Night Out In? (supermarket meal deals)

Jade_M_2

Hi all,

I am currently researching for my final major project at uni on the subject of Recession and Consumers Changing Attitudes and Habits Towards Food.

I am looking specifically into the idea of having a night out inside your home- be it with a partner or with friends.

I have been looking at the meal deals in supermarkets encouraging consumers who are staying to in to have a 'restaurant dining' experience in their home.

Has anyone tried these deals?? M&S, Waitrose and Tesco are all currently doing them- 2 for £10 and 2 for £9

If you have tried them could you please me give me some feedback. Are they value for money? Is the food to restaurant standard? Would you buy them again?
If you haven't tried them, is there a reason why? What would encourage you to buy them?

Any thoughts, opinions and feedback would be much appreciated!

Dollardog

Jade_M wrote: »

Hi all,

I am currently researching for my final major project at uni on the subject of Recession and Consumers Changing Attitudes and Habits Towards Food.

I am looking specifically into the idea of having a night out inside your home- be it with a partner or with friends.

I have been looking at the meal deals in supermarkets encouraging consumers who are staying to in to have a 'restaurant dining' experience in their home.

Has anyone tried these deals?? M&S, Waitrose and Tesco are all currently doing them- 2 for £10 and 2 for £9

If you have tried them could you please me give me some feedback. Are they value for money? Is the food to restaurant standard? Would you buy them again?
If you haven't tried them, is there a reason why? What would encourage you to buy them?

Any thoughts, opinions and feedback would be much appreciated!

I have had quite a few of the M&S ones and I think they are great value for money, I haven't tried any of the others.
Depending on what you pick, you can save up to 50% on their normal price, although I know M&S can be expensive compared to cheaper supermarkets. I like their food and would sooner pay more for the quality. It advertises 2 dine in for £10, but some of the things can feed more than two, for instance the whole chicken, apple pies etc.
Its hard to say if its restaurant standard, as you are cooking it yourself, but I have certainly recommended it to friends who also think its good value, and like their food.
I will certainly buy them again.
HTH

GlasgowGal

Hi

First of all good luck with your project. I have only tried the M&S deal and would recommend it. I think it represents superb value for money and their food is very tasty. When my hubby and I go out he likes his restaurant experience to be something that he would/could not cook at home (he is quite a good and adventurous cook). Nothing way out but just nice tasty dishes with some different ingredients, cooked from scratch that does not cost the earth. We find eating out these days has become one of the things we have cut back on and have purchased the M&S deal almost every fortnight since it started. We would not have bought them so often if they were not at the special price of £10.00. In Aberdeen you are hard pushed to find a nice resturant with one main course for £10.00 so the M&S deal is fab value.

Annieuk75

I would recommend the M & S deal as it is great food and you can get a few meals as well. I went out to get the M&S deal today and went for the chicken, as with this I can make roast chicken for Sunday lunch, ust the leftover chicken for sandwiches on Monday and use the carcass for a chicken soup for dinner as well!

wigglywoozle

I've never had one. I don't have an M&S near me and I don't like ready meals due to the amount of salt they generally contain. It seems to be an okay deal, but I prefer to cook from scratch and know what's in my food and if I want wine, I like to buy what I like and is on offer, not what is dictated by a meal deal.

colmil

M & S are superb value for money, I do wish they would give a better range of Veggie option!

Dollardog

wigglywoozle wrote: »

I've never had one. I don't have an M&S near me and I don't like ready meals due to the amount of salt they generally contain. It seems to be an okay deal, but I prefer to cook from scratch and know what's in my food and if I want wine, I like to buy what I like and is on offer, not what is dictated by a meal deal.

I usually cook from scratch too, which is why I generally go for the whole chicken, as I live on my own I can make several meals from one chicken and have some bits to make a stew for my dog. I do really like the pork medallions with the apple, cider and cream sauce, although the sauce is already made, the pork fillet is the same as you would get from a butcher's.
The only disappointment for me in the deal is the choice of wine. I like a very sweet wine and none of them in the meal deal are, so I end up saving them to give as presents. I know I could have orange juice, but that doesn't seem such good value and its nice to have something to give someone when you go visiting etc.

Bronnie

I was 'seduced' into buying a Tesco deal, on the basis that the bottle of wine I already had in my trolley was £5.99 and I could therefore get a main course for 2, a side dish of potatoes which would make another vegetarian lunch for my daughter and 2 small puds for an extra £4.
I rarely eat convenience foods and should have stuck to my £5.99 bottle of wine. The Steak Diane was almost inedible to me. The meat had been in some way tenderised and was a tasteless pap. Basically I like to eat freshly prepared food. I should never have bought it. I had a real issue trying to eat it!! The wine was very nice and the puds were ok. A big mistake, not right for me. I could make better for the money easily and would prefer to cook for my night in than eat this.

System

I have only tried the M&S ones and haven't been tempted by the others. I also go for things which I would normally get i.e. this weekend they have the gammon and chicken, the choc pudding is nice and the veggies are nice.. If there wasn't anything I'd normally eat I'm not sure I would get it but this does work out food value and the quality of food is very good in my opinion. The chicken was very nice.

The reason I don't get the ones from other supermarkets is because sometimes I find the quality or taste abit hit and miss for me personally..

I do prefer to cook things from scatch when I can as I think they taste better but some of the meals are roast type dishes which you would buy like this anyway. As someone else mentioned you can also get more than two meals out of most of them - the puds are sometimes big enough for 4 people - it's a shame they are mostly the ones that say "not suitable for freezing"..!!

Hope this helps..

wish

I've tried the Waitrose ones everytime they have the meal deal on - I think they are a good thing because they encourage us to try something different I wouldn't usually have at home but would probably try when dining out. Of course, it goes without saying they taste superb (all of the dishes) the quality is excellent - main meals, puddings, sides of salad and veggies - and the wine is lovely too - good old Waitrose! and £10 for a restaurant standard meal for 2 with wine !! (and most of the dishes can be frozen).

Would I buy the meal dishes at full (normal) price - probably not but I would if I caught sight of the little red 'reduced' labels.

I only shop at Waitrose for meat and veg - everything else comes from Asda or Tesco's unless Waitrose is cheaper - which does seem to happen more often lately.

ti1980

I have only tried the M&S one but I work there so I'm not sure if you want my opinion as it will be biased (although I can try and be a bit balanced in my reasons why I think its a great deal!)
If you do want my opinion then I will be more than happy to give it but it may be a long post!:D