Finding it increasingly difficult to justify eating out at pubs etc

[JupiterJa]

This is something I’ve always enjoyed doing, but I just find the financial outlay to be hard to justify now. A fairly average meal is now usually between £17-£20 (say a burger, or fish and chips) with a pint or glass of wine usually over £6. I just don’t feel the experience warrants the outlay now, especially midweek, so these trips are becoming rarer and rarer.

Not so long ago £15 would comfortably cover everything and I felt that was good value.

Does anyone else find themselves making less frequent visits now?

This. We stopped years ago. I can't stand seed oils and the food always seem to be low grade to start with.

We decided to spend slightly more on our food and buy better quality but have less of it. Now it's all silly money but we picnic a lot more and enjoy it just as much.

£5 for a few new pots is just taking the Mickey!

Of course restaurants will go under if they mark up like that.

The problem is, a lot of places won't be making much or any profit even with these kind of prices. I live in a holiday area so lots of my friends work in hospitality and many are struggling even though they seem busy. I don't know about big chains who I would imagine have lower overheads overall, but for smaller independent cafes and restaurants it is a tough time. The cost of ingredients, utility bills and wages have all rocketed in recent years. And getting staff at all is increasingly difficult.
Some friends of ours who run a cafe and pride themselves on using really good quality ingredients, sourced as locally as possible, make very little on each dish they serve. They don't want to put prices up any further because they're scared of losing customers but they can't charge any less because they'd not be covering their costs. I'm sure some businesses are raking it in, but in my experience a lot of independent establishments really aren't.

We very rarely eat out these days. We have also started having takeaways only on birthdays, our wedding anniversary and Christmas eve.

I remember when dh and I were students we would go to the cinema and the tickets were £3.20 each. We would go to Woolworths on the way and get a bag of haribo sweets and a panda pop each for less than £1.50. We used to get takeaway once a week then. Fish and chips were £5 for the 2 of us or kebab was £10. That included a drink. That was when you could get a can of coke for 50p and a bar of chocolate for 25p.

We usually go out once a month for a pay day treat and if there’s a family birthday would go to that but apart from that nope not paying £20 for bang average pub meal , if we can’t be bothered to cook a proper meal we will have egg and beans on toast or ramen at home

We can eat better at home. I am fed up with going to a supposedly decent restaurant and paying £18-£25 per main course for fish such as coley that in years past I would have bought for the cat, or economy cuts of meat. We still go to the chippy occasionally for a treat.

I like a local farm cafe place, this was my sandwich last time - it was £57 including 2 glasses of wine, a coffee and 3 meals
apart from that the local chain carvery is decent food for the price

Yes, agree with all of this. The weird thing is that there are two really excellent gastro pubs near us and their dishes cost only 5-10% more than the standard village pubs where the food is very average and seems to have got worse as the price has risen. It’s completely unaffordable. A meal out at our local with a glass of wine for each of us costs almost as much as our weekly shop!

Though to be fair, there are some great full cooked breakfasts around here in local café. 10 Euro for full Irish, tea, toast, read of papers, chat with a few locals, warm, comfy, clean, refills of tea (costs them about 20 cents but we all feel apreciated), no hassle or major inquiry about mixing and matching different elements of breakfast, good waiting service and know you and enough working to enable to stop for a chat if you want.
Clean toilets.
Not surprising, it's always busy. That's the way to go. Their fixed costs are going to be same with 5 people paying 15 Euro as 10 people paying 10 Euro. Staff get more tips too.

Another thing. The menu never changes so you get fed up going to local places. Then you find lots of places with the same dishes courtesy of Brake Brothers or Harlech foods. Who supply so many restaurants now. Because you just can't get chefs any more the hours are anti social. Small family business owners retired, sell out to breweries.

A lovely place we've been going to for years under new owners in March we visited last week. Bought a drink asked for the menu to be told the chef hadn't arrived, agency chef. Could we wait. We walked away found another place family run. The food was sublime, the service spot on, good coffee. It was very busy.

Breweries are buying up around here and destroying good local restaurants.

