beef chow mein and £6.70 for a lemon chicken.
Pre covid a chow mein was a £5.80 so it's only gone up 90p. And you get free bbq ribs if you order over £50, free smoked chicken if over £40 and free starters (seaweed, samosas, spring rolls) over £25 and always free prawn crackers.
Makes me appreciate them even more now!

Where's the 4 mains?? The lemon chicken are the mains. The chow mein is mainly noodles so a soaker upper type dish like rice is.

Chow mein is a main

YABU

20% of that will go to HMRC as VAT.
Power and utility costs have increased massively - there's no price cap for small businesses, some have been hit with rises of several hundred percent!
Minimum wage has gone up.
Food prices have gone up massively, as has cooking oil.
Overheads have gone up massively, such as waste disposal.

I think roughly £10 per person for a takeaway is about the minimum you could expect to pay considering the increases in virtually all the costs involved.

CrazyHamsterLady · Today 07:52

You didn’t have to buy it 🤷‍♀️

Well, duh!

I think you've missed the point of this post.

Not really. It's noodles with bean sprouts onions and a sprinkle of meat. Op didn't order rice so I'd imagine it's the carby side dish to their lemon chicken.

No, chow mein is a main, mixed meat, noodles and veg. It's always been priced the same as the other mains.

Just about every Chinese takeaway follows a similar price structure.

£X for chicken chop suey/beef and black bean sauce etc. Sometimes comes with free boiled rice or chips and about a quid extra for egg fried rice instead.
£X for chow mein
£X plus a couple of quid for the above but king prawn or duck version.

Anyone ordering beef or chicken chow mein and lemon chicken is ordering two mains.

I agree. If you were to make that from scratch at home it would be still be pricey with the way food prices have gone up. The profit with the overheads will be minimal.