Yeah, I think a lot of us split between home cook and dining out. I’m certain to have several dinners and lunches at testaurants mapped out in advance of a week’s travel. But we also eat at least half of our meals at the rental house.
When not traveling, we rarely eat out anymore. Maybe twice a year as family at dinner, plus a few more times if old colleagues want to meet for lunch.
There are others here at HO who seem to be even more heavily weighted toward the home cooking end of the scale.
I love to cook, and I love to go out to eat. That’s why I’m on this here food board. Leaving financial constraints out of it (and I certainly have those), I think people who swear off restaurant dining must live in / travel to places without decent restaurants, or they just prefer their own cooking. My own cooking is perfectly fine, but why wouldn’t I want to learn from the pros?
My view is probably skewed because I live in one of the restaurant capitals of the world, and keeping an eye on - and a fork in - the restaurant scene is one of my life’s great joys. And I so look forward to trying the local foods whenever I travel. The aforementioned financial constraints lead me to split my time between “nice” restaurants, diners, food trucks and supermarket fare (and I am headed for the land of poke, where the supermarket fare can be very, very good). But I cannot imagine subsisting on food I brought from home.
i had a friend (RIP) who cooked all his meals at home except once a year. the exception was getting a bucket of KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) on race day of the Indianapolis 500.
I could not imagine not ever dining out.
And dining out does not necessarily have to be expensive, and certainly not more expensive than dining in.
Barbecue and beans. Or a Navajo taco.
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why dont you just order the way I do? and ask for “X” number of slices.If the meat is very large(like turkey breast) I might ask for 6 slices,knowing I’ll fold it in half on the bread,if small(like baloney)I might ask for 10-12 slices,I do the same with cheese slices too.Just give the a specific number.Works fine every time !
That only works fine if the thickness of said slices is not subject to wide variability, depending upon who is doing the slicing.
It depends on the type of expensive restaurant.
The expense account ones are often near the financial district, in my experience .
The romantic expensive ones might be near a view or a tourist region.
Some expensive restaurants get both types of customers.
I think some restaurants are too extravagant for most business ppl to expense them in this economy - in Canada at least.
I know expense account meals in NYC, Paris, Tokyo, Dubai could or would be at a different, much higher level.
Or people expense the maximum allowed, and pay the rest themselves for the pleasure of a really great meal (in their opinion). Sort of like getting a gift certificate or voucher that covers a certain amount but not the whole meal.
Maybe there are some dishes where a restaurant total cost is less than making it at home, but I’m struggling figure where.
Hamburgers at McD vs the exact same burgers at home?
Challenge accepted… My brain wanted to play with some numbers this afternoon. So – I did some checking on-line and it appears a 1/4 pounder with cheese at McDonalds is $6.39 - $6.69.
A little while ago I picked up a 5 pound chub of ground beef for $7.60, so 1/20 of that is $.38. Hamburger buns are on sale this week 8 for $1.79, so my bun cost is about .22. I picked up 16 slices of American Cheese for $2.29, so my cheese cost is $.14
I’ll grill the quarter pound patty (outside) over some scrap mesquite wood that I saved from trimming my tree, so my fuel cost is $0.00
So I have made a plain quarter pounder with cheese for $.74
And no, I’m not going to try to calculate a pickle, ketchup or mustard. I imagine you can still order a plain quarter pounder with cheese.
So my quarter pounder with cheese is $5.65 less than McDonalds.
I forgot I’d read about Nari from another post of yours, had forgotten it had a Michelin star.
Of course I don’t expect Asian restaurants to be less expensive, not at all.
I guess my point was that it’s gotten too pricey for me to eat out in SF anymore. Maybe I can’t return to Zuni.
I found out that Nari adds 6% to your bill so that one eggplant dish would cost about $52.
Where? NYC!
It was much cheaper for me to buy take-out Mexican or Chinese food than make a meal at home 30 years ago.
Even now, some take-out food is roughly the same price as if I buy the ingredients and make them myself. Portuguese churrasco chicken in Toronto is cheaper than me roasting my own chicken from the grocery store.
My burgers at home suck. Quarter pounder with cheese or a Wendy’s Jr Burger or a A & W teen burger, or a burger at a mom + pop independentare much better than what I can make myself at home for $8 -$15 Canadian.
I leave burgers and pizza to the professionals.
I can grab a good $5-$10 slice that’s way better than anything I can make and it’s ready to go.
You’re going to Hawai’i?
Tomorrow. Oahu.
How wonderful. It’s the most beautiful place I’ve ever been to.
TBH, I prefer the other islands I’ve been to (Kaui, Maui, the Big Island), but H is going for work, and I am going 'cause there’s a free hotel room.
I’d never been, and the only reason we were able to go was that my PIC had a conference that paid for his flight & the hotel. Otherwise it would never have been on our radar, even.
I liked HNL for the food. but enjoyed the North Shore far more. But I’m a beach bum at heart who’d be happy with Jenny’s spicy garlic shrimp twice a week.
