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

bootman

I love Wagamamma's especially when there are some vouchers. I could happily eat there every day.

Bad value I think has to be TGI Fridays I always come away hungry and pizza places.

Money~Bunny_3

bootman wrote:

Bad value I think has to be TGI Fridays I always come away hungry and pizza places.

Garfunkle's is terrible for vegetarians (and food in general). I've never eaten a single thing there I'd recommend to anyone else. The salad bar is horrible, pasta is always overcooked, and pizzas are dolloped with cheap, poor quality cheeze. The last straw was when they gave me caffinated coffee rather than decaff, I complained and left with a splitting headache! I only kept going because a friend liked it, she now understands that I really do hate it THAT much. We go elsewhere.

I'm rubbish at making pizza so I do like a good Pizza Express effort, although I know in my heart they're a rip off. I usually enjoy Carluccio's food, since they have very reasonable veggie options and the food is usually tasty. Living in London I try to get out and find cheap, interesting new restaurants often.

Edit - for a great burger try the Hamburger Union cafe/restaurants. Freshly cooked, not a microwave insight, lovely service

Nice to hear everyone's opinions, glad I'm not the only person with a low opinon of a lot of places!

Zziggi

A good number of the posts on this thread have said something along the lines of "i cook stuff at home rather than go out except for chinese/indian/thai food that i just can't recrete at home"

Maybe we need to collar some chinese/indian MSErs to let us into the trade secrets? or at least find some "authentic" recipes that really work and really do taste like they come from the local takeaway?

A possible thread?

Zziggi

organic_wanabe

There are some great Indian ones which were posted a while ago by (I think) Curry Queen that lots of people rave about, which I keep meaning to try.

ftbworried

I know its not totally OS but I found that these kits http://www.spicentice.com/ are fabulous for curries that taste better than jars. The coriander chicken is just SO much better than anythin ive had at an indian restaurant or takeaway. Honest, you will be shocked!

The downside of making a curry at home for me is that you have to have lots of different spices in stock. Often when you come to it you haven't got x, or haven't got enough of y or your z has gone out of date because you only used a smidging 5 years ago....

With these kits you have exactly all the spices needed in the box. Granted, they are not cheap (around £2 each) but you could always buy one, keep the recipe inside, check out what's in the box and buy the spices yourself next time. Besides, it's cheaper than a takeaway and healthier as you control the amount of oil you put in!

I just need to find a chinese solution now........

Somerled

Having read with interest this thread, the general consensus is that chain restaurants feed the messes. That's no surprise because today's mases survive on chilled and frozen ready meals. So I suppose going to Frank & Benny's or TGI Fridays the fod tastes great.
Not going our much for meals, makes me very choosy when I do. The criteria has to be:
1) Is is independant?
2) Are they linked to , or won awards for their speciality cooking?
3) How big is the menu? If it is more than one page - forget it!
4) If needs must (i.e. with friends or family at a large special event)- only choose from the specials boards
5) Just because its cheap doesnt mean they serve rubbish food!
6) If its got a recommendation in a national paper/magazine- stay well clear.
7) If you do find a well priced, freshly prepared meals restaurant Dont on any accounts tell anyone. Why? because you probably wont get a seat next time and increased numbers of "covers" means that quality prep time will decrease as will the quality of the finished product.

So last time I was in a Manchester suburb found a new restaurant off the beaten track and the food was brill. What a surprise it ticked all the boxes!

competitionscafe

There are some Indian and Thai recipes here + others too:
http://seasonedpioneers.co.uk/recipes.aspx

P.S. Their spices are good too and come in little foil pouches which can be resealed.

GardenMillie

I have also been disappointed when I eat out - although last weekend we had a fab lunch in Blonde (Edinburgh bistro). It was two courses for £5 courtesy of the Telegraph tokens offer - really delicious, great choice and excellent service.

I also love Indian and although I've tried loads of recipes at home they are never quite as good as the take-away (maybe it's in my mind?)

:rolleyes:

ti1980

Somerled, what restaurant was it and where? Do tell!

Snow_Angel

Zziggi wrote:

A good number of the posts on this thread have said something along the lines of "i cook stuff at home rather than go out except for chinese/indian/thai food that i just can't recrete at home"

Maybe we need to collar some chinese/indian MSErs to let us into the trade secrets? or at least find some "authentic" recipes that really work and really do taste like they come from the local takeaway?

A possible thread?

Zziggi

During my 1st year at uni I had the best time - I shared accommodation with the following nationalities : Indian, Indonesian, Japanese, Greek, and me (Cornish!). We took it in turns to cook and we're all pretty nifty in the kitchen......I have never, ever had such delicious food (apart from when I lived in Oz with 3 chefs - 1 french, 1 Canadian and 1 Italian....that was pretty good too :rotfl: )....where do I find these boys??? maybe I have a yummy food radar :rotfl: