Sick of eatting out and it’s not that good!

[Greekdream]

Second time this week eatting out one was a birthday celebration and today for father day
both times spending over 100 quid and the food worse then you make at home

just don’t wanna go it anymore unless it’s somewhere really good
tricky when it’s special occasions tho

It’s mire the behaviour of others that puts me off to be honest.

We were at a restaurant last night and a couple came in, shoved their pram right up against our table and spent most of the evening walking around, in between tables, with a screaming baby. The food was lovely but we couldn’t enjoy it.

I agree. I went to Nandos recently. Spent about £75 for the 2 of us. I've never had anything more dry in my life. And the bag of McCain chips they had on the side just made me wonder why I wasn't just eating that at home.

I wasn’t aware that you are the MN food police?

independent Vietnamese or Japanese or Turkish are the last reasonable ones left
Chinese / Dim sum - I know the supermarket they buy from

It probably depends where you live and the range of options available. I'm in London and have had some amazing meals recently and they haven't been super pricey. I won't touch chains anymore for the exact reason OP has said but we have so many independent restaurants with different types of cuisine that are amazing. The food influencers are great for getting recommendations too.

My cooking’s far superior than most of the food I’ve eaten out. I just eat out for a break now, & go for the drink rather than the food. Everything’s just so tasteless. I had lasagne a few weeks back & I’m convinced I had someone else’s leftovers 🤢

These days I would rather put the money towards buying better ingredients.

Went out for a lovely lunch today, good choice and reasonably priced (Turkish). That said, our local pub charges £18 for a roast and I could make much much better at home. For the whole family, plus drinks, I’d rather make my own!

We only eat out with adult DS, he's seems to be our lucky charm for a decent meal.
Seriously though we rarely eat out as we find it ridiculously expensive and often very poor quality. My neighbour eats out weekly but complains to me almost every time that there was something wrong with the meal and is was a disaster. I've told her not to bother but....
Holidays we self cater usually and if we see somewhere that looks good or has great reviews then we'll have lunch or dinner out but I couldn't do that every day, besides the money we save pays for another holiday.

Agree, both of these are mediocre and not really worth what they charge. Most chain places are the same.

@mum2jakie

well no but as eating out is expensive as is the whole premise of this thread then dessert is one way to save money especially given as pizza is very filling and calorific

That would depend on the person and their appetite.

@VickiFromAmsterdam

really?? 🤢 what made you think that?

God, i miss the laughing emoji 🤣

So much catering food comes from brake brothers and is popped in the microwave and onto luke warm plates. I can go to M&S and get the same food for under £25 for 2 people and pop in the microwave and dishwasher cleans the plates

We used to eat out much more in the past, standards of food and service are so low now it isn’t worth it. There are 3 places we can rely on that are the only ones that get it right. One is the local Michelin star restaurant. Run by a lovely couple who always get it right, one is a large fine dining Indian restaurant and the third is a little cafe style hipster place with amazing food run from an old cafe out in the country. I took my DH to a celebrity chef’s place for his birthday a fortnight ago and it was nothing special, with long waits between courses and tiny tiny portions. I was really sad about that as he was a bit of a hero of mine.

Where have you been going? Is there any theme to the type of restaurant? The last few meals I’ve been out for have all been fantastic! I am generally always disappointed by roast / Sunday dinners though especially carveries.

Why not?

We have absolutely stopped going to chain type places that we previously would have taken the kids to for a treat/ if we were too lazy to cook. Places like ASK or Pizza Express. Now the kids don’t have the kids meals anymore, it ends up being eye wateringly expensive (approx £100) for a completely mediocre meal and lacklustre service.

@saveforthat

cos pizza is very filling and calorific.

THIS
I once read the Brake Brothers catalogue.

High end restaurants pay extra to have unmarked vans delivering their ready made frozen goats cheese and onion tarts
and slow roasted lamb shank with redcurrant jus

We went out to a pub for lunch yesterday and the choice was so poor - burgers, burgers, burgers. And sharing platters. Boring. And the wine was shit. I am a pretty crap cook but can do a good Gousto meal these days, so much tastier.

Usually when we go out the food is fine but the prices are absolutely ridiculous. I used to love wine and cheese but refuse to go out for it anymore after being charged £38 for a cheese board that was about the size of my hand. Went home and made myself a pasta!!

That depends on the pizza and the topping

Proper slices of Neapolitan Pizza
DEFINITELY
leave room for a gelato after them

Very few places near us are actually worth the money. I refer to get some nice food from M&S and stay n. You don’t have to worry about the poor service then.
went out on Friday night to a fairly local pub that gets 4 on trip advisor. It was overpriced and underwhelming.