to not want to go on holiday with DH as he’s taking Pot Noodles?

[Astridastro]

Hear me out on this, we are off to Italy in a month, a lifelong dream of mine, I had visions of long leisurely lunches and dinners, great Italian food and wine aplenty.

Food on holiday has always been a contentious issue for DH, he believes eating out is a waste of money and would rather sit in the hotel room with a Pot Noodle (seriously). On one holiday he actually went to a supermarket and bought all these pound noodles to try. Now I’m not for blowing money on fancy gourmet dinners but I like to eat nice, good healthy food. We’ve gone all inclusive and that’s usually a great compromise.

So this time I was informing him of the Italian tradition of eating late and it being an event, courses taking a while etc etc and he’s been so annoying about it saying he wants to go to McDonalds or he’ll just have Pot Noodles. He like to eat at 12 noon for lunch and 5pm for dinner on the dot, he eats very fast too. He says he’s going for the sights not for the food.

So I’m contemplating leaving him with his sad Pot Noodle and just taking the DC put for a nice meal on my own. It’s the way he keeps going on about it to get a rise out of me.

@Astridastro you need to take him to Japan

https://www.cupnoodles-museum.jp/en/

The whole thing sounds odd; why go all-inclusive if you want to explore local food options? And if you have gone all-inclusive, why would he go to McDonalds? I wouldn't care about him having pot noodles with him, it actually makes sense for him to have a small amount of food in the room if he's worried that the food provided won't be available at times he wants (although that information should be available if he looks for it). But he should also make sure he'll have a way to cook them; electric kettles aren't standard issue in Italian hotel rooms so he may need to bring his own (and a plug adapter).

They have not gone all inclusive for this holiday. They have done so in the past and found it a good compromise.

‘Foreign muck’ no doubt, not like good ol’ British Pot Noodle 🥲

Oh some of these comments are creasing me up!

I find it very funny that people are getting all het up what time other people eat dinner at, you don’t know if it fits around their day or their commitments. When our DC were young we were out at clubs every night if the week so it was easier to make dinner early for everyone, so we could digest and be out and about, returning at 9pm some night would be too late to start cooking a meal (plus everyone would be starving by then).

In my DHs case he’s usually up very early in the morning so by 5pm he is usually starving as he is very active and needs the calories. We also have bottomless pits aka teenagers who eat at 5.30ish then at 7.

For people who agreed they don’t want to spend evenings eating and would rather be sight seeing fair enough but if you’ve been up very early sight seeing from 7am to 5pm you’re knackered do you want more sight seeing in the evenings too? What are you seeing when it’s dark and things are closed?

what is the problem with letting him enjoy what he wants and you do the same?

Because they're a couple? 🙄

Personally, if we’ve been out hiking or sightseeing all day, we’ll be back at our holiday place having something nice to eat after a soak in the bath or a shower. We’re not up for going out to eat. We like our relaxed evenings in, with peace and quiet, but obviously not everyone does. It depends on so many factors - what sort of holiday you’re having and personal preference too. No Pot Noodles here though

Can you buy pot noodles in Italy? Maybe they have some different flavours he'd like to try?

Leave him to it. You and DC go and enjoy the food, culture and atmosphere. It sounds as though there's something wrong with your dh.

Just do your thing, presumably he realises that he’s selfish and the odd one here?
much of Europe eats late, chefs often don’t even arrive until gone 7, and dinner service starts at 8:30, especially more rural places. I’d leave him….i mean leave him be, and enjoy the holiday. Italy is fab, and the food is one of the main draws, along with culture and sights of course. No way I’d be hanging around an AI hotel in the afternoon/evenings.

If he eats dinner at 5pm, doesn't he get hungry later? What time does he go to bed?

I have this problem, although my DH doesn't eat pot noodles he would rather have a sandwich in his room than eat out. So be it that's what we did on our last holiday, my Dd and myself went to restaurants, he ate in our room or went to a local pub. He was happy, we were happy, no problems

Just tell him, "Fine! You do you hun, and I'll do me." And ignore him from there on out.

Regrettably, as a result of Brexit, one can no longer take sausages into Italy or anywhere within the EU.

It seems a bit unfair as the sausages didn't even get to vote.

Release the Sausages, I say.

You are definitely not being unreasonable, I would hate this!
My ex (recent and we weren’t together all that long) had some strange eating habits and it really wound me up.
I like to take time to enjoy food that I’ve spent time cook, and I think a meal, whether at home or a nice restaurant, should be an enjoyable social experience.

He would eat his food in under 5 minutes and if we were out I’d then feel rushed to finish.

Also can’t stand fussy eaters, but that’s a personal preference, and obviously you’ve known a long time (I assume) that your husband is one.

I definitely wouldn’t be sat in the room with a pot noodle whilst on holiday. That’s absolutely shit tbh.

Go to the restaurants, enjoy yourself without him.

Well, beg to differ a bit. I think this behaviour is really sad. It's like only eating beige food.

No it isn't. At all.

Where to start...

YABU - you can’t possibly speak for every single British banger…

Mines exactly the same. We took pot noodles to Italy believe me! If you are all inclusive there’s no problem, you’re pre paid anyway, he just won’t get his moneys worth. Hope you have a lovely time. Italy is beautiful.

Why don’t you just take the kids and holiday without him. Had a friend who used to take Tina of spam and packet mashed potatoes on holiday with him 🤪

I’d leave him to eat his pot noodles and take yourself off to a nice restaurant. His loss.

Ciao from Italy! You can tell him Italian grilled meat usually is served with roast potatoes and does not have any sauce, as you're supposed to add olive oil, salt and sometimes lemon to it after it's been cooked (that's why oil is on the table, with vinegar for salad and boiled veg, not for this thing called 'dipping' that I saw over in UK!) I've never seen a kettle in an Italian hotel btw. Italians like to eat their main meal at lunchtime, so you won't find much at midday but 12:30 you will if he dares try soem of our food! 5pm is considered mid afternoon ( bit like 3pm is in UK) it's when most of us eat a snack before dinner at 8pm, so he won't find much open then. You can't buy the Pot Noodle brand here but there are plenty of other types of noodle in a plastic pot such as Naked Noodles, Cup Noodle or Saikenbon. I hope you have a wonderful time and enjoy the food, and hoping you get the chance to eat out.

I should add a LOT of Italians are the same as your DH and will not eat foreign food. Many of my 40 year old friends here have never had Mexican, Thai, Indian, Chinese etc, they're scared of trying anything new or unfamiliar and then complain about how bad Italian food is out of Italy!