Cheapest destinations for eating out

bigmaz

Hi guys, we are a family of 4, with 2 young kids. We normally do All Inclusive holidays as I like to not worry when we get somewhere about how much we need to bring for food and drink. But I do fancy a self catering holiday to eat out at different places. But need to find a place with cheap places to eat, any recommendations for resorts? Looking for places within Europe, I.e Spain, Portugal etc. I looked at Bulgaria as heard that is dirt cheap for food and drink, but flights are not that cheap.

richardw

Some of the cheaper places to eat are often away from the tourist areas and often have menus that aren't in English, you'd just have to brush up on the language before you went.

Where in the Uk are you?
What month do you fancy going on holiday?

zagfles

Eastern Europe is cheap for eating and (especially) drinking, but you can find good value in most places. Spain and Portugal are good value if you avoid places aimed at tourists, take a dictionary or a translation app so you don't need to rely on an English menu. Look for set menus, these can be very good value and usually traditional local food.

Italy is cheap if you are happy with pizza/pasta most of the time, it's expensive if you go for the traditional full 4/5 course but you won't want to do that every night if you want to fit in the plane seat on the way back

Eating out with young kids is an infinitely better experience in southern Europe than the UK. They actually like kids in restaurants, the waiters will interact with them and have a laugh with them, and they'll always cater for kids eg doing smaller portions, extra plates so they can share parents meals etc. No boring kids' menus like here.

agrinnall

Spain can be inexpensive if you eat like the locals do and have your main meal in the middle of the day and eat from the menu del dia - there may not be many choices but you'll get three courses and a drink for much less than a la carte at the same place. Nearly every restaurant and bar in Spain will do one.

lea2012

It depends what you mean by cheap and also what you and the kids like to eat?

We have holidayed in Greece a lot and find it to be really reasonable. In the last few years we have been to Tingaki in Kos and Messonghi in Corfu a couple of times. We're a family of three, 2 adults and a 7yr old.

For breakfast we usually stock up on arrival at the supermarket with cereal and milk, and then make a daily trip to the bakery for fresh bread and criossants which is only a few euros. For lunch we either get a snack whilst out such as a salad, sandwich or a gyros (greek kebab). Again usually no more than €5 each.

Evening meals set us back between €30-40 including a couple of starters, 2 main adult meals, a childs meal and then a couple of drinks each. We always have great food, in Greek restaurants, although admittedly they are aimed at tourists . We don't go for greasy spoon but we don't go OTT either.

In Spain we find that again you can eat for similar prices, if not slightly cheaper but it's more along the lines of pie and chips and british style food rather than fresher local food. We have family that live in southern spain and went to Majorca last summer and found that you can easily pick up daily specials for €8-10 each with 3 courses and a drink. (usually soup or salad, followed by meat and veg / pie and chips / burger /pizza and then ice cream / choc fudge cake to finish).

reddct

Benidorm is superb for eating out be it in the spanish old town or the new town you cannot beat it.
Had four course sunday lunch 9 euros.
3 course meal of the day with wine on the beachfront 10 euros.
3 course fillet steak meal in old town which is lovely, 12,95.
chinese meal for four with 2 bottle of wine soft drinks 52 euros
If you want value and quality look no further.3 water parks lovely beaches something for everyone.

Doshwaster

agrinnall wrote: »

Spain can be inexpensive if you eat like the locals do and have your main meal in the middle of the day and eat from the menu del dia - there may not be many choices but you'll get three courses and a drink for much less than a la carte at the same place. Nearly every restaurant and bar in Spain will do one.

I can remember finding one restaurant in Spain which had a sign outside advertising a "menu del dia" with wine for €10. After asking if I wanted red or white the waiter came back with a whole bottle. It was such a good meal that I had to go back to the hotel to sleep it off.

Another way of saving on meals is to go to a supermarket a get some fresh bread, cold meats and cheeses (much better choice than you get here) - plus a bottle/carton of wine and make a picnic.

zagfles

Doshwaster wrote: »

I can remember finding one restaurant in Spain which had a sign outside advertising a "menu del dia" with wine for €10. After asking if I wanted red or white the waiter came back with a whole bottle. It was such a good meal that I had to go back to the hotel to sleep it off.

Yes we've had similar - sometimes the wine is included but not soft drinks so you pay more for the kids :rotfl:Though with young kids they'd usually do smaller portions at a lower price or they share one between two.

Another way of saving on meals is to go to a supermarket a get some fresh bread, cold meats and cheeses (much better choice than you get here) - plus a bottle/carton of wine and make a picnic.

Yes we tend to do that for lunch, and eat out in the evenings. Sometimes the other way round - restarants are often cheaper at lunchtime.

lea2012

Doshwaster wrote: »

Another way of saving on meals is to go to a supermarket a get some fresh bread, cold meats and cheeses (much better choice than you get here) - plus a bottle/carton of wine and make a picnic.

If you can find a local Lidl, even better! There's one near my in laws in Spain and we've been lucky to find one within walking distance on our last few visits to other areas of Spain too. They usually have a decent sized bakery area that offers fresh pastries, pizza baguettes, savoury muffins etc that are all great for a picnic or al fresco dining on your balcony. And wine is often only a few euros a bottle and tastes much more expensive.

I know you can get Lidl in Greece too but not as abundant as in Spain.

deva

We return to the eastern Costa del sol regularly as they still do free tapas.

Breakfast in house lunch on beach picnic or bar and tapas then tea tapas. You may need to drink a bit to keep the kids occupied but it's a challenge and made easier if you drink Cana s(1/3 or 1/2 pints) as tapas portion usually similar.

Nerja and La Herradura are recommended

Greece was cheap to eat out and we realised tavernas are so subsidised they were cheaper than supermarkets in Crete

Off to lisbon area in summer as cheap for everything there!

deva

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