They thought everyone did this!

I wait until I am in the restaurant - and particularly look,at the Specials, which are probably not online anyway.

I scan a menu....especially if it’s pub grub. If we are going off piste and eating at a special place...with taster menu’s....then I like to have an idea what I’m getting. I am also tea total so their range of alcohol free is hugely important to me. I get peeved about having a choice of water, juice or kids pop....I want a range of larger, beers and maybe wine or cocktails. Then I review on trip advisor....

I just choose from the menu when I get there but I always have a Plan B in case my first choice isn’t available .... it saves me scrabbling back over the menu while people are waiting!

I check out the menus to see if there’s a reasonable, or at best, veggie option. My mam called me a faddy eater in that I eat virtually no meat although will have fresh fish if it takes my fancy. I got totally fed up with set Xmas menus that only offered variations on a theme of pasta as, like others, I want something that I don’t cook myself. I also don’t like plant etc based products as it’s the texture and taste of meat I can’t stand. Also not fond of omelettes, goes back to my days in student halls when all they had to offer were omelettes and fried eggs. (Sorry, gone a bit off topic but you can see what my mam meant).

I like to check menus online beforehand, but always consider any "specials" on arrival. I have been known to change my mind completely after seeing what a neighbouring diner has been served.

As a vegetarian I do usually check out the menu before I go, just to check they serve food suitable for fussy vegetarians. But I don't actually choose in advance - supposing there's something on the specials board I'd like? But it's true to say I do have some advance idea of what the options are likely to be.

No, never, I’m the awful person. Craning her neck to see what other people are having and if it looks yummy.

purplepatchcat Same for us! We are all vegetarian but my eldest AC can’t stand mushrooms or swede both of which feature heavily in the veggie menu options of many places!

I'm pescatarian too so I do check beforehand to make sure they have appealing fish or veggie dishes.

If possible I like to see, and in general I like to choose something I'd not cook myself, much cheaper. I understand that a group or a christmas meal you have to decide, and it's a set menu, and not too far in advance, and no specials. I don't like to have to chose in advance if there are specials and choices, eg soup of the day, there are some soups I'd not want. My inlaws always wanted us to chose months in advance for meals out, which if it was a aset menu ok I understand. But I could never choose soup just in case it was one I disliked, nor a special, which was sometimes much nicer than what I'd chosen. It never got us our food sooner, it took just as long for it to apear, so there were hungry children who had it never meant that there were enough staff on, and sometimes they didn't have what you'd ordered, after knowing about it for months.
I'm sure if they'd just said table for 12 including 3 children in 5 months time at 7 things would have been less fraught for everyone. And it was stressful. children saying what will the specials be, and not understanding why they had to chose so far in advance, as it was no quicker on the day [as they had learned].
But yes to thinking about it and being flexible enough to choose differently on the day

Yes, a study of menu on offer often helps me to decide whether to visit a restaurant or not. I don't make actual preselections but my appetite is seriously whetted. For me it further adds to the pleasure of the anticipated outing. I always read the specials board thoroughly on the recommendations of some professional chefs. Their reasoning made sense.

We’re turning into control freaks aren’t we! I do have my favourites but like to choose on the day.

Not so many menus available online with restaurants in Portugal although if they have a website they may have todays lunch special which is usually a choice of two meats or fish dishes and includes soup, dessert, coffee and a drink of your choice for about €8.
I don't have much of an appetite at the moment and even the the thought if going to a restaurant is rather disconcerting which is a first as I have always loved food and eating out. But I do love reading menus online and my BF , who eats out a lot, will often send me links to new restaurants she is visiting saying what would you choose.

Daisyboots - I expect Portugal is like Spain in that it's a bit tricky in rural areas to avoid meat anyway.
There's animal fat even in bread it seems in Spain and it was tricky to eat out on the whole. I'm sure it's much more cosmopolitan in cities. I was so surprised as hadn't been since I was a child

I do like to know what’s on the menu beforehand because DH is such a fussy eater, and his default “there’s nothing on there that I can eat” will often rule a restaurant out. I will invariably end up having something off the specials board if there is one.

Occasionally I will check what is on offer, but never chose until I am in the Restaurant

Looking at a menu beforehand would be just the same as knowing what I was cooking for dinner that night. Appreciate some folk with dietary issues would find it helpful though.

Sympathise with other Coeliac’s. I was recently asked by a chef “are you severely Coeliac, or just a little bit.?” It makes eating out with others really difficult at times.

Being gluten free for more than 30 years has made me get into the habit of checking what gluten free options a restaurant has got before I go. Also I am SO bored with brownies, ice cream and flapjacks being the only gluten free desserts that I refuse to go anywhere that only offers those as a gluten free choice. The other big NO NO is when I get handed a huge ring binder of "dietary requirements" (as in Yo Sushi and other chains) to plough through. I hand it back and say "Thanks, but I will go somewhere else."

Since the rise of hipster veganism in the last couple of years I have found gluten free options are being sidelined and reduced - it's so much easier to do "vegan" - after all - who could tell if they used chicken stock in their "vegan" mushroom risotto!!!!!

Absolutely agree with all you say. I’ve often found that local village pubs will go out of their way to oblige with gf choices. They want you to return and/or recommend them to other Coeliacs, whereas chain restaurants really don’t care if you don’t eat there!

Look first - to see if it’s worth going or if the venue should be changed. Also important to check there is Creme Brûlée for dessert ?!

i agree, but, if i know its a good scampi there, then i will order the scampi, but yes it depends how i feel at the time to what i have to eat.

Bit of a theme developing. I too check that there is at least one thing I can hope to eat without losing the following day to a vile wheat hangover. Check any menu with a view to avoiding wheat and you will see how this cheap ingredient is used to 'pad' everything.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

I'm with MiniMoon and Annodomini! While we generally eat at our favourite Restaurant and I know most of the menu, I wait until I see the "specials" board, before finally deciding. The owners know us, as we have been frequent diners for several years, and they are willing to put on meals by "special request" if given advance notice. The food is always delicious and freshly made! Who could ask for more?