Takeaways

The closest I get to take-aways are the annoying Just Eat, Deliveroo, etc., adverts on TV.

I often wonder how much they charge for delivery. Any idea?

It varies but about £2 usually. It might vary throughout the country though.

I would always check their hygiene rating first, then I might have the odd takeaway, but only on special occasions.

Whitewavemark2

We are lucky in the developed world that we have so much choice.

And life is about exactly that for our house.

We eat in with home cooked food.

We picnic out with home cooked food

We picnic out with bought food

We eat in from a traditional takeaway, like Indian, Chinese or fish and chips.

We eat in and go more expensive by ordering from favoured restaurants.

Then we eat out either to good pubs/restaurants.

The we go really up market and eat at posh restaurants

We are so lucky to have so much choice and we can do any or none of it.

I don’t stand on judgement on any body’s choice. I assume that no one will be so small minded enough to judge my choice.

Exactly, Whitewave.

RosieandherMaw

^Personally, by the time, you have gone online to find the menu, made the decision, made the phone call, waited for the delivery, dealt with the washing up, cleared the wrappings and got rid of the smell that pervades the house, you might as well drive to the restaurant and eat at a nicely laid table and an attentive waiter, choose your meal. chat over a glass of wine until someone brings it to your table, who then clears the table and you relax over a coffee and drive/walk home to a fresh smelling house, no wrappings and no washing up, why on earth order a takeaway^ ?
Comparing apples and oranges M0nica !
Different scenarios, different experiences, each to his or her own.
(And nobody has to forgo the wine because they are the “designated driver”)

There is also a huge difference in cost between buying a takeaway and going to a restaurant and having a meal, with wine etc.
Not everyone can afford that M0nica.

And not everyone wants to go out on a cold, dark, rainy evening and sit in a restaurant on their own.

We have found that using Just Eat, Uber eats or Deliveroo costs several £’s more per order than ringing up the shop and having them or their designated delivery company.
We are so lucky here that, although I only have Chinese, we have a huge variety of cuisine that can be delivered.

… you might as well drive to the restaurant and eat at a nicely laid table and an attentive waiter, choose your meal. chat over a glass of wine until someone brings it to your table, who then clears the table and you relax over a coffee and drive/walk home to a fresh smelling house, no wrappings and no washing up, why on earth order a takeaway?

That rather presupposes that you have someone to do that with. As I said above - not everybody does.

I am lucky to have literally dozens of local restaurants to chose from as my village in on the periphery of a vibrant city. They all deliver meals charging under a £1 for delivery. If we are talking pizza, there are the big brands: Pizza Express, Pizza Hut, Ask Itaiian, Zizzi, Papa John’s plus many more smaller independents including local pubs who increasingly see home delivery as an important part of their turnover.

I can’t remember when I last had a takeaway, though we used to in the past. I love going to our local excellent Chinese restaurant when I have someone to go with and their takeaway food is good, but by the time you add the delivery charge it is expensive. I used to go and get fish and chips occasionally but am trying to eat more healthily these days.

My son lives 150 miles away and occasionally he’ll send a morning text from work saying don’t cook tonight as he’s ordered me a delivery meal. I look forward to it all day. He orders my favourite Indian meal from my local takeaway ( not from his local 150 miles away, just in case there’s any doubt 😆)

It’s a lovely treat 😋

Grannynannywanny - you have a lovely son !

Well of course, nothing wrong with an occasional take-away. Wonderful.

But there are two worrying issues if this becomes the norm, or a very regular occurrence, for anyone, and families too.

a) the health aspect. Most take aways are either full of fat, or sugar, and often both. So occasionally, as a treat, no worries- Regularly it is a disaster, for growing children even more so.

and b) the cost. Occasionally, no worries. But again, for struggling families who get 'addicted' to take aways, a massive budget, if on regular basis.

This is not 'clutching pearls' at all- but a real concern.

For the price of on take-away for 4, I can cook for the same family for 1 week andprobably quite a bit more, and healty food too.

Grannynannywanny

My son lives 150 miles away and occasionally he’ll send a morning text from work saying don’t cook tonight as he’s ordered me a delivery meal. I look forward to it all day. He orders my favourite Indian meal from my local takeaway ( not from his local 150 miles away, just in case there’s any doubt 😆)

It’s a lovely treat 😋

That's so nice of him, what a lovely treat!