That's another conversation we had today. We live near a tourist town and there are plenty of places serving food but they all serve the same and the menus haven't changed from last year. It's standard burger, frozen fish and chips, lasagne etc with a soggy vegetarian offering. Prices all the inflated same too. It's like some OPEC cartel😂

We used to eat out two or three times a week. We haven't done that since pre covid times and now just don't appreciate it anymore.

For us it's just not worth the money. We love a good Indian restaurant and now they are charging ridiculous prices for a small portion of rice which brings the price up to about £70 a meal.

We are in a position to eat out if we wanted to but it's so disappointing that we have (almost) stopped.

I was in the Cotswolds recently and was looking forward to some tasty fare, the majority of it was very average & not cheap.

Of course! Big companies supplying frozen food.

We stopped recently at a pub in the middle of nowhere en route to Hastings. Menu came out and I just wanted to know what I could have that was home made.

Nothing.

Not one thing on the menu was home made.

We were in our campervan and it was a place we could just pull up and eat and park overnight and it was late so we stayed.

Almost £90 for frozen (rubbish) food and a few glasses of wine.

@MrsAvocet I agree that places will be struggling because of increased costs.

As pp said there is also the shortage of chefs so food won't be so tasty

There are pubs near me where you can get a drink from a limited list of booze or a soft drink and a main dinner for £14. It’s basic but fine pub grub. There is also a decent Indian restaurant where you can take your own alcohol and a main plus rice and naan is £25, per head. This is the North though, thinking regional prices may vary loads. I was in Norfolk recently and paid about £35 for two mains and a pint and a half pint in a pub, was quite nice as well.

Could not agree more.
We don't want to go out to eat anymore due to exoberant costs, mediocre meals and often indifferent service.
I just feel ripped off when having to pay over the odds for small portions and you then have to pay extra for vegetables etc to try and make a full meal!
We would rather pay for better quality food to cook at home and not feel exploited.
It is difficult as we have family members who eat out often and will ask us along but we just cannot justify the expense (to be honest very surprised they can)!

Yes - I did today and cup of tea + meal = £20.

It was nice enough but I only did it as I was lost and it wasn't really worth it.

We rarely eat out for dinner these days - same reasons as everyone else. What we do enjoy is brunch out. I love a good brunch and we have some excellent options locally. It's generally around £13 for food plus £4 for a drink, so doesn't break the bank, and you don't need lunch later!

I used to go to pubs and restaurants with family. Its good to go out sometimes, just not all the time.

Op I know what you mean. The price definitely makes you think twice. We do not eat out as much and I do miss it as a family activity especially with older children. But it was averaging £25 - £30 per person with 1 drink each.

I had a McDonald's for the first time in a while. It wasn't very pleasant (what have they done to the cheese. yuck!). And it was £7.50 for the medium meal without delivery charges. I remember when you could get a medium meal and a happy meal for a fiver.

Haven’t eaten out (in a restaurant or pub) since before the pandemic unless we’ve been on a trip away. It just isn’t worth the money it costs now.

We do still have takeaway fish and chips about once a month though. We live in a remote Scottish fishing village so they’re absolutely gorgeous from any chippy you choose, and there are a few!. £10.00 now for a standard fish supper, which I think is expensive, but worth it.

We very rarely eat out or get a takeaway now - same reasons mentioned by most here…the quality has gone downhill, portions sizes decreased but prices increased and overpriced. We used to get an Indian takeaway or go to the restaurant almost every weekend but the price per dish is now ridiculous. I’ve even stopped using our local fish and chip shop as their chips are now £6 for a tiny portion. I’ve upped my cooking skills.

Well this is making me a tad concerned as we are coming back to the UK and Ireland to see family for a month in August. I’m in Oz and those prices look high to me. My local pub does an excellent home cooked roast for $28, about 15 quid, most mains are $25 to $35 which I think is very reasonable as food is freshly made. A steak dinner probably $45, although Thursday is steak night when it’s $25 (which used to include a glass of wine but now doesn’t). Prices have gone up since COVID but not extortionately, although prices were always higher here because catering staff are comparatively well paid(no tips expected). So has anyone got any recommendations for great places to eat in Central London, Belfast and Cork that won’t completely break the bank?