A very disappointing lunch. Should pubs and restaurants be more honest.

I live near a very prestigious hotel. During Covid they did a click and collect menu albeit only three choices. Had a meal a couple of times. Some of the items were in sealed plastic bags ready to be warmed in hot water. This hotel had purchased the necessary equipment to enable them to provide such a service. Meals were delicious. Even the cocktails were in plastic bags. Gordon Ramsay has food prepared elsewhere and then transported to his kitchens to be assembled. Woukd a meal prepared in that manner be classed as made on the premises The cost of eating out has gone up a lot, the amount Sago quoted seemed about normal nowadays.

As I have always enjoyed cooking have always avoided eating out. Apart from holidays or abroad.
I still cook my own food but more simple meals using frozen vegetables. Have tried ready meals but not liked them.

ruthiek

I was shocked when I went to an upmarket chain of restaurants to hear their food was brought in not cooked on site . Felt a bit cheated

The problem is, with margins so tight now, restaurants which just offered a couple of daily specials without other choices on the menu would soon go out of business.

Some dishes require longer cooking times, too, so buying in good sous vide dishes then cooking fresh vegetables to go alongside that seems like a good idea. It avoids expensive wastage of food as well.

I have to confess we go to 'Spoons' occasionally for a laugh, for people watching you can't beat it. But, the wine is excellent and cheap, beers are well kept and a good choice. I always have ham egg and chips (small portion) I don't think that goes in a hot bath?

4allweknow

I live near a very prestigious hotel. During Covid they did a click and collect menu albeit only three choices. Had a meal a couple of times. Some of the items were in sealed plastic bags ready to be warmed in hot water. This hotel had purchased the necessary equipment to enable them to provide such a service. Meals were delicious. Even the cocktails were in plastic bags. Gordon Ramsay has food prepared elsewhere and then transported to his kitchens to be assembled. Woukd a meal prepared in that manner be classed as made on the premises The cost of eating out has gone up a lot, the amount Sago quoted seemed about normal nowadays.

THAT is a totally different story though.

I am not at all sure a restaurant that would only serve a choice of 5 main meals would go out of business. If quality and cooked fresh in house, with local products- I think it would do well.

Certainly the case in many countries, like France, where most restaurants offer a fixed lunch menu with 2 or 3 choices.

I almost never eat out as I’m a good cook and it’s usually very disappointing ..unless you want to do a very high end meal.

Reheated food looses a lot of ‘life force’ and therefore appeal and I feel angry that these places can say ‘fresh’ which translates as freshly heated from a packet!!
Instead as a treat I get really good produce and have something really special which will probably cost less than half

I haven’t even thought that food has been brought in from another place when in a restaurant, excluding Asian but I don’t eat in them now.
However, I always ask if the dessert has been made on the premises because of allergies. Maybe, I should ask about the other courses in the future.

And now, another blow. In a recent survey of French restaurants, more than a third fessed up that they serve industrially prepared, and often frozen, food. Fast-food outlets, mind you, weren't even included in that poll, which was conducted by Synhorcat, a French restaurant trade group

Thanks Callistemon I will definitely ask next time.

Some French bakers don’t say their cakes are not made on the premises these days also bread has sometimes been frozen.

I think you will actually struggle to find a restaurant that doesn’t serve ready meals and I’m talking from Morrisons to first class restaurants my youngest son as a friend who works in a first class restaurant charging over a 100 a night for the hotel and even they have meals brought in and served to the customers as they own. Only place you can guarantee that it’s fresh are your local chip shop

mokryna

Thanks Callistemon I will definitely ask next time.

It doesn't mean the food will be poor or that they don't know the provenance as it should be labelled, mpkryna.

In fact, the food should be consistent in quality.

We've noticed here that food in some venues can be inconsistent in quality perhaps because they might be cooking from scratch and different chefs will be on duty or leave.

Sorry, typo - mokryna

Nannashirlz

I think you will actually struggle to find a restaurant that doesn’t serve ready meals and I’m talking from Morrisons to first class restaurants my youngest son as a friend who works in a first class restaurant charging over a 100 a night for the hotel and even they have meals brought in and served to the customers as they own. Only place you can guarantee that it’s fresh are your local chip shop

Maybe it depends where you live - I could name, off the top of my head, several pubs and restaurants local to me which definitely serve fresh, locally sourced food which is cooked on the premises. A few even have open kitchens, so you can watch the food being prepared.

