Is it worth eating out on Christmas Day?

[ihatethecold]

I just cannot be bothered with xmas dinner this year. There’s only 3 of us. Me, DH and our 18 yr old dd.
She has said she’s happy to drive us on the day.
A few local places are doing xmas dinner for about £80 including wine. The menus look very nice.
DD would be cheaper due to not drinking
Has anyone bit the bullet and felt it was worth it?
We can afford it but it feels very indulgent.
I feel a bit torn.
But, the thought of doing xmas dinner and all that entails makes me feel knackered already.
(don’t even like turkey)

I hate going out on “occasions” because you always pay three times as much for a substandard experience. In your shoes, I’d just get some nice party food for Christmas Day and maybe book a meal out on Boxing Day/27th if you fancy going out somewhere to eat?

Done it twice. Wouldn’t return to the last place. Christmas Day is my only day off over Christmas so it was nice to get dressed up and have lunch with no clearing up. Won’t this year, Ds didn’t really like it.

My FIL does this with my SIL since my MIL died. MIL was an incredible cook and FIL knows he cannot recreate what she did so doesn't try. He doesn't want to learn in his 70s. He misses her daily. SIL is not great at cooking so this is an easy option for them. We see them later the same day as we have our Christmas lunch at my sister's house, thank you sister!

I have also been a waitress who served people their Christmas lunch too. It was fine, you get used to it. Did it when I was a teenager and student. It is quite lovely as it is usually a very happy occasion.

I went once with my parents to a posh hotel. I was around 20, still at uni. I hated it. The food wasn't as nice as a home cooked Christmas dinner and it was weird being with a bunch of strangers. Very expensive and not worth it. But, it wouldn't have been me cooking Christmas dinner and I think my mum loved it!

We eat out Xmas day...only 2 or 3 of us. None of us like traditional Xmas food so we go to the local Mediterranean restaurant.

We don't do it because both DH and I cook, and my parents too. Everyone knows what to do and we split chores so it turns out amazing every year.

You are definitely not being unreasonable!

It’s just DH and I here and we usually go to either set of parents, but increasingly those are full of siblings grandkids which we find hard and I can’t help feeling it’s slightly lame for two adults almost in their 40s to be going to their mums for Xmas dinner.

I can most definitely see a posh meal out somewhere on the day in our future (not this year tho as we’ve already committed).

Would certainly tip generously - in fact DH in his youth worked in a pub on Xmas day several times and he said it was his favourite time to work of the year! Double time, short hours, a laugh with mates afterwards and good tips

Never been out on Christmas Day in the UK, but about 20 years ago we went out for lunch on Boxing Day. It was both extremely expensive and utterly dreadful, so awful that I will never do it again.

A lot of the food had been prepared a long way in advance, some of it had clearly arrived frozen in a 3663 lorry, and assembled on plates by monkeys playing quoits. It was then served by a gang of sullen, surly teenagers who had never waited a table in their lives and visibly hated every minute of it. They made it abundantly clear that they did not want to be there, and the kindest thing I could say is that they projected this on to everyone around them to set the mood.

This was in a large market town in the home counties, in the restaurant of the well-known luxury hotel in the town centre. It cost something like £50 a head without wine, and the wine list had nothing below £30 a bottle.

My parents used to take us out for Christmas lunch when me and my brother were teens in the 80s. I've thought about it but decided it's too expensive round here and I'd miss the leftovers ... no bubble and squeak .

This has reminded me of the Christmas in our late teens when me and my brother were too hungover to eat a single thing ... my parents were so cross as even then it was about £50 a head. I thought they were making a big fuss out of nothing at the time, but now I can completely understand .

I’ve worked in a hotel restaurant on Christmas Day (and Christmas Eve, Boxing Day). The data do NOT want to be there - it’s a case of you are rostered and if you don’t attend you’re sacked so it’s the more vulnerable staff who are made to attend - students, part timers etc. The food is not as good as the most senior and experienced staff get the time off as they can’t afford to lose them. There are generally a couple of sittings so you can’t linger over your meal. Miserable. I swore I’d never eat out on Christmas Day - I’d rather have a ready meal in front of the fire. Just because you can’t be bothered impacts others.

Staff not ‘data’

You don't have to cook a traditional Christmas dinner.

I think you may have left it a bit late this year, everything is booked up already near us!

I have both worked in hospitality on Christmas Day and gone out to eat on Christmas Day. I would heartily recommend it why are there no Christmas hat smileys yet?? have a Halloween one instead.

We've done it but it was a family run restaurant where they choose to close for about two weeks after New Year. Lots of fun. So nice not to feel trapped in all day and also fun to chat to other families on Xmas Day.

We did it one year. We went to our favourite pub. The food was nice and we enjoyed the lovely little walk there. The downside for me was that they didn’t have enough roast potatoes and DH wanted more pigs in blankets. Everyone also gets the same quantities, so the person who drowns their meal in gravy has the same amount of gravy as the person who has a tiny drop of gravy on their meat.

Feeling sorry for the staff is really patronising. Lots of people work on Christmas day in lots of industries. It's not a punishment. If you go along and are expressly nice to the staff, you could be saving them from someone unpleasant who might have booked the table instead.

If everybody avoided eating out on Christmas day for this seemingly kind reason, the staff would miss out on some big tips, and the business would suffer profit-wise, which may also negatively affect the staff.

I imagine many places will be booked up by now OP.

To those saying staff volunteer to work - my DS1 works in hospitality and one year he was working in a pub - he was rotaed to work Chr Eve, Chr Day, Boxing Day and got no extra wage (was not paid much as he was 18 at the time) and no tips that I recall. It was a bit shit for him really. So please give a big tip and ask for it to go to the kitchen as well, not just the waiting staff.

How about going out for a nice meal some time over the Christmas period as it will be much cheaper for similar food just because it's not the main day and then on Christmas Day itself have a buffet or other easy treat food like steak and chips or whatever?

Go for it if you fancy it OP! I love eating out and getting out of the house so it sounds fab to me!

As regards staff, I work every second Christmas as part of my career (nurse), it just comes as part and parcel with some jobs but it's not something you should feel guilt over!

I’ve done it twice. It was great !

The food will be all prepped and most of it cooked the day before then just reheated on the day. It's likely that 90% of the staff will have been scheduled to work unwillingly and will be hung over, resentful and just want you out asap.
If you are wanting to pay lots of money for a reheated dinner in a possibly hostile environment go for it.

Well if you are thinking about hurry up and book everywhere is getting booked up
We are going out for Xmas day lunch 7 of us we had to book separately and ask them to put us all together
We are going to Millar & Carter so not posh but I do like Steak 😂
I think it’s 70 a head but worth every penny
I haven’t had a Christmas Day meal at home for about 10 years and it’s worth it not to wash up
We always give a big tip as well as I would hate to work on Xmas day

We’d considered it several years ago, as fancied a break from hosting extended family.
We put the feelers out but it became clear that extended family thought that we’d also be paying for their meals as well.
They expected to be hosted every year with no offer of help (cost/food or prep) so the way they saw it was, as we would have been hosting at home anyway, that we were still going to provide their meal free of charge to them!

Told them if they wanted to join us they’d have to stump up the cost, lots of moans and groans about “can’t afford it” and being left out/ not getting a Christmas dinner. (God forbid they’d have to buy their own turkey!🤔)

In the end we decided to stay at home for one reason and another, but never considered it again since.

If it works for you op then go for it!

We usually eat out or go on holiday.
Biggest problem is finding somewhere that does dinner at dinner time - I don't want a big meal soon after breakfast.