You find that information by bloody living and working and socializing there for 5 years.
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The mind reels.
Thatâs funny isnât it? Rarely is good food about the recipe which is after all just a sequence of simple instructions. It is about the care and skill of the cook. So many times sharing a recipe the feedback is that it didnât come out the same and questions about what got left out.
Iâm interested in the numbers. My guess is that eating out happens much less often (Iâm limited to UK, France, and Belgium for the personal perspective though). The cost is higher than in the US for one. Although the question is what constitutes âeating outâ since there have been sandwiches available for lunches and other spots for lighter nibbles (a mixte with a beer, or even the tapa with an evening drink) that can be part of oneâs dayâ even if not actually a meal.
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Or coffee and a a pastry! I agree that âeating outâ might mean different things.
I did not realize it was more expensive outside of the US! Iâm thinking it must be tricky to measure and compare apples to apples, but that might be a personal perspective. I eat very differently when I travel.
Not too long ago there was a thread that included some posts about what local svs tourists ate in Spain. I believe @Barca contributed. It contributed to my impression that not only was it common for whole families to be out late eating, but that more lunches were being out as well. In France I had the impression that people bought a lot of things out each day. Granted it might not be âeating outâ if you bring home bread,cheese, prepared meats and the like.
Iâm not sure I necessarily agree with this. Again, any comparision between the one country that is the USA and the thirty or so countries which are Europe is all but impossible.
Although Iâve eaten in several of our neighbouring countries while on holiday, I can really only make a comparision from a UK perspective. With that in mind, Iâd take the view that at the bottom end of the restaurant business, America generally wins hands down on price. It is all but impossible for most UK restaurants to compete at the price that, say, American chains can do. There will be exceptions, of course, and I can think of a couple of very nasty Chinse all-you-can-eat buffets which are very cheap. At the high end of the business, I reckon things are pretty equal in pricing between the two countries. Itâs in the mid range where I think things get interesting and Iâd generally take the view that at a âgood bistroâ type place, youâll get better value for money in the UK. For example, one of my favourite local places offers short midweek menu - say about four choices at each course - for a fixed price of just under ÂŁ20.
Of course, international comparisions are always tricky. Thereâs currency exchange to consider. And things like tax. And tips/service charge. And the wealth of a country (how expensive is that meal to the person on average wages)
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Also disposable income which is affected by services (like health care) that are covered by taxes. Getting a real apples to apples comparison that withstands scrutiny is a lot more work than comparing menu prices.
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âŚand for the record, I believe there will be a foot long turkey sub in my future this coming week. I might even remember to take a picture.
Indeed. The only way you can do it, is by having some calculation that works internationally. I suggest the âMcD effectâ. Basically, how long must the average person in different countries work to afford a Big Mac.
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Sad, but true. When you eat out (anywhere), youâre getting more salt, fat, and sugar than you realize. I lost 65lbs a couple of years ago, and the only really major change for me was to stop picking up meals when I was too busy or bored to cook. Pre-pandemic my rule was not to eat out unless I was with others. LERD how I long for a good HODown (thatâs what we call them on the NJ board)!
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Next time youâre traveling in the southern states, pick up a sub at PublixâŚour beloved PubSubs are good enough to make you turn up your nose at Subway.
To me, âeating outâ means eating anything that is not prepared at home. It can be a breakfast sandwich picked up on the way to work, a deli sandwich at noon or a pizza on the way home.
âDining outâ entails being seated/served at a table and ordering from a menu (preferably with a cocktail or a glass of wine in hand). A salad, an entree with a side or two, coffee and dessert.
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Iâve seen papers that correlate cost of living to things like a steak or a manâs suit. There has been some serious effort into looking for leading indicators and tracking metrics.
I quite like the Big Mac. I donât recall any academic work but at a high level it makes sense. Best of all itâs the same everywhere.
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Are you talking about the Big Mac index? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Mac_Index
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Great link. Thanks. Iâd not heard of this actual thing before.
But, yes. I see at the end of the Wiki article is a list of the fastest/slowest earned times - which is exactly what I was thinking of. It takes into account the relative pricing of the burger (which should be the same product in all countries), so accounts for taxation and the various employer business costs. And then relates that to average hourly earnings in the country.
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True. Iâve found eating Germany and Brussels to be not so bad, but certain foods just seem excessive. London was mixed for me and with plenty of expensive options. I once paid what I consider to be a ridiculous amount for a sandwich. I found eating in Geneva to be highway robbery for the quality of the food, but then itâs Geneva where 3-4 dollars for a tiny glass bottle of Coke is a real thing (I donât even drink Coke, and I was aghast). Compare that to eating in Hong Kong and Taiwan though where you can run the gamut of street food casual to super high end and it feels, dollar for dollar, less expensive to me than in the US and most places Iâve been to that arenât third world countries.
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I suspect that most of us who visit London are only visiting the more central âtouristâ areas. And, I agree, eating there is often an expensive option. Even the service charge tends to be higher - 12.5% rather than the 10% thatâs the customary tip rate in the rest of the country. In recent years, my trips to the capital have been to the National Archives and Iâve stayed nearby in the Brentford area - where prices are much more civilised. Or, weâve travelled to eat at a particular high end restaurant so the expectation of a high cost (as well as 2 hour train journey and overnight hotel) is known.
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One of my best meals in my first trip to London was in Islington, recommended to me by a friend who went to London for grad school. I donât remember the name of the place anymore, but it was a short walk from Angel station on the Tube. Very reasonable, with prix fixe menus, and absolutely delicious. We liked it so much we went back there for dinner on our final night.
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Iâve always like Big Macâs. There are no McDonaldâs near us to be considered âfast foodâ anymore (an hour roundtrip). We drove 7 1/2 hours to Watkins Glen in upstate New York hauling my husbandâs Porsche GT4 for a track event and stopped once at the last service area on the Mass. Turnpike for a pit stop. Had the worst Big Mac in my life, and the most expensive. Because of Covid, we had to space ourselves 6 feet apart, order through a plexiglass barrier. The place wasnât busy. It took a very long time to get our order. The hamburger patties were just barely warm and the cheese wasnât even melted - sat on the burger like plastic. We were on the highway before we dug into them, so no going back. Never againâŚ
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