I think they should but I usually ask if certain dishes are cooked on the premises. Generally, though, I think a lot of restaurants buy stuff in and just heat it through.

I agree you should be informed. I've just had a bad experience myself.
Went to Prezzo on 2nd February 2023 at lunchtime. Had received a Prezzo voucher as part of a Christmas present (at my request). My friend had a tuna and basil pizzette which she said was very nice, and I had sea bass with roasted vegetables. My sea bass was very small and overcooked and the vegetables were inedible, as the skins were tough. I'm wondering if they were bought as frozen, because I often cook roasted vegetables and they are never like this. The meal was very small and needed another element such as potatoes. It was expensive at £17.95. The prices have risen and it wasn't cheap before. I sent it back and had to wait for another meal to be prepared. I went for the chicken caesar salad. This meant my friend had finished her meal before I even got mine, not the first time this has happened. This spoils the occasion. I don't drink wine, but she had red wine and I had strawberry lemonade from the 2 drinks for £7.75, so I got the rough end of the deal. Soft drinks are so overpriced. Won't be going back in a hurry.

What does it matter as long as the food is well prepared, enjoyable with good service and a pleasant ambiance?

I would sooner have a pleasant pre-prepared meal at Prezzo than cooked on the premises fish and chips, from a grotty fish and chip shop, using stale oil and not cooking the batter all the way through.

I have just read Peaseblossoms's post.

I am sure Prezzo does on occasion serve duff food, any restaurant does, but I have enjoyed every meal I have eaten in Prezzo. I usually go for the lighter pasta dishes

Our local fish and chip shop is not grotty and I know that they change the oil frequently.

A friend worked in another local one for a while, not cooking, and she said that every spare minute not spent serving customers had to be spent cleaning.

I'm sure they'd soon be shut down or lose customers if they were grotty and the oil was stale.

Callistemon21

Our local fish and chip shop is not grotty and I know that they change the oil frequently.

A friend worked in another local one for a while, not cooking, and she said that every spare minute not spent serving customers had to be spent cleaning.

I'm sure they'd soon be shut down or lose customers if they were grotty and the oil was stale.

I thought oil had to be changed on a regular schedule and chips checked for acrylamide levels. No?

Norah

Callistemon21

Our local fish and chip shop is not grotty and I know that they change the oil frequently.

A friend worked in another local one for a while, not cooking, and she said that every spare minute not spent serving customers had to be spent cleaning.

I'm sure they'd soon be shut down or lose customers if they were grotty and the oil was stale.

I thought oil had to be changed on a regular schedule and chips checked for acrylamide levels. No?

Callistemon21, I don't prefer to eat away from home, but I buy little children chips. The shops aren't grotty and the oil isn't stale.

I thought oil had to be changed on a regular schedule and chips checked for acrylamide levels. No?
I'm sure it is.

You'd immediately smell if the oil was rancid!

We don't buy fish and chips often, but they always seem crisp, fresh and good sized portions.

Never been to a Prezzo so I can't say what they're like.
Jamie Oliver's Italian restaurant was awful. A let-down and a pity.

"Home cooked" can often mean Pub Warmed Up. "Home prepared" is somewhat better, but not often found. An Extensive menu usually indicates bought in and reheated. Cottage/Shepherd's pie can be old meat minced up. Monday (or Tuesday) menus are often rehashed food. All in my experience!

Fantastic well prepared food can be bought in/pre cooked and packed in vacuum sealed packs and often this is the case with many upmarket(their description not mine) eateries, and nothing at all wrong with that I'd buy one if I were 20 years younger!! Same food but in suspended animation. The thing j detest is a pub trying to be a restaurant!! Whatever happend to 'bar snacks' ? Bowl of chilli, lasagna/chicken/soup in a basket!!🤣

Nellietheelephant

"Home cooked" can often mean Pub Warmed Up. "Home prepared" is somewhat better, but not often found. An Extensive menu usually indicates bought in and reheated. Cottage/Shepherd's pie can be old meat minced up. Monday (or Tuesday) menus are often rehashed food. All in my experience!

"old meat minced up" ?! Really, where do you get your ground beef?!?!
Most places will use places like Costco for supplies , superb meat and consistent quality guaranteed at genuinely trade prices