Why do you eat out?

[bokdrol]

OH is taking me to dinner tonight!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Pearson6]

We eat out often like maybe twice a week, kinda give the wife a break and also gives us time to talk. We normally have a few places we go to with the kids, but when we on our date nights we normally try out random places

 

[Colin62]

I eat out fairly often because I can never hope to match the quality and creativity of a professional chef at home, and time. Not to mention that for some meals, e.g. good quality fillet, crayfish, etc you can't buy the ingredients for a huge amount less (<50%) than a restaurant so you may as well let an expert do it justice.

A 250g fillet will cost you about R130 - R150 in a decent restaurant, and fillet does not cost anywhere near R500 - R600 / kg. The cost of the meat should be less than R50 if you buy it yourself.

 

[MrG]

My work has a canteen.

I live alone at home and I often get home past 7PM at night. I don't feel like cooking. I often order two meals from the canteen. Lunch and then something for home. This weeks menu:

View attachment 199812

 

[Colin62]

My work has a canteen.

I live alone at home and I often get home past 7PM at night. I don't feel like cooking. I often order two meals from the canteen. Lunch and then something for home.

When I was a bachelor (as opposed to a divorcee) we had a canteen at work, with a free three course meal every day. It was fantastic - my grocery bills were mostly cleaning stuff and a loaf or two of bread. But by the time lunch on a Monday came around, I was starving.

 

[SaoirseB]

Generally the food is better.

Isn't food always better if someone else makes it? Even if it's the exact same thing?

That being said it depends on the requirement.

I'm not a fan of eating out just for the same of eating out, it needs to be worth it and therefore I go somewhere I know the food will be superior to what I have at home.

I don't go to the Spur for food for instance, but I will go to the Spur with friends who also have kids because they can be left to run rampant and we can have a good kuier, the food has almost nothing to do with it.

Special occasions every other year I don't feel like cooking then I'll take all my friends out instead. Years in between I'll have a party at our place where I do the cooking and all the cleaning afterwards.

So really it's about all your questions. Convenience, quality, socializing.

I think part of the food tasting better when someone else cooked it thing is because you slaved over it yourself. You sniff all the ingredients and taste as you're cooking, so by the time you're done, your taste buds are not impressed. I find that I tend to enjoy my cooking more the next day.

I'm pretty good at duplicating what I eat at a restaurant at home, but yes it never quite tastes the same. I only ever eat out with friends which I've limited, especially after reading an article a few years ago about the shocking state of some restaurants.

 

[SaoirseB]

not always ....

i have many experiences where food tastes schit and the portions are small

at home ...i dont think i have ever had that experience

but i eat out cause like camikaze said ..its a change of scenery and also its social and well saves you the work of cooking

Me too. Or someone recommends something, because it's oh so delicious and I try it and I'm totally disappointed. I've also had one or two instances where the food was off.

 

[SauRoNZA]

I think part of the food tasting better when someone else cooked it thing is because you slaved over it yourself. You sniff all the ingredients and taste as you're cooking, so by the time you're done, your taste buds are not impressed. I find that I tend to enjoy my cooking more the next day.

I'm pretty good at duplicating what I eat at a restaurant at home, but yes it never quite tastes the same. I only ever eat out with friends which I've limited, especially after reading an article a few years ago about the shocking state of some restaurants.

Spot on.

At the restaurant you generally get a "fusion" directly on your plate and you get to guess what's in it and you get a real surprise.

When you cooked it yourself you know exactly what's in there and I personally tend to be very negative about what I just made when it's not what I expected even though everyone else will tell me it's the best thing they've ever had.

Also I tend to almost always compromise on some or other ingredient when cooking at home which I simply couldn't find or had forgotten about.

 

[cerebus]

I eat out fairly often because I can never hope to match the quality and creativity of a professional chef at home, and time. Not to mention that for some meals, e.g. good quality fillet, crayfish, etc you can't buy the ingredients for a huge amount less (<50%) than a restaurant so you may as well let an expert do it justice.

