Snobby about chain food

[limeandwater]

Are people on MN snobby about chain restaurants?

I only ask because some of the comments on the £52 lunch thread.

I consider myself a bit of a foodie and enjoy fine dining.

But I also enjoy an American Hot at Pizza Express, a burger at GBK, the Katsu curry at Waggamamma's, a wrap at Nando's.

Am I a wrong un?

They no doubt re spend every penny rather than hoarding cash

God can people stop being the language police

I'll be baffled if I want to and I'll say Im baffled if I want to

I'm a cheap date, a meal at McDs is probably more appealing to me than fine dining. There are lots of things I would rather spend my money on than an expensive meal. Yes, many on MN like to think how superior they are by deriding chain restaurants. My exDH is a food snob, it gets boring hearing how nothing is ever good enough.

Cheese is LIFE!!

I was vegetarian for 15 years, vegan for 5 - not eating cheese is not fun 😂

That said, pretty much nobody was vegan back then but now there are so many great alternatives.

I eat everything now but I'd still rather a veggie curry and a nut roast on a Sunday dinner.

I wish people would just let others do what they want to do and mind their nose.

If you get a kick from looking down on others because they occasionally eat a Greggs then, well, it's not hard to spot the twat, is it?t!

Why would you travel to see things?

I wouldn't give a second glance (no pun intended) at items existing in another place. Why would I want light to reflect off objects, pass through my cornea, pupil, and lens, which focus it onto my retina?

I travel to eat things.

One is something that objectively and provably expands experience in useful ways (because I assumed anyone with a brain would know you would be learning, not hoping you magically figure it out), the other is the one you left out because you know including that alone destroys your comment and is even more useful.

Eating is paying £1000 to turn something different into excrement.

Try again.

Why is seeing things better than tasting things?

Try again.

We get it. You're an eat to live not a live to eat.

Believe it or not but food is a passion and a hobby for some people. We want to eat at as many different and interesting places as possible. So any meal thats poor quality, not what we fancy or something we've had many times before is a disappointment and feels like an opportunity wasted.

And food absolutely is part of travel.

You are both lame.

I travel to eat while seeing things and see things while I am eating.
Beat that

I like their coffee, a cheese and onion slice is OK in a push and I do rather like those apple pastries with the icing on the top, but I've not forgiven them for stopping selling individual yum yum

Their doughnuts are a bit stodgy. I'd much rather have a Krispy Kreme.

Apple Danish. I often used to buy one in Greggs on the way to work, love them, they are different to any other apple Danish I've bought elsewhere.

I went to a nice independent pub for a meal out with my dad as I heard good things about them. Food was ok. The campylobacter I got landing me in hospital was not ok
I am really picky about eating food out now and haven’t touched chicken since

Quite, they don't usually have that thick layer of icing which juuuust manages to stay the right side of sickly. I've learned the hard way to ask for a box rather than a bag, else all the icing ends up stuck to the paper.

You do not remember correctly.

Just to note katsu is actually the breaded chicken, not the sauce

My DS has multiple food allergies and chains are often the safest option for him. OK, we're never likely to say "Oh do you remember the time we had that spectacular meal in Zizzi?" but it's also fairly improbable that we'll be saying "Remember when DS went into anaphylactic shock in Zizzi?" Spag bol followed by Zillionaire's shortbread is the same whether you're at Zizzi in Bristol, Manchester or Glasgow and in DS's circumstances that is very useful.
I wouldn't usually pick a chain for a special occasion and we do have some very nice independent places near home that we trust, but if we are away from home or if we haven't planned ahead then we will usually look for a chain that we recognise. That may be dull and unadventerous but I like dull meals that don't come with a side order of adrenaline or an adventure in A&E and as a general rule I am more confident about getting those in chains than unfamiliar independent places. When I hear people declare that they'd never eat in a chain I don't say anything but I'm thinking "I bet you wouldn't be saying that if you or one of your loved ones had significant dietary restrictions". In my experience some of the most expensive places we have ever eaten have been amongst the worst at catering for DS's needs.
And there are meals out and meals out - not every trip can involve lingering over a tasting menu in a Michelin starred restaurant, sometimes something quick, familiar and "ok" is absolutely fine. I think it's perfectly possible to enjoy a wide range of dining options and it's often a combination of the company and the circumstances that make a great meal out, not just the food.

My Father owned and ran a restaurant and I was raised with good food. We were helping in that restaurant as soon as we could walk pretty much. For me it’s about really loving food and not liking the taste of sauce that’s just been microwaved out of a pouch.

I would prefer to eat out less and better. The best cheap dinner near me is a local pub that does a carvery. It’s a tenner for a small plate and £14 for a large one. The mark of a good restaurant is home made desserts, you can always tell.

I can cook Chinese food, the sort you get in take aways but also authentic stuff. I’m certainly a decent enough English and European style cook as well. My sister married an Italian who taught her and she in turn taught me.When you are raised like that it’s just how it is. I will eat in a chain if I have to but never by choice, we were at a sporting competition last week and only chain restaurants were near the arena so we had to,

I discovered Greggs when I had an hour to wait between taking the Gdcs to school, and waiting for a particular shop to open.

Sat there in peace with the paper, a ham and cheese toastie (I’d had no breakfast) and a coffee (admittedly not the best) but both for a fiver!

Until then I’d have used the Costa, virtually next door. Better coffee, but nothing I’d ever fancied to eat.

I like a Subway as well.

.

It won't let me quote the post about The Fat Duck but the name always puts me off that place. It's an industry term for Foie Gras (referring to when the bird has been forced-fed enough).

Back to the topic of snobbery, me and the other women in our family (about 6-8 of us depending on who can come) take minibreaks every year sometimes twice.

9 times out of ten in a new area, we head for a Wetherspoons.
We like the familiarity
We know that everyone's preferences/requirements are catered for
We spend the break catching up with one another, chatting, we couldn't necessarily do that in a nice independent restaurant, spoons don't care if we linger with one drink for an hour after our meal is finished

Several high earners among us, but no snobbery. We also all like nice restaurants on certain occasions but sometimes a casual place fits the context better. It's never going to be gourmet food but you get what you pay for, which is more than can be said for many other places (expensive or otherwise).

This is one I have not tried.

I'd never have a Greggs as my first choice, I am not a fan of the sort of food they do. But I do admit that when other restaurants have let me down (I was once served a burger mushroom sandwich in a restaurant which was so soggy that basically the whole bread and filling had turned into a sauce, I couldn't eat it plus it tasted of beef) they have come in very handy to mean I haven't gone hungry.

I sometimes prefer chains. I don’t always want an ‘experience’, I just want to eat something I know tastes good because it’s the same every time. Wagamama is one of my favourites.

The one in Leeds is also open quite late so nice for a donut if you’re ever out drinking. Love the pink jammies.

Beside the point but it’s not Wagamama’s. There’s no Mr or Mrs Wagamama