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.

OP, I suspect you are out of practice in choosing restaurants and what dishes to order. You will feel better about the experience after you have worked out what you like at that price point.

When I cba to cook and want a treat, my 'go to' these days are posh ready meals from Cook or M&S (or even the nice supermarket ones). Much cheaper than takeaways/eating out. We still go out but mainly for coffee.

The exception is pizza. Nothing I can make or a supermarket can offer comes close to the pizza offered by a good pizzeria.

I worked in a lot of kitchens in pubs and restaurants as a teen/student and every time there was a roast on offer, the 'roast' potatoes were fried. Not fine dining places of course, but I suspect a lot of pubs and lower end restaurants do that now.

I ordered the only vegetarian option at a restaurant last year,and at £18 something it was more expensive than the fish dishes (it was a fish orientated place).

What I got was about 4 small new potatoes and a small dish of tomato sauce with a few gloopy stringy bits of aubergine floating about in it. I was raiding the cupboards not long after getting home because I was so hungry.

I understand, that's not the restaurant a vegetarian would choose however if you're going to have an option at least make it something worth eating? Vegetarians/vegans aren't social pariahs or hermits, we go to places with other people sometimes!

It’s ruined for me because my husband is a fantastic cook. He is retired, so has time most days and if he doesn’t want to cook, or has been busy, there is always something in the freezer from a batch cook. Essentially, he’s ruined me for any other chef 😜

We eat out regularly, anywhere from the local coffee lounge for a coffee and panini to local independent gastro type pubs or Italian/thai/tapas, we prefer independent places rather than chain restaurants.

We don’t eat at high end places as I don’t have enough of a sophisticated palate to appreciate the food. We did eat at a Michelin listed place nearby and I didn’t feel it was worth the cost, although we did have a special treat at a different local restaurant which cost nearly £200 for two of us and we both felt it was worth every penny as it was so delicious and service was top notch.

I also tend to order something I either can’t be arsed to cook at home or would be costly to buy all the various ingredients, such as a Thai meal.

Especially if you are on a very restricted budget. in that case you wouldn't be eating out!

That doesn't seem too expensive to me. Were they well filled toasted sandwiches? Coffee here is £3.75.

Yes, sadly our experiences too lately. After covid, prices have risen enormously and standards of service have fallen sharply, as has the quality of the food. That's across the board, whether in relatively expensive restaurants, pub food, chains, and fast food franchises. We've really reduced the number of times we eat out as it was getting to the stage where most of the experiences were poor for one reason or another.

If we're going to get crap service, poor food quality, etc., then we may as well just stay in and cook our own food. Even when we're away, which is usually in self catering holiday homes, we're cooking more and more evening meals in the accommodation whereas a few years ago, we'd only have breakfasts and would be eating out for lunches and evening meals every day.

I’m truly over dining out. I will do it for an occasion but I’m barely ever delighted. I’ve eaten in the fanciest of restaurants and I do love the theatre of fine dining but I resent the ridiculous tipping policies. Paying £500 for a meal and then being expected to tip £100…that feels like a tax for stupid rich people. Mid range restaurants - I always feel like I could cook way better, way cheaper at home. And I don’t want to eat at junk food chains … I think it’s just my age 😂

I select where l go for a meal but what l often find disappointing is the dessert I.e cake looking lovely but very little taste and very expensive.

I agree to an extent, went for breakfast with my friend recently and my mushroom omelette and coffee was just shy of £14

Lovely cafe interior and friendly staff but I won't be going again. I knew the prices when I ordered but what I chose was one of the cheaper breakfasts on the menu, a full English was £13.50 and did not include a tea / coffee

I do like a Toby carvery though and only go when I have a discount code.

I don't think I will be bothering practising. I am fond of a lightly toasted tea cake and a brew.

I like to do a little of both. I love Avo on toast with poached eggs on top. However, I would never order it off a bistro menu. Mine is much better. I love my avo with fresh lime juice and chopped fresh red chilli mixed through. I like my poached eggs on the top,to be perfectly soft. However. As another poster said,it's great to pick something you wouldn't cook at home. Also to not have to prep and clear away the food. Eating out is too expensive to do all the time but it's great for a special treat. A good way to keep the cost reasonable is to avoid the wine in restaurants. Always pricey . I don't often do desserts either. I make a nice Affogato at home instead!

