Do You Ever Eat Out and Wish You Hadn't Bothered?

lynzpower

Im SO glad this was raised.

I feel like lil miss misery guts when we out most of the time. Its just rubbish most of the time and moany mne gives it " im telling you know this was frozen" eg a lasagne or something.

A few very dissapointing experiences in the form of a veggie lasagne in beefeater (very poor indeed, esp for 6.95 or whatever they charged me)
Any pizza pretty much these days cant be as nice as we make, and isnt. I resent paying for pasta as we have it so rarely out, as its a cheap no effort meal I can make at home for way less. Ive had a few terrible steaks. And chinese takeaways have been thoroughly disaapointing recently too I did a msyery shop a few weeks ago and it was rubbish, the soup I can & do make from leftovers & a hndful of pasta, the main course had grit in it. And at 15 quid for a risotto or whatevr they were charging it was diabolical.

I feel I need to show willing and stop being such a misery(!!!) and we are off out for a meal tonight, I hope its nice! But chances are, law of averages, it wont be!

THIRZAH

We sometimes go to a chinese buffet-I can't make things like prawn toasts etc but so much restaurant food is disappointing.

At Christmas I went out for a meal with the WI. The strarters were soup, pate or prawn cocktail-all of which I could do better at home. The main course of turkey etc had been plated up beforehand and microwaved-from where I was sitting I could see into the kitchen!

ScaryGreen

My bf and i have come to the conclusion that restaurants that do special Valentine's menu's are a complete waste of money for many of the reasons already mentioned, plus the venue tends to be absolutly packed as well.

So as a treat - what we do is pop down to the local M&S Food store, as we're quiet parcial to seafood we splash out on the special seafood medley type dishes, we spend 1/2 what we would if we went to a restaurant, we can drink and not have to worry about who drives - we share the minimal washing up leaving lots of time for us!

kethry

THIRZAH wrote:

We sometimes go to a chinese buffet-I can't make things like prawn toasts etc but so much restaurant food is disappointing.

while i'd agree that restaurant food can be disappointing.. prawn toasts are actually quite easy to make, especially if you have a deepfatfryer. i think you can even make up a batch then cook from frozen. you can do the prawn mix in a food processor, and buy them already shelled, deveined etc., if, like me, doing that puts you off your food.. lol. there's one recipe here but there are lots around.

sorry its a bit off-topic...

keth
xx

joannasmum

We try to avoid all chain restaurants theses day, unfortunately quiet afew members of my family insist on eating in our local Wacky Warehouse pub which I cant stand. Last time our adult food was vile and DD wouldnt eat the childrens meal either.

We do have a couple of small independent restauarants in Southport that do lovely food and welcome small children which is great as I want DD to learn how to behave in a restaurant. There is also my all time favourite restaurant which is vv expensive, but my step-brother is the pastry chef there so I occasionally get left over puds (yummy yummy).

thriftlady_2

The thing I hate about chains and most pub food is their insistance on providing a 'children's menu'. It is always inferior to the usually already inferior food on offer for adults.

Even Café Rouge has one - goujons of chicken rather than nuggets :rolleyes: I asked if they did children's portions, but no, the answer was 'well, we have a menu pour les enfants'. 'But can't they just have a children's portion of steak frites?' I ask 'Non' was the reply. 'Is that man French?' asks my DD, 'No he's from Worcester like you'.

rach

i eat out relatively regularly, as i'm young and single (well ahve a b/f who i see at weekends!) but we've made a decision to generally go cheap and cheerful so we can occasionally go to a really lovely place in croydon where OH lives. we tend to eat out once most weekends, though not all, less at my house as i often cook, and no restaurant could beat OHs fajitas!! but like others we often think that other than our favourite places, often food is very mediocre!

we sometimes do pizza express, esp in london, though its not cheap
fantastic cheap bring your own alcohol curry house near me in Boscombe (Bournemouth)
great lunchtime deal at Coriander mexican in bournemouth
my best mate and i often treat ourselves to toby carvery as it saves us cooking a roast

LizD wrote:

I had a gorgeous Thai Red veggie curry in our local gastropub (Ye Olde George Inn, Christchurch). But it's independent and I think one of the owners is veggie, given the almost unheard of choice of 3 different dishes!

i ive in boscombe, LIzD, but i've never tried that place, or even heard of it! my mum is sending some gastropub vouchers so will see if that's part of it!

seraphina

I'm almost always disappointed when I eat out. Frequently this is because I'm a vegetarian, and the veggie options are almost always dull and boring.

If we do go out, we tend to go to our local curry house or chinese, both of which are very good indeed. Independent restaurants/pubs around Cambridge/ North Herts are generally okay, but I would steer well clear of any chain with a barge pole:mad:

I also find now that sometimes I get cravings for "junk" food like takeaway pizza, and then when it turns up I'm disappointed. Thankfully this hasn't happened with curry yet:rotfl:

csarina

frugalfairy wrote:

I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels like this! I love to cook and usually my meals are delicious and so much cheaper than restaurant meals. I really resent paying through the nose for something I know I could produce so much better myself.

Oh how I agree!!!!! we cannot afford to eat out very often and I nearly always know that I could have cooked better for less myself.......it is a real treat to eat out, often spoiled by indifferent food and service.............

Whats wrong with the site I have tried 3 times to edit my signature ggggggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Austin_Allegro

Good thread. The problem is I think that many restaurants are just a part of the flash your cash, all style and no substance culture that infests modern Britain.

I particularly dislike those trendy restaurants that give you tiny portions on a big square plate, plonk bottles of mineral water on your table without being asked and have snooty service.

I much prefer small family run restaurants - Greek ones are often good - that are cheap and cheerful, or pubs that serve 'proper' food (not heated up micromeals).