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?

People on MN love to go on about independent restaurants and cafes but some towns don’t have any!

And some are crap - the worst cup of coffee I ever had was from a fancy independent cafe! Independent doesn't necessarily translate as better quality.

I don’t go to chain restaurants but only because I live in a city where the independents are much nicer and cheaper.

What does the local Indian buy in bulk from the cash and carry?

The Ivy cook nothing from scratch. It's all factory made in Warrington apparently. No thanks.

I don't consider Pizza Express to be chain food rubbish. It's a chain but it's a quality chain. Chain rubbish would be the all you can eat Pizza Hut buffet.

Some chains are absolutely excellent and I am very happy to eat in them. Dishoom for example. Others are absolute shite. Frankie and Benny's for example. (Are they even still going?)

Wagamamas is great, Rosas Thai and Giggling Squid are decent. TGI Fridays is shit.

I don’t mind the odd chain but tend to avoid them because I resent paying £15+++ for what is essentially a reheated ready meal.

If I can make it better at home I really don’t want to pay for it, unless I’m actually desperate and tired of cooking. Which happens.

Yup. It’s just not nice stuff.

That can't be true.

Our Côte Brasserie is always excellent and I think decent value for money, though not cheap. But we recently went to the Côte at Bluewater and had their lunch set menu and it was really poor.

@SquallyShowersLater finnily enough Giggling Squid is firmly in the overpriced readymeals category in my opinion.

and they’re often worse/harder for allergies. Fewer options, and less able to ensure no cross contamination due to being a smaller set up.

1. Stop spelling Wagamama with too many letters.

2. It all depends where you are, surely.

If I'm in an airport, I'll probably choose a salad from Pret rather than some generic airport brand I've never heard of.

If I'm in my local city, I won't step foot in a Pret because there are better options - nicer surroundings, better food

If don't think I ever find good value in "casual dining" chains. There is a reason this sector has retracted in recent years.

And the Ivy too! Absolute central kitchen vibes and old reused oil for hugely inflated prices. Cote portions are so vanishingly tiny that you leave hungrier than when you arrived.

Bella Roma always used to be the very worst near me. Just terrible. The thing about pizza express is that the pizzas are really stingy. So many Indy pizza places do great big sourdough pizzas lavished with sumptuous toppings. Pizza Express pales in comparison.

As others have said, I think it depends where you live. If I’m in a city, or somewhere with tasty, trendy independent restaurants I’ll go to those.

However, if I’m in a new place, or somewhere it’s mostly, greasy spoon cafes, chinese takeaways and fish and chips then something like pizza express or Nando’s is far better. If you’re at an out of town cinema, I’m going to go for what’s available not drive 15 minutes to go somewhere independent.

Also, in pubs especially you don’t always know that the food is fresh anyway. Lots of brewery chains, it’s just microwaved, unless you’re sure it’ll be freshly cooked, you might as well go to Nando’s where at least you see the chicken on the grill.

This doesn’t surprise me. My last meal at an Ivy was small, bland and disappointing. I’d have rather gone to pizza express!

At least with a chain, there’s consistency and you know what you’re getting

So your food snobbery is over your personal preference for a particular type of curry sauce?!🤦🏻‍♀️ I mean, I don’t like tikka masala but I wouldn’t call it slop. So rude.

I’m a foodie, eaten at Michelin star restaurants, street food from around the world, gone on holidays specifically to go to a certain restaurant, worked in kitchens from 15-23…. But I can get down with a Finders Crispy Pancake, Popeyes fried chicken sandwich, fillet o fish. Good food isn’t about the price it’s about the taste, and some chains have good food and are convenient.

I genuinely believe a McDonalds double cheese burger is burger perfection. But I am not a foodie, at all. Given the option I’d never eat a meal again, it’s mostly an inconvenience and not worth the effort.

We holiday a lot in the US and at least half the meals are at US chain restaurants.

But life would be boring if we were all the same.

And some are crap - the worst cup of coffee I ever had was from a fancy independent cafe! Independent doesn't necessarily translate as better quality.

Exactly. A friend (who doesn't drink coffee) was horrified when I went into a Caffe Nero rather than a (not very impressive-looking) independent. I know my coffee and I LOVE Nero's. I don't love all the chains (Costa'sisn't great and I'd never go into a Starbucks for coffee) and like the pp, I've had some rubbish in independents where staff haven't necessarily been trained to make coffee properly.

You can't make a hard and fast rule - you learn by experience which places do what they do well.

I am someone who dislikes a lot of the chain restaurants. But its nuanced. Some chains are better than others. I think the ones owned by the likes of Mitchell & butler and TRG are just awful - overpriced and poor quality. The food is prepackaged in blue bags and microwaved or chucked in a pizza oven. All about maximum profit. Others like Dishoom, Mowgli etc are better quality and have just expanded from one restaurant. Food is still made on site. So not all chains are the same! Mcdonalds & greggs have their place. But places where you pay 3 or 4 times those prices for similar quality food...I dont get it 🤷

This, a million percent!!

I’ve seen lots of SM videos where chain restaurant waiters and waitresses judge people’s orders like katsu curry at Wagamama.

I have enjoyed plenty of chain restaurant meals but would prefer eating at places that are more unusual or not located where I live. For example if I go to London, I wouldn’t go to Pizza Express because we have 3 in my small city.

Wagamamas was genuinely horrible the last time I ate there, the vegetarian offerings were particularly woeful.

I have always quite liked pizza express though!

strange question- ingredients?