To pretend I cooked the restaurant food- dinner party

[Dual]

I’m hosting a dinner party for 7 guests tonight. I’m a truly shit cook, and my guests amongst them have loads of dietary requirements - vegan, gluten free and nut free, and one guest only likes Chinese or Italian cuisine.

i have also had to work late every day this week. I decided last night instead that I’d order from a vegan Chinese restaraunt today that clearly lists all nut free and gluten free dishes.

im embarrassed to admit ive not cooked myself, so aibu to put them into my own dishes and pass them off as my own cooking tonight?

If I’m putting them into serving dishes then I’m saying I cooked it!

Dont lie, you'll look like an idiot. Just front it out and say you got it from X Chinese place. One of my friends really struggled with cooking for us all, so often just did starters, and ordered in the main course from a local place. There's really no shame in it - your friends will be there to see you, not judge your catering.

If they are true friends they won’t care if it’s a takeaway.

Just tell them, they should be bloody grateful you went to the effort of getting things (and paying for it) that suits them and they'll enjoy. A great host.

Where's my invite?

Please update us and let us know what you went with and what the reaction from your friends was. personally, I would be mortified if my guests knew I had lied about it. I would be ok to tell them it was takeaway. They will know for sure anyway.

update - the night was a success! I compromised and told them up front that two of the four dishes were ordered from a restaraunt, and I made the two easy dishes.

they believed me and were very complimentary! All in all a lovely evening

But why not just tell them the truth? 🤷‍♀️ I don’t understand why you lied to your friends.

You can’t seriously be pleased they were complimentary over food you didn’t cook…?

You're not on come dine with me
Just tell the truth as the complexity of dietary needs would be a nightmare to navigate.
Enjoy the night with your friends.

That's not a compromise. That's still you being a Liar and they 100% would have known just didn't say it to your face. I'm embarrassed on your behalf.

This is such weird behaviour 😂

This!

They’re will know you’re lying, even if they politely pretend to believe you!

They are obviously very fond of you if they pretended to believe your lie. Or possibly they are laughing at you behind your back.

And I'm puzzled (and extremely sceptical) - as a non cook how could you know which were the complicated dishes and which were the easy ones?

They'd all be getting gluten free garlic and tomato pasta here...

I hope it went well and you told the truth. I’m always grateful for anyone who provides me with food.

Glad it went well. Hope you’ve had a nice chilled Saturday

Strange you didn’t just tell the whole truth rather than half lie??

I would definitely tell the truth especially as it could cause health concerns. Are the gluten free people actually coeliac? In which case they'd need to be sure no cross contamination and may prefer to bring own food over take out? And are the nut people having serious allergies? You need to be really careful if you're catering for people with severe allergies and not one hundred per cent confident in the restaurants.

I just couldn’t contemplate lying to my friends over such a trivial matter. Seriously, you need to think about your life choices @Dual

Don't lie.

If they're nice people and decent friends then you should feel no obligation to lie to them.

Just own it that you enjoy nice food but aren't into cooking.

I'd not judge someone for not cooking, I would probably distance myself from someone who lied to me though.

Why are you so worried about their approval?