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.

No I presume you wouldn't go out of your way to eat there if your not that fussed on ploughman's

I think maybe a lot of the difference here is:

1/ folks who go purely for the food, look at the cost of the ingredients and decide if they can or cannot do it better themselves, even if only in their own heads.

2/ folks who go for the social experience, to have a meal cooked for them, the ambience,change of scene, time spent with friends or family.

I fall into the second group, I’ve never once had a meal out and thought about how much the ingredients cost or if I could make it myself. Becusde the food is part of it, but a long way from all of it. The social side is just as important for me.

but it seems for some people it’s all about the food and how much it costs.

Very true and what spurred me on to get good at cooking my favourite meals. I learned from YouTube.

It's not a matter of cost for us, it's that me and DH can cook as well if not better than so many restaurants.

We both love food so going out to eat and then being so disappointed is just not worth it.

We have tried going to better restaurants and still been disappointed.

I like a ploughmans, but it's not worth paying pub prices for someone to put food on a plate. I save that for something that takes skill and effort to reproduce.

Or you could have the 'social experience, to have a meal cooked for them, the ambience,change of scene, time spent with friends or family' somewhere that also does food that's better than ready meals or more challenging to put together than a ploughmans. It's not an either/or decision.

Christ all right. I only mentioned it in response to a comment about the new forest.

Your comment was fine, but it demonstrates for this poster the occasion of eating out is about the food, where as for you, it is clearly more than that.

Agree the roasts are never the same as you can make at home.
Tinned veg and big peas lol instead of petit pois.

I just went for a walk in the new forest and the pub was there. Really no big deal and I wish I hadn't commented on it 😂

I was just using a ploughmans as an example that was current to the thread about something that's expensive for what it is in a pub because you're not paying for 'cooking' as such.

Eating out is often about more than the food for me too, but the concept of accepting some of the overpriced rubbish that many places, especially chains, serve is lost on me because, well why would you? Why not go somewhere that serves better food as well as the ambience, company etc. If you wanted to eat microwaved pasta, you can do that any night of the week for a lot less money.

Family here that used to eat out at least twice a month, often 3 or 4 times. Cut it back to once a month as prices rose. We live rurally so only pubs, generic takeaways and the odd fancy restaurant on offer. As prices went up portion control and quality nosedived. Still went out to avoid dishes etc. Nowadays, we just can't be bothered to spend £100+++ for crap food, flat beer and lukewarm reception. Had too many fish pies with no fish or sulky bar staff. No thanks. I do think age has something to do with it. Younger lot stick to the chains for example. And the older I get the better my own cooking. We buy lovely local, organic or otherwise high quality food and make many of the ingredients ourselves (we have a small holding). I would still like to go out 'for the event', but I have to find a really good reason to get me off the sofa eg music night or combined with the theatre.

You're not wrong OP. It's not just the price, it's the meal itself. I have a big birthday coming up, and have been offered a meal out, but after perusing several menus I've chosen an Indian takeaway instead!

I agree - there’s many times I have been disappointed!

I also agree with others who say it’s so expensive to take the family out for lunch now

Wagamama is the best imo and always worth every penny.

Given up on Wagamamas and their stupid ‘we bring food when we can be bothered to cook it’ rather than coordinate cooking to ensure all meals are ready at the same time. When the rest of the party have finished their meal five minutes earlier and you are still waiting on someone’s dishes then you know it is nothing to do with ‘bringing it straight away so as fresh as possible’ and everything to do with terrible service. Oh, and if the prawns are grey and translucent that means they are still raw.

Totally agree
We don't eat out much
I can make avocado on toast at home with nice cheese and sauce
As well as the cost and then disappointment,it's also the noise
Everywhere seems to have loud music on ,no chance I can follow a conversation or enjoy a coffee in peace

I don't know how anyone makes a decent business out of preparing food. Fuel and premises and staff costs are so high that the quality of the food is bound to be affected. I love eating out, but find it hard to justify unless it's a real social occasion. DH thinks I'm a proper tightwad sometimes, but I'd honestly rather we ate a meal deal in the car than spent £30 on a dull lunch in a cafe. Because cost is an issue for us. I used to be able to take the kids to eat out nearly every week, and it didn't matter if the only thing I fancied was something I could make at home. It was about more than simply fuelling up for the afternoon. That luxury isn't available to us any more. It feels ridiculous, rather than an indulgence. And it should at least feel like a bit of an indulgence.

Dipping back in after an hour cowering under a blanket with only a plant pot and a candle by way of heating.... I'm interested to see arsey comments about Ploughmen.

There are still a few left. Have you been to E Pellici in Bethnal Green?

This really surprises me. Which one was it? I've been going to Hawksmoor for years and never had a bad experience. Properly love the place.
The first time I went there I asked what one of the drinks was and they gave me one to try..free and someone walked past and spilt a bit of my friends drink..only a few drops, and they replace that for nothing also.

Agree OP, I've felt like this for ages and it's so much worse now. I would rather go out 1-2 times a year and spend ££££ than regularly and spend £££ for mediocre (at best) food and crap service. Pub food is especially bad and overpriced, £20+ for a burger and chips!

That said I am a good cook and love cooking/experimenting. We like cocktails and good wine so eating at home is a no brainer really. Wine especially is now a ridiculous price - at a restaurant recently the cheapest was £30.

It's crazy isnt it? An artisan burger and a 6 quid bottle of wine is not worth £60.00

But it's nice to get out of the same 4 walls.

Don't knock the smashed avocado on toast a whole generation of millennials spent all the money (they should have used to for mortgage) on it.

Agreed, although I do wonder sometimes if they're playing to the audience because of the number of people who write positive restaurant reviews based on "large portions" or "big plates" is just depressing.

When did we change into a nation of gluttons?

This is probably not the kind of establishment you were thinking of OP but the price of TGI Fridays these days is astronomical. Luckily they sell their products in Iceland for a fraction of the price so I get it from there and cook at home but it's a shame as it was a good middle of the road place to eat out that catered for everyone.