Soldato
Maybe becuase I do a lot of cooking at home, I am no professional chef, but can knock up some quite good stuff. Also I think it doesn't help having a family of 4 with one older child basically an adult.
But with the odd exception, there is very little that I enjoy about it.
It's the cost more than anything. I could actually understand the enjoyment a bit better if you were single going out with mates etc, just having to pay for yourself. But if we go out, it's effectively 3 adults and one child, any form of pretty "standard" pub meal with drinks, that's already £100. Even Wetherspoons with a few drinks now £50. Anything fancier, forget it.
But not just that, almost without fail, the food you get I think I could have just made the same at home, for 20% (or less) of the cost. Maybe it's just as I live in the middle of nowhere and choices are limited but, any form of pub food, I can make better for cheaper. Any type of "chain" resturant are usually abysmal, I had a meal in a "Carluccio's" once in Peterborough and I had the seafood linguini, and no joke it was just some boiled seafood, on plain spaghetti with a very small amout of some sauce over the top, and was charged, what, £15 for that? Im sorry but if you find that kind of thing acceptable you need your head examined. But any of chose big chain places, are all pretty dire. Most indian/chinese/italian/etc restaurants and pretty dire. Amercian BBQ type places are ok, but expensive, again, I can do that at home.
Added to that, invariably they screw up something in your order, then you have to ask them to sort it out, which delays everything or makes things awkward as every one wants to be polite and wait for your (correct) food to turn up. It's awkard getting their attention for drinks, you have to wait, you have then try and hound them down to pay the bill, then often they try and add a "service charge" on top, and you have that further awkardness of saying no. Don't foget you are supposed to be paying for an "enjoyable experience".
I do not understand why people go out to a pub for a sunday roast. Making a roast isnt technically difficult in the slightest, and I have literally never had a roast dinner anywhere, I couldnt make better myself, and they NEVER give you enough gravy.
Anything fancier? No thanks, you pay a lot of money for a small portion, pretentious rubbish.
There is the odd exception, a few times many years ago there was a thai resturant in Peterborough and the food there was really good, and outside of what I could do myself, it closed down now unfortunately. I have been to a few Turkish places that basically give you a really posh kebab and are not usually too expensive, also pretty decent portions, although those are getting expensive these days.
But generally, no, it's not for me.
But with the odd exception, there is very little that I enjoy about it.
It's the cost more than anything. I could actually understand the enjoyment a bit better if you were single going out with mates etc, just having to pay for yourself. But if we go out, it's effectively 3 adults and one child, any form of pretty "standard" pub meal with drinks, that's already £100. Even Wetherspoons with a few drinks now £50. Anything fancier, forget it.
But not just that, almost without fail, the food you get I think I could have just made the same at home, for 20% (or less) of the cost. Maybe it's just as I live in the middle of nowhere and choices are limited but, any form of pub food, I can make better for cheaper. Any type of "chain" resturant are usually abysmal, I had a meal in a "Carluccio's" once in Peterborough and I had the seafood linguini, and no joke it was just some boiled seafood, on plain spaghetti with a very small amout of some sauce over the top, and was charged, what, £15 for that? Im sorry but if you find that kind of thing acceptable you need your head examined. But any of chose big chain places, are all pretty dire. Most indian/chinese/italian/etc restaurants and pretty dire. Amercian BBQ type places are ok, but expensive, again, I can do that at home.
Added to that, invariably they screw up something in your order, then you have to ask them to sort it out, which delays everything or makes things awkward as every one wants to be polite and wait for your (correct) food to turn up. It's awkard getting their attention for drinks, you have to wait, you have then try and hound them down to pay the bill, then often they try and add a "service charge" on top, and you have that further awkardness of saying no. Don't foget you are supposed to be paying for an "enjoyable experience".
I do not understand why people go out to a pub for a sunday roast. Making a roast isnt technically difficult in the slightest, and I have literally never had a roast dinner anywhere, I couldnt make better myself, and they NEVER give you enough gravy.
Anything fancier? No thanks, you pay a lot of money for a small portion, pretentious rubbish.
There is the odd exception, a few times many years ago there was a thai resturant in Peterborough and the food there was really good, and outside of what I could do myself, it closed down now unfortunately. I have been to a few Turkish places that basically give you a really posh kebab and are not usually too expensive, also pretty decent portions, although those are getting expensive these days.
But generally, no, it's not for me.