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?

I agree its across the board. Not all takeaways and restaurants but definitely quite a lot. Our favourite Italian that we've been going for about 15 years last time put analog cheese/mozzarella blend on the pizzas. It was mushy and absolutely disgusting. Mentioned it but they denied changing anything. The difference was stark though. Not been back since.

I agree, we very rarely have a takeaway now but the last couple have been very disappointing. It’s my birthday next week and the obvious thing to do was a takeaway - I couldn’t think of anything I would actually look forward to, so I’m making my own! We’re having an Italian feast (lasagne, homemade pizza, carbonara and garlic bread) followed by homemade cakes (Italian cream cake, chocolate hazelnut loaf, almond and cherry streusel cake and custard ice cream). I’ve been making and freezing stuff this week and I’m really looking forward to it. JustEat et al can sod off.

They will notice a dip in their profits, when people have had enough, and stop going, or ordering takeaway from them.

This thread made me get a takeaway from my favourite Tandori shop

i went to pick it up, I never do delivery, and they’d sent it out with the delivery driver even though is was labelled store collection. I had to wait for him to come back from his deliveries with my order which was annoying

whilst I was waiting they seemed to have a lot of complaints on the phone and from other people in the shop waiting and a lot of new staff/cooks that didn’t know what they were doing. This is a real shame

That's annoying! Sorry my thread inspired you to waste time and money on that.

Was the food good though?

I haven’t noticed this with the ones we use.
An excellent Indian which is always full when you eat in and is always piping hot when we get it delivered. And the Chinese is at the end of our road and is fantastic with a really interesting menu. We have some local Nepali restaurants and their deliveries are brilliant.
Not sure if prices have really ramped up and haven’t noticed portions shrinking so happy to continue getting them. We probably get one a fortnight.

the ones I use are the same as ever but I can rarely afford it now as it’s so pricey. Feel like I am alone when you see all the Deliveroo, just eat and uber drivers outside all the premises though. I even pass delivery cyclists on my way to work in the morning s - plenty people obviously still affording it.

Agree! Take aways - Very poor quality meat, so salty, so expensive! Big disappointment.
Eating out - We always say 'we can cook better than that' when we go out to eat!
My son orders domino's, I cant believe they charge that much for a pizza!!!

Ha no worries @LaJacondeFumantLaPipe 😁

no the food was all just a bit off, not so much that you would take it back but not as great as it used to be, samosas were overcooked, popadoms rubbery, main sauce not as thick, chicken rubbery.

As my favourite takeaway, I’m with you, it has gone down in quality. I won’t be back anytime soon

We rarely get them as the choice is woeful where I live. Salty soupy Indian or dayglo Chinese. It's s shame as visit friends in tbe big city and they have so much choice of good takeaway.

Some of us are particular about what meat we buy to cook at home - free range etc, yet takeaways could be serving us anything, including illegally imported meat. Many takeaways will be using acceptable meat but some won’t. Who asks their local takeaway about where their meat is from? It is Russian roulette.

Exactly - very good point. I try to buy local produce and would never buy, for example, battery farmed eggs. But it isn't as if I check what my local takeaway uses in their egg fried rice!

We used to have a regular Indian takeaway we loved, not anymore. It seems there mixing fresh chicken with some god damn awful maybe frozen chewy crap! and it has increases in price by a third, they used to include a couple of free popodoms, which they don’t anymore, It was awful, keep getting 20% off offers as we were regulars, we don’t even bother even going to the restaurant now either, really put us off. I’d rather cook my own now! It’s a shame as it used to be our treat.

That is why I stick to vegetarian foods, when eating out, which is only for socials. I never go out to eat, for example, because I cannot be bothered to cook. I have had enough of paying for so so food.

The takeaways I choose to order from in my area are really nice but I rarely get them anymore because it’s the cost that has increased so much it’s not often worth it.

The nicest chip shops and Chinese takeaways near me aren’t on any of the delivery apps so that could be the reason why they’re still nice. I did get a Thai takeaway the other weekend when my friends were here and that was really lovely - but I think it’s the Deliveroo/Uber Eats that probably make some takeaways worse.

Yes good point, I don’t get many takeaways these days, but if I do, I pick the vegetable options.

Dh was going to go get McDonalds muffins for breakfast. I sent him to Sainsbury’s instead and made our own cheaper and more of them.

The pizza place we go to is great and has never changed.
The Indian we use is a restaurant that does take out. They are really good.
Ii haven't noticed a decline. Dh would definitely had said something if he thought so as well.

Agree with this. I don't see much point in paying cafe/takeaway prices for 'assembly' cooking where you can get something of equal or often better quality from the supermarket and all you need to do is heat it up.

The value in avoiding the minimal prep and shoving a few plates in the dishwasher just isn't worth the extra cost.

But that’s your opinion. The pole agrees with the OP.

Yes massively. Also the average takeaway now is the same price as a sit down meal.

I’m immune suppressed following a transplant and so the general understanding is to only order from takeaways with a 5 FSA rating. And honestly it’s been an eye opener. Takeaways I previously considered to be fairly tasty etc having only two or three ratings on the FSA website.

So I think that even if the taste is ok, the FSA is worth a look and I think a lot of people would think twice if they looked at the conditions most operate in.

Our local pappa john’s pizza for instance has a rating of just 1 on the FSA website, and yet you’d think that as a chain they’d do better.

I’m in NI, near Belfast, and the takeaways where I live are generally really good. People vote with their feet. A branch of a local chain takeaway opened down the road last year to great fanfare. It has now closed because it was absolutely rubbish. It was a franchise and definitely not up to the standard of the other very popular branches. The well established takeaways - Chinese, Indian, fish and chips, pizza - all remain consistently good quality. You can even tell when a different chef is on shift, but the food is just a bit different. Still great.

The chip shop is fine but it’s not cheap, we tend to eat it in the pub next door (they have an arrangement) so eating out for less money than a restaurant. Domino’s is ok, it is what it is but it’s filling and tasty plus not too bad with a voucher. We don’t really get anything else take away - it’s not good in our town, we go out and eat instead

Yes. Compared with 5+ years ago, they definitely have around us. Lower quality ingredients, shrinkflation and bulking with the cheaper ingredients. I guess they’re no different to any other product or service in that way. We’ve gone from fortnightly to every couple of months or so, for convenience rather than enjoyment. At least it’s saving us money and better for our health. Silver linings!

Our regular Indian takeaway tried a different supplier to save money and only the fact that users knew the staff so well meant they held onto their customers, as the feedback was instant and they changed back, although prices increased. We have a good takeaway but it is becoming an very expensive treat.