I take issue with your comment 'most takeaways are full of fat etc'

The takeaways we eat are exactly the same food as if we went out for the food - perfectly healthy on a night out but not to eat at home?

We have chinese takeaway delivered approx twice a month- sometimes just for the 2 of us but most often when family come to visit as a treat- the grandchildren really enjoy it.
Costs £1.50 for delivery. Once eaten wrappers and containers go back into the delivery bag and straight into the outside bin, 5 plates to wash up plus cutlery- job done!

Before Covid the Chinese we use didn't deliver, so we would go to our favourite pub, order from there stating time for collection, pick order up and return home.

Sadly the pub didnt really recover after Covid, and has closed, the takeaway on the other hand is very busy indeed 7 nights a week!

I dont think we're in the minority either judging from this thread.
Not sure if the OP was querying the fact of delivery, or that people had takeaways?
We live about 3 miles away from town- hence the delivery- if we lived closer- we'd still phone the order through but pick it up ourselves. A nice treat whichever way.

Most take aways are either full of fat, or sugar, and often both. So occasionally, as a treat, no worries- Regularly it is a disaster, for growing children even more so
You're clearly encountering a bad limited range of take away Food!

and b) the cost. Occasionally, no worries. But again, for struggling families who get 'addicted' to take aways, a massive budget, if on regular basis
How patronising!
No more risk of "addiction" than any other type of treat and who is to say how these might fit into the family budget.
There are some wonderful ethnic cuisines available, particularly but not exclusively in our towns and cities in addition to the traditional fish and chips or pizza - who's to dictate what others should or shouldn't do?
As for that addiction suggestion - laughable. You might as well demonise the ice cream van.

M0nica

Ppersonally, by the time, you have gone online to find the menu, made the decision, made the phone call, waited for the delivery, dealt with the washing up, cleared the wrappings and got rid of the smell that pervades the house, you might as well drive to the restaurant and eat at a nicely laid table and an attentive waiter, choose your meal. chat over a glass of wine until someone brings it to your table, who then clears the table and you relax over a coffee and drive/walk home to a fresh smelling house, no wrappings and no washing up, why on earth order a takeaway?

(Yes, there are times, of distress, emergency, ill health etc when they are the solution, but how often do those occur, may be 6 times in the last 10 or 20 years.)

Decision made immediately, I know what we’ll have, phone call takes a couple of minutes, two plates to go in the dishwasher and packaging wrapped into the black bin. It’s cheaper than eating out too.

kittylester

I take issue with your comment 'most takeaways are full of fat etc'

The takeaways we eat are exactly the same food as if we went out for the food - perfectly healthy on a night out but not to eat at home?

No, the same of course. It seems that some people and families have take-aways on a very regular and frequent basis - whereas they would not go to a restaurant with the same frequency.

Who is dictating? No-one. And yes, fatty and sugary food is addictive, very.

Mollygo

Doodledog

I can't believe that people can't believe that others do things differently from them .

Great comment.
Strange isn’t it!

I've wondered if some people merely want an echo chamber?

We're constrained by long distance, generally we cook and eat at home. We do have a favourite pub 30 miles away and a few restaurants in London we favour. I'm somewhat frugal. No takeaways.

Each to their own.

I would add another worrying issue to Claremont's list which concerns me. Recent research suggests that the packaging used in takeaways has tiny plastic particles which can make their way into the food we eat, causing health problems. It's predominately those squeaky polystyrene boxes.

And should have used 'habit forming' about regular take-aways several times a week, or more.

Grannynannywanny

My son lives 150 miles away and occasionally he’ll send a morning text from work saying don’t cook tonight as he’s ordered me a delivery meal. I look forward to it all day. He orders my favourite Indian meal from my local takeaway ( not from his local 150 miles away, just in case there’s any doubt 😆)

It’s a lovely treat 😋

That’s so nice. What a thoughtful son.
🌺❤️

Claremont

Who is dictating? No-one. And yes, fatty and sugary food is addictive, very.

That wasn't what you said or at least it was predicated on your sweeping generalisation that all takeaway meals are high in fat, sugar or both.
It ain't necessarily so.
Plus high fat and sugar content can feature just as easily in food prepared at home

Claremont

And should have used 'habit forming' about regular take-aways several times a week, or more.

They are only habit forming to the extent you mention because people are too lazy to cook.