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What's your go-to restaurant meal when eating out?

Skyscraper

TS Member
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Nemesis
Restaurants. We Brits love em. What's your go-to meal when visiting one? Maybe you have something different each time or maybe you have the same thing every time?

(Disclaimer: this topic may make you hungry. You have been warned!)

For starters (getting to my head already), when I go to a pub restaurant I always have the same thing- lasagne. A meal that I love and know I eat. :)
 
I love lasagne as well @skyscraper, but I’m also partial to breaded chicken, chips and baked beans (or similar) if it’s available! I do also sometimes pick macaroni cheese if it’s available, too.

I tend to find myself picking lasagne most of the time, though, because it’s something that most restaurants offer and I do absolutely love it! As you say, it’s hard to go wrong with a lasagne, in my mind!

I’m a creature of habit, and if lasagne is on a menu, it’s almost always the thing I pick!
 
I don't have a go-to restaurant, although I happen to frequent some more than others just by necessity/convenience. And when I'm out having a nice meal, I like to mix up what I have and often opt for something I can't easily make at home. Variety is the spice of life.
 
When I'm on campus at uni and decide to go Spoons with some pals, I don't think you can go wrong with their 3 for £10.25 small plates! (Which is currently £7.50 until mid-November! Bargain!)

There's also an Italian near me in Mansfield- if eating there it will either be lasagne, carbonara or risotto!

But you also can't go wrong with a classic Sunday roast whilst out, so a mixed bag for me really.
 
In general I like to order something I can't make at home. I can knock up a steak or burger or many pasta dishes just as well as most everyday restaurants so usually avoid those. I am partial to a carbonara though.

I can't cook fish well for the life of me, so often go for that.

My absolute favourite when I find it is a suet steak pudding, no kidney. Supermarket ones are crap and I can't make them so can't resist when I find one. Mmmm.
 
My go-to for years was always lasagne, and as you can expect, I've had a mix of different quality ones. Most have been fine, though one or two were just stodgy and unpleasant. I often gravitate towards pasta-based dishes at first glance of a menu because I simply love Italian food. :p I'm very partial to any BBQ Chicken Melt equivalent as well. Like others, I try and go for dishes I don't usually have at home, though I find myself thoroughly examining the menu to see if anything has mushrooms in it so I can eliminate it from my options. Can't stand the things at all.
 
This is hard because I love food, so much, too much.

Just anything on the menu providing it’s not liver, kidney or any other gross internal organ.
 
This is hard because I love food, so much, too much.

Just anything on the menu providing it’s not liver, kidney or any other gross internal organ.
Yeah, I draw the line at offal. That's something I have no intention of going near. Then again, being autistic, I've got a number of foods I'll never eat. :p
 
It all depends on the restaurant.

If it has a carvery, then a carvery it is, other than that it has to be steak and chips, something that I don't have at home and have as a treat. Unfortunately due to Jess' condition and wheelchair set up, plus Jess is on liquids, it is very rare that we go to a restaurant now-a-days due to it being impractical.

So eating out for me is usually as follows

Banham Zoo, (Chip shop across the road at the end of the day for a take out southern fired chicken and chips. The on park food is way too expensive)
Colchester Zoo (Take out southern fried chicken on park)
Great Yarmouth Seaside (Take out chicken and Chips from the chippy, not sea front as they are double the price, but I know a couple of good ones just off the sea front at a reasonable price, usually go and find a quiet place along the sea front to eat)
Theme Parks or any other days out (MacDonalds on the way home for a take out burger meal, usually too expensive to eat on park. The only exception is late night events where I eat on park either having a take out southern fried chicken or burger meal)

For lunch, I usually take my own pack up.
 
My go to restaurant is the Burger Kitchen where I like to enjoy their gourmet burgers at rock bottom prices. I'm pleased that they do still take their burgers very seriously!

I was under the assumption yours was the 'chef's finest' in the Grand Opera buffet hall; made exclusively for you?
'
 
Depends on the restaurant, surely? I'm lucky enough to have a lot of decent, cheap Vietnamese food where I live, so will often opt for a Bun Bo Nam Bo, or maybe a vegetable curry.

I don't eat much meat at home these days, so if the opportunity is there for steak and chips, I'l undoubtedly take it. I ate at an Italian over the weekend and had spaghetti bolognese, as I can rarely be bothered to make it myself.

Oh, and at Wetherspoons, the tradition was always the half-chicken and chips, but will go for the aforementioned small plates these days, or a Beyond Burger. I actually think the quality/price ratio at Spoons is still excellent, above and beyond most other chain restaurants in the UK.
 
I was under the assumption yours was the 'chef's finest' in the Grand Opera buffet hall; made exclusively for you?
'

Well yes, if I was in Spain then I would be immediately heading for that fine experience. Vile rice topped with tomato sauce from a jar, what more could you want!?
 
As others have said, I would usually go for something I can't really do well at home or buy easily.

I don't think there is much difference between pub lasagne and a good supermarket one, so seems pointless ordering it in a pub.

A burger is a safe cheap option, but would go for a mixed grill I think. Don't really have a general "go-to" as it varies by restaurant.

Nando's - half chicken, chips and corn on the cob
Wetherspoons - burger or mix grill
Pizza Express - Pollo ad Astra unless there is a good special on.
McDonalds - Quarter Pounder unless there is an interesting seasonal burger
Harvester - Original Combo (quarter spit-roast chicken and half rack of ribs)
Toby Carvery - beef and pork with ALL the veg.
 
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