Eating out is always an expensive let down.

[istheheatingonyet]

I'm just not doing it any more. Granted I am "older" but the last offering was bread, mashed acocado, feta and some sort of sauce. Is it a meal, is it brunch nobody knows?
Cheap ingredients, silly price.
What a waste of money.

You must have ordered it? I'm confused!

This is why I just go to nandos. I like it, I know what I'm getting and the cost isn't crazy

Offering? Didn’t you have a menu to select from?

Depends where you go surely.

Some chains even are fantastic, even if it's fast junky food.

Wagamama is the best imo and always worth every penny.

It depends on how much you like cooking/clearing up after...it's worth it to me even if the food is only ok because it's preferable to having to cook at home.

I think that some places make dishes sound amazing on the menu, but in reality they are just avocado on toast with a drizzle of sometimes on top! Just don't go back. I hate disappointing food, especially as I can't afford to eat out very often.

Yes, sometimes that can hit the spot and it feels fresh and tasty.

It's the eggs and bread thing that annoys me. They are very cheap ingredients and not worth paying extra for this. Especially if you are on a very restricted budget.
I suppose many people have plenty of money.

Something, not sometimes. Predictive text!

@Joy69 , that's it exactly!

I’m inclined to agree. I’m often disappointed by food in restaurants and feel I could have prepared better myself.

Yes, it sounds like a standard brunch or lunch offering, and delicious if done well, but presumably you ordered it, and the price was on the menuso why the outrage?

What has bring ‘older’ got to do with anything? Are avocados reserved for the under-20s?

You're going to the wrong places, or ordering the wrong things, or going with the wrong people. At some places food is appreciated as an art form with exquisite combinations of sight and smell and taste and texture that are worth every penny of the astronomical cost. At other places the food is more basic but you are paying for a convivial atmosphere to enjoy spending time eating and drinking with the people you love spending time with, paying for someone else to be responsible for keeping the food and drink flowing and dealing with the clearing up but the food is less of an art-form. If you aren't enjoying either the food or the company then of course stop bothering but it's not the restaurants that are the problem but your choices.

@NuffSaidSam , We used to do this if we couldnt be bothered to cook and wash up. Not now though.

I eat out only for social reasons, and it is always what I expect it to be, just meh! Cheap ingredients, and cold plates. I would just prefer to go for a lemon, and lime at the pub thb.

This^
I love cooking and DH always helps with cleaning after so for me going out is always an expensive let down unless it’s for coffee and cake or a drink.

Nah, you just ordered a daft thing. Have a pub Sunday roast next time.

@HeronWing I think all ages can eat an avocado! I think maybe having been raised on set meals at set meal times, I still hanker after that.
What is served in cafes in my area has changed a great deal in the last few years.

The food is lovely if I go to a good restaurant, but expensive, 30 euro for a main course. The cheaper places where it is 15 to 20 euro for a breakfast or lunch can be a huge let down.

I only go to a good place 3 or 4 tines a year.

I get round this by going out for a cappucino/coffee and a bun regularly. I am getting out but it is not costing lots. I like the idea of relaxing in a cafe regularly. I go in the morning before work so staff are not pressurising me to order lots. I am 50s. The breakfasts in particular cost a lot in comparison to what people are earning. The average full time wage is 45k euro a year.

If you think avocado on toast is low effort and bad value for money dont order it?

We stopped at M&S cafe. 2 toasties and 2 coffees = £20. Won't be doing that again in a hurry.

But there’s nothing stopping you eating avocado toast at breakfast time, or lunchtime, surely? I have it for brunch on Sundays, because that suits my weekend schedule, but that’s hardly some kind of rule.

Or not eating avocado toast at all!

I always try to order something I couldn’t/wouldn’t cook at home,
as this helps to avoid the “I could have done better myself” thing.

I love toast/avo/poached egg etc but wouldn’t order it for it, as I can easily do that at home. I might order eggs Benedict though as I couldn’t be bothered to make a hollandaise sauce for it.

And I’d order anything with hundreds of ingredients as I cba with that sort of cooking, so Wagamama is a good shout as I’d never cook any of their dishes at home.

Our local bar and bistro never fails to impress us. Their Sunday roasts are so good. It's not overly expensive either.

I don’t understand either, you call it an offering, but that’s not how restaurants work, you must have deliberately went it, read the menu and chose this?

I agree. Even going out for a roast is so expensive as a family now. I can't justify the cost, when I know I can make a better one at home for a fraction of the price.

I feel for the restaurants and pubs trying to cover their costs, but I'm not paying £1-200 for a meal out that I don't enjoy because it's done on the cheap, with elements often pinged to death in the microwave.

Chains like Wagamama's or Pizza Express or Nando's are safe bets - but it is nice to have something different every now and again!