Have takeaways gone massively downhill?

[LaJacondeFumantLaPipe]

We have never been huge users of takeaways, deliveroo etc, but when we did order them, I quite enjoyed them.

But we ordered one last weekend as a treat after a really busy week and really busy weekend. It was so disappointing. The meat was awful quality - so fatty and gristly. The sauces were watery and bland and.... I have a horrible feeling that I found a fingernail in mine 🤢.

Thinking back to the one I had before that (from a different place and a different cuisine completely), it was also just horrible.

On both occasions it was really expensive, which just adds insult to injury.

Have takeaways gone downhill or is it my imagination or just bad luck where I live?

We have one chippy and one chinese take away that we use, both have won awards and have fantastic ratings, we order directly though. I wasn't impressed with either app delivery service so after 2 or 3 goes on just eat and deliveroo we haven't bothered since.

I used to love dominos but last time we ordered it was cold, they got my order wrong and to top it off it was an eye watering £60 (for me DH and DS) I thought to myself how I could have made a better meal for less. So YANBU.

We go to the same Chinese takeaway. Always good food and the lovely owners remember us. The only decent takeaway I've found online is our local pizza/burger restaurant or pizza express ❤️❤️❤️

The sad part is that these were both our trusted takeaway places and both were really horrible. Prior to that, they were quite reliable, but I do think there is a general trend of cost cutting. I have begun to notice it in a few places where I am. I am in the south east, a little outside London. I imagine in rhe city it may be different or maybe in another part of the country too.

But it is interesting to read I am not the only one by far!

I’m in a city in a different part of the country to you and it’s dire.

I was gutted when my pizza place changed ownership but hoped the pizzas would still be good. It reopened same name. Pizzas were crap. We just make our own including the bases but a nice treat of ordering in good pizza was a small joy every so often now not.

I have cut down massively on them, even though when I first started mounjaro, that wasn't the reason I cut down on them. I only order KFC now and again just for a pepsi max fix and I do like their quality of chicken. Mcdonalds have gone downhill. Tesco do lovely pizzas if I want a takeaway pizza treat and they taste much better than the dominoes ones. I still like the coffee drinks from Starbucks but I tend to get one once a week on the way back from going to the stables.

I only buy from takeaways that don't offer delivery. I've found that's the best way to get decent food.

"or just bad luck where I live?"

That means OP doesn't necssarily think it's all areas.

We don't buy takeaways. For a treat we will buy some very good seafood and cook it ourselves.

Have you given them any feedback? I would.

On the occasions we used our local Chinese take-away, the food was always good, but our last order definitely wasn't up to standard. The special fried rice which used to be heavy on chicken, prawns and pork was more like ordinary fried rice and the previously generous portion of ribs was very small.

We'll give it one more try (just in case the usual cook wasn't working), but if it's the same again we won't go back.

We don't order takeaway very often but our local Chinese is consistently good and generous portions. And great tofu, which is essential for a veggie.

Ever since I found that out about Basa (several year’s ago), I haven’t bought it. My local chip shops are at least using cod and haddock even if they have shrunk. They’re too expensive to order on a regular basis for me anyway.

I don’t often get a takeaway but when I do it’s really nice. Not many here, so it’s the same three. All still really good.

I don't generally do public reviews etc and I won't with these places either. I may mention it to them privately, but since I am not planning to go back I don't know that it will make a lot of difference to me.

I know what you mean. I just don't want them to think they're getting away with it!

I’m rural so always have to fetch it myself. I would say most takeaway places have gone downhill. The Chinese seems mainly onion and gristle, the Indian has thin sauces, the chippie has shrunk portions and increased prices. The exception is the Nepalese place whose food is amazing but ££.

I just do M&S fakeaway, I really like the butter chicken.

Yes, so inferior to how they used to be, that we can’t consider them a treat anymore, more like a Disapointing rip off, so we don’t buy them now! Havent bought a take away this year, at all. The impulse has died, after smaller portions of low quality food being delivered at quite exorbitant prices. Feel like an absolute mug, paying to have crap delivered to the house!

From my point of view they're hugely improved but I'm in London and loads of properly good restaurants now do delivery. When I was growing up it was a choice of slightly shit Chinese or awful pizza or a pretty good fish and chips.

Yes, most have gone down in quality since Brexit/Covid.

I'm sure a M&S king prawn Bhuna, which you just have to microwave (and boil rice) is better than most takeaway Indian Restaurants.

Ditto Fresh Supermarket Pizza. You just have to stick it in the oven and it comes out as good as most takeaway pizzas.

Some are better than others. Our usual chip shop is terrible quality now, last time we got it about half of the chips were bruised and lots had holes in them like something had been eating them! Absolutely will not go there again as they're clearly using cheaper ingredients.

Others are fine though like our usual Indian, chinese and pizza are still good.

Yes, the last few Chinese takeaways we have ordered from the same place have gone further downhill each time- my rice used to be full of prawns, succulent chicken, pork. Now mainly rice and onion and barely any meat and 2(!) prawns last time. Cutting right back on ingredients but still same price. We've agreed we aren't bothering any more and we rarely have takeaway.

This. Deliveroo etc are half the problem.

Their fees add around 30% to the cost. I won't use them as I don't like their business model that exploits the restaurants, delivery people and customers for their own gain.

We either collect direct from the shop or have supermarket or Costco takeaway style food. They have really good dumplings, curries, Crosta Mollica pizzas etc.

I can remember when the kids were young it was such a treat to get a takeaway and was reasonable enough to get Chinese and Indian if no one could agree (not every time). Couldn’t do that now due to soaring prices and inferior quality/lesser portions. Like the shitification of mainstream chocolate, it just doesn’t seem like a treat anymore.