My pet hate is where they have a set menu and then half the dishes have additional costs to order - just compile a fucking menu for the price stated ! And don’t get me started on the cost of steak sauces - some almost £5 , same for some sourdough or a side of veg

I'm in Melbourne and if I eat out in the CBD I've narrowed it down to a couple of very good if pricey restaurants who make things I don't make for myself and are utterly reliable. Never have a pudding.

For brunch, usually closer to home, we're coming down with cafes where I live, who offer much the same wherever you go so I rate them on noise, service and toilets.

These outings would be every few months.

I ordered a vegetarian cheese burger once. It turned out to be a slice of raw white cheese- might have been halloumi - in an untoasted white bread roll (not even sourdough) with a lettuce leaf and a slice of tomato. So, basically, a cheese roll. For £15.

Eating out has always disappointed me. So expensive and I can do better at home. Even very expensive chef places are style over substance and overrated. Italian food..cheap ingredients, shocking prices. Steak? Much better done at home. Possibly the only one is curries but I’ve even cracked a few good ones at home. And then there’s wine with the food..apart from driving, the cost of a drink is extortionate. All but given up unless it’s a special event someone has organised.

A nice beans on toast in our local cafe £3.50, can't really complain.

Obvs cheaper at home but when your 2yr old is screaming bc it's cold out seems a small price to pay.

A good answer to a patronising post!

Ooh! Would you mind sharing which places? I was in Melbourne two weeks ago and was very disappointed with where we went (less than ordinary experience in Degraves street) and ought to be there again around July. Decades ago when I was a penniless backpacker I recall a wonderful Hare Krishna vegetarian place- Gopal's (?). Is that still there do you know?

I eat out often, at least once a week if not twice.
Lunch times I tend to stick with set lunch time menus which a few places offer in Edinburgh & Glasgow.
1 of my go to places in Edinburgh is The Jolly, 3 course lunch menu for £9.70.
Evening dinner is always a lot more expensive but you get the odd restaurant doing pre-theatre menus which can be good value.
Have even had this down in London pre-theatre 2 course menu from as little as £17.99.
If I want to splash out then 6 course tasting menu at Six by Nico for £60 or 2 course dinner menu at Miller & Carter for £34.95.
I also have lots of apps for various places and make use of any offers I get such as Harvester which can offer you up to 50% of your food bill.

There is a great cafe in my town that does a full and extensive English menu plus has a smaller Chinese menu. I have become friends with the owner as I eat there once a week and my family were originally from HK as is she. A small English breakfast is £4. Then they have spicy brisket of beef with rice or teriyaki salmon and noodles for £9. They also have home made pie with chips and peas for £8.

The other good places are church coffee mornings, I’m off to one for breakfast today with my DH. I also cook at this church sometimes. A bacon roll with a coffee will be £3.

There is a decent carvery by me it is £10 for a small carvery and £13 for a large one. My other favourite is a small heritage centres cafe a couple of miles away they do the most fab baked potatoes and home made cakes. They grow their own salad as much as they can. Volunteers in their kitchen garden get a discount in the cafe, if I had time I would be volunteering there for the discount. I do live in the North of the country. My family still live down South and I am aghast at the prices to eat out as seems much more expensive.

We enjoy flavourful and varied meals at home so we rarely dine out. If we do it’s to somewhere like Nandos or a restaurant that we know and like. Occasionally we’ll try a new one but often end up disappointed.
Dh is a foodie and we’ve done tasting menus which after experiencing exquisite taste and visual offerings we’ve ended up getting a chain restaurant takeaway on the way home 😂

@Maggiethecat I enjoy flavourful and varied meals at home too, but I still like eating out. I’ve been to Nando’s twice. Unimpressed both times. Very dull - I’d genuinely prefer to stay home and cook. But a small restaurant with a chef making even simple things with skill and care? Lovely.
I’ve also never been hungry after a tasting menu.

It depends, I don’t think you can tar every place with the same brush. For example, we stopped eating at our local because they upped the prices considerably, reduced the portions noticeably and the service got worse over time. Clearly, other people think the same as they now have offer after offer on eg buy one get one free on Monday, a third off on Thursday, any burger for a tenner on another day.

On the other hand, whilst it’s expensive, I’ve never had a bad meal at Miller and Carter. We’re going there next week actually and can’t wait 😋 Our local Indian is absolutely amazing and nothing is too much trouble.