Eating out - is it a waste of money

I have recently discovered Toby Carvery. Love it!

Gill, you are so right about the carvery food and people eating them. Last night my friend and I popped into a pub like this, we were just having a pot of tea, the diners were walking past us carefully so as not to spill the gravy off their mountain of potato and Yorkshire pudding. My friend said it was turning her stomach and I had to agree.
I visit restaurants that serve manageable sized portions so that I can eat three courses if I want to. I have to say I have never ever been in a place that advertises ALL YOU CAN EAT FOR £5.99

I regularly have people here for meals so dining out is a real treat for me. I don't tend to eat out in pubs very much because it can be a real hit and miss affair, so will only eat in a pub on someone's recommendation. Our local hotels do superb food at very reasonable prices and there are two that we regularly choose to eat in. A three course Sunday lunch for £19.50 - £22 is very good value in a posh hotel complete with sea views and a serenade from the resident pianist.
We also have locally a brilliant carvery (£11) and a tiny Indian restaurant where we take our own wine and the food is fantastic; the local fish restaurant is 'special occasion' only as it's quite pricey. We sometimes go out for coffee and cake or afternoon tea and living in a seaside town gives us a lot of choice.
Hmm - now I've been thinking of it I would really like some cake.......

Carveries are a vegetarian's worst nightmare. I went to one with my friends once - in a group - to have a meal before going to the theatre. I asked for the veggie option. There wasn't one but they said they would make me a lasagne. It was disgusting - I could swear it had Marmite in it!

You get quite a small portion of meat at Toby Carvery, and a lovely light yorkie. Then you can pile your plate with loads of several different vegetables. I have broccoli, green beans, carrots, onion, a nd a little bit of cauliflower cheese, and two small roast potatos. My plateful looks huge but it's mostly healthy, and beautifully cooked, veg.

There is no snob value in eating there so it would n't appeal to all.

(It's got 5 for scores on doors though)

Oh yes! And on Countryfile, Adam was recently talking to a West Country farmer me go said he supplies top eateries - like (amongst others) Toby Carvery!

#pipeandsmokeit

Not " me go" - "who"

Sorry, jings I know they are great value, and I know the plates can be piled with veg, but it was a Toby Carvery that I looked into and turned away, I am not a snob, but it was like a huge human trough full of people stuffing themselves. I go out to eat, drink and talk to the people I am with, and I didn't see much of that in the Toby Carvery, just an awful lot of eating!

I can't stand the half cooked veg they serve up in some pubs. A piece of carrot usually shoots out from under my fork and ends up on the floor some distance away.

And the cabbage/green beans is/are chokeable!

We had a lovely family eat-out the other evening. Plenty of chat. What would you expect in any eaterie if not people stuffing themselves?! I am inclined to gobble so I guess I fit well in.

(I am only two pounds into the overweight bit of the charts (don't get the wrong idea) )

And I'm working on that!

We have good restaurants locally which are reasonably priced, friendly and good quality food.

Another option we have is going into town (Glasgow) where we are spoilt for choice but we are creatures of habit and have certain favourite restaurants which we go to depending what we are in the mood for plus a few for special ocassions.

Not a fan of nouvelle cuisine or food chains. Our choice is for privately owned restaurants serving plain fayre good quality local produce.

And it is the people who are putting too much on their plate, not the fault of the carvery. They carve the meat, and serve you what you want, then you help yourself to veg, yorkshire pud, apple sauce, gravy, whatever. There is no obligation to spill gravy on the way back to your table. Once there you can talk to your companions exactly as though you are have been daintily served by the waiter.

I like mine. I can go in alone and eat what I want, when I want, and know just how much the bill will be.

I live between the two best restaurants in Durham so we're spoilt. But we do try to visit out of town and there are some very good pubs north and south of Durham. I don't know if there is a Toby near us I'm going to google it. The main problem in the north east is when the hotels carve meat they carve slabs. Not very appetising.

We eat out quite often. We tend to try out a new restaurant every time we go out.

Pub-wise, Old English Inns meals are usually cooked to a very reasonable standard, if you want to eat somewhere safe. We often stay in them when we go away, and if we want to eat in it's nice not to get any nasty surprises.

We are very lucky, the AA's pub of the year 2013-14 is our local. But we will try anywhere that looks ok, saving very posh restaurants for birthdays and anniversaries.

Carveries - well, we save them for when the inlaws come to stay, because they like them. We don't, we find them boring and we actually like our veg slightly crunchy, but I have to say they usually cook the meat well, and it's cheap. I too have noticed the 'pile it high' phenomenon. People eat as if they will never see another piece of pork in their lives. I think they are mainly full of older couples who don't want the bother of doing a roast with several veg anymore, just for two of them.

Having moaned about our meal yesterday I thought I'd better come back and tell you about the lovely meal we had today in the shadow of Caernarfon castle. DH had chicken breast with cheese and bacon and gorgeous fat chips. I had grilled fillet of sea bass on a pea and lemon risotto and it all came to less than £20. It was delicious!

A restaurant that serves all you can EAT buffet here is now charging an extra 5CHF (about £3) to people who leave food on their plate, to combat the pile it high and waste phenomenon. An outcry from some, but I say, bravo.

Have you ever been to the Michelin * Olive Branch at Clipsham Kitty?

I have enjoyed reading this thread, even though it is making me hungry! I agree with Granjura The Olive Branch at Clipsham is really good. We usually rely on recommendation before trying a new restaurant, but we have some real old favourites. There is a great restaurant in Leicester in an old case factory - guess its name! X

We visited Caernarvon last year kitty and had a decent meal al the Black Bull if you are there again.

Oops that should have been Back Lion!!!

MUST PREVIEW.Black Lion

I was recently at our local Harvester where they do a rather nice half spare ribs, corn on the cob and chips.

When I went to the salad bar there was a very large lady there with a plate of salad the height of Everest, a plate with 2 bread rolls and another roll in her mouth.

I wanted to say 'no wonder you have a large a***' but fortunately held back as I think she could have 'landed me one'.

I notice they give you free fill ups of coke or lemonade. No wonder we are an obese country.

Now before I am told off for making 'fat' remarks, I have been there and realised that the only way for me to lose weight was eat less and walk more and that is what I have done.

Stick to sparkling water. Or diet Coke. And be strong enough to say no to the puddings.

Well done Jings. We sometimes share a pud.

When I think how much I used to eat. It took me a long time to take responsibility for myself.