I find that for me to eat a restaurant meal that I can't match at home using store bought ingredients, I'd need to spend a minimum of R200 a plate, which brings the cost of a meal for 2 over R500. There are times when that's worthwhile, but it really must be a special occasion. In fact there are many meals that I can do at home that I simply can't get in a restaurant because they take too long to prepare to be served on a menu.

The times when I really can experience food that would be way too difficult to make myself, and still affordable, are really authentic international restaurants - Vietnamese, Indian, Thai, Chinese (although frankly, I've never had what I'd call an authentic Chinese meal in a restaurant). Then it's totally worthwhile.

 

[cerebus]

Well if you don't have a wood fired clay oven I'm afraid that's just not going to be possible at home for pizza,you'd always loose out on flavour,so you'd be settling for the next best thing but not the best.

I don't have that, so there's some truth - although I think I compensated by the quality of the dough and the homemade base and toppings, which were miles ahead of the level of effort you'll get in a restaurant.

 

[MrGray]

A 250g fillet will cost you about R130 - R150 in a decent restaurant, and fillet does not cost anywhere near R500 - R600 / kg. The cost of the meat should be less than R50 if you buy it yourself.

Yes, but add R50 to sides and other ingredients (vegetables, sauces, etc) plus the time and risk of stuffing it up and to my mind R130 doesn't sound so bad.

 

[DA-LION-619]

It's more of a social thing for me as I can't eat out alone except for Nandos

 

[Colin62]

Yes, but add R50 to sides and other ingredients (vegetables, sauces, etc) plus the time and risk of stuffing it up and to my mind R130 doesn't sound so bad.

Fair enough, but I think you're being very generous allowing R50 for a couple of chips and the limp piece of tomato the last guy left on his plate

 

[MrGray]

My work has a canteen.

I live alone at home and I often get home past 7PM at night. I don't feel like cooking. I often order two meals from the canteen. Lunch and then something for home. This weeks menu:

That's very economical. Doubt you could make much of that yourself for less spend.

 

[SaoirseB]

Why do you care? Must we convince you why you must start eating out more?!

I'm not looking for convincing. I was raised with the idea that restaurant food is not proper food and is a waste of money. I realize that's not necessarily true. But I would like to understand why so many people eat out.

 

[I.am.Sam]

Please tell me where you go for small portions? Most places put way too much food on a plate.

most chain resturants

most places serve a small 250g steak as well ..yeah you can order the huge guys but thats just overkill

 

[bokdrol]

I'm not looking for convincing. I was raised with the idea that restaurant food is not proper food and is a waste of money. I realize that's not necessarily true. But I would like to understand why so many people eat out.

There you have it. Your dad was a miser, like mine (Scots descent). Throw off the yoke of paternal oppression and take your honey to dinner.

 

[Badprop_za]

A 250g fillet will cost you about R130 - R150 in a decent restaurant, and fillet does not cost anywhere near R500 - R600 / kg. The cost of the meat should be less than R50 if you buy it yourself.

The R50 will exclude the sides, cost of preparation of the meat and sides, cost of staff to cook the food, waitor, etc.....

 

[Baxteen]

we are 2 people at home.
other than Woolies, everything is packed for 4 people, so half the stuff goes off if we dont buy from woolies.

on a normal day, we get up at 5, make breakfast go to work, come home make dinner for 4 and take leftovers to work.(yes food still goes off becasue we dont eat that much)

leave work at 4ish, get home 5:30 ish cooking is fine.
then sandton traffic happens. suddenly you are home at 7.
we get take out then, or go out for dinner depending on where we get stuck.
this also means there is no lunch. so we get take out again.

so basically that taxi skipping the red light causing the accident on Katherine cost me +-R240(about R60 per person per meal sure its a little less per meal, but sometimes its not.)

and that is why I dont own a gun. because there would be fewer taxi drivers and I would be in jail.

 

[cerebus]

There you have it. Your dad was a miser, like mine (Scots descent). Throw off the yoke of paternal oppression and take your honey to dinner.

Or learn to cook, save the money, and throw off the yoke of materialistic oppression