What kind of food do you go out for/order in?
Following dbcurrie's post about meals per month not cooked at home - when you go out or order in, what kind of food do you go for? Is it something you never make at home or familiar comfort food? Do you go out/order in because you just don't feel like cooking (or don't have time to) on that particular night or because there is a specific meal you know you can only enjoy at a particular place? I'm not talking about special occasions, rather about your "regular" meals not cooked at home. Is it a diner or a Japanese restaurant? A pizza place or a burger joint?
To answer my own question - I usually don't order something that I can easily make and/or often cook myself - for some reason, I always end up being disappointed. When I eat out, I like to enjoy the experience, even if it's not the most expensive restaurant. For instance, if we feel like pizza or Chinese - I will most likely cook myself (although it may depend on what kind of Chinese food we want). But we'll always go out for sushi. And if I feel like wings, I'm more likely to send my husband to Cluck U than to take out my deep fryer (easy to make, but I inevitably have to dispose of all that oil, and I never know how to).
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22 Comments:
It falls between what we haven't yet perfected, with a couple of exceptions, and really random cravings when we're out and about.
We haven't perfected pho soup base, Swedish crepes (like IHOP), mutton masala, and Thai mango curry. We'll never be able to make from scratch gyro (lamb) meat. I'm not even going to try.
We go out for Korean food out of laziness. I love having a million banchan to eat at once and I don't see myself pickling 10 different dishes to create the variety that I adore about the Korean restaurant experience.
We go to one particular Japanese restaurant for the home-style food and to positively reinforce their cooking style by patronizing their establishment. I guess that goes for the Hawaiian restaurant we go to as well.
With the restaurants we go to when I have a craving for something, the food range is quite random from simple stuff I can make myself like peanut butter banana sandwiches to stuff I won't bother making.
Cassaendra at 1:47PM on 06/18/08
I don't go out for Italian, because pasta? noodles? I like my own better, and my meals are cheaper to boot. I don't order pizza or American Chinese food. I don't usually bother going out for diner fare.
I'll go out for cuisines I'm not so familiar with, like Korean or Ethiopian. I can make some Indian at home - but while good, it's not the same, so I'll go out for that as well.
KarynMC at 2:10PM on 06/18/08
@KarynMC - that's precisely my point re: Italian. I can never, ever order pasta when eating out, it just seems ridiculous to me.
@Cassaendra - I agree about gyros, I'm not even going to try making them at home even though I saw that Alton Brown's show:-).
brooke29 at 3:00PM on 06/18/08
Thai food. Indian food. Pretty much any culture's food I can't make myself...although I am taking baby-steps in the Indian food department, most Asian food is a mystery to me.
Although sometimes I just want a steak/burger/something fried but don't feel like/can't/too lazy to do it myself.
embolini9 at 3:05PM on 06/18/08
When I eat out, it's usually for one of a handful reasons: I'm too tired to cook and there's nothing in the way of pre-prepared food in my fridge, I'm somewhere
jenilowrance at 5:15PM on 06/18/08
Thai --as we have a good Thai place that delivers!
finsbigfan at 6:07PM on 06/18/08
Thai, Korean, Japanese, pizza. I have to go out and enjoy them. I always prepare beef, chicken, italian at home. My husband cringes if I even think of ordering a steak in a restaurant. They claim they can pittsburgh rare the steak, but I have been disappointed almost every time. I will only eat chicken grilled, so there is no point in ordering that out. As most of the SE posters will say; "If I can make it better, why do that to myself'?
izatryt at 6:45PM on 06/18/08
Thai, gyros, Indian, fish tacos. Don't have the stuff/knowlege to do the first three. The last is a lot of work when one lives alone.
Blue Iris at 7:35PM on 06/18/08
I agree with everyone above. In terms of going OUT to a restaurant, depends on the occasion, but with ordering in it's generally when I know I can get something cheaper, faster, and probably better than I can make at home -- indian, thai, sushi, and new york style pizza.
megannesta at 8:05PM on 06/18/08
Good question. We like to experiment a lot at home. I usually order things out that I don't cook (well) at home or simply can't make because I don't know how or can't find the ingredients. With "Go Out" as the frame of reference...
No: Steaks or burgers, I eat my beef from one of my own producers or from a trusted local butcher; plus, as someone who thinks of the grill as a shrine, we cook up steaks and burgers just fine. Pizza, we make our own from scratch. Pasta for the same reason as noted by KarynMC, though I will order it from a menu if inspired. Chicken, sooooo easy to make at home.
Yes: Sushi, haven't taken the plunge yet at home. Same story for Carpaccio, though I have made a great beef tartare. Chinese, I am terrible at making it. Unfortunately, have not found a good local restaurant so we don't eat it at all.
Sometimes: Indian, I'm just learning the basics, have a long way to go. Thai, have a hard time finding key ingredients. But same problem as Chinese, no good local restaurants so we don't eat it much, period. Greek food, some of it is pretty specialized.
OliverRanch at 11:06PM on 06/18/08
We used to not go out for Mexican, because that's what we usually make at home. But now we've found a Mexican rotisserie chicken restaurant, and I'm never going to be able to actually rotisserie a chicken. But whenever we go, all we ever order are the rotisserie chicken tacos.
blankplate at 7:44AM on 06/19/08
I'm all over the map with this. I cook a lot of different ethnic cuisines so I can't really limit my answer to one type of food. I like to experiment with different foods as well as prepare comfort "staples."
I have not made sushi at home and this is largely because I'm rice impaired. (Big eye roll...I can glove bone a turkey with a paring knife but I can't make rice.) One day I will try this, as my brother gave me a rice cooker someone gave him. This is laughable because he's the rice maven. As soon as he got the rice cooker, he knew he was going to send it to me immediately.
I will tell you this - I cannot remember the last time I bought a bakery cake. I have made a wedding cake, cheesecakes, carrot cake, brownies, you name it - over the last couple of months. If I go to a really good Italian bakery I'd buy pastry but my first instinct upon establishing the need for a cake is to bake it myself.
chiff0nade at 8:00AM on 06/19/08
We rarely go out to eat, but it's usually when I have a sudden craving for something we don't have - often bar burgers or steak. We don't eat much beef at home. And we go out for sushi once or twice a month. I have no inclination to make sushi, and the sushi-man at the place we go makes up rolls for us, which is extra fun.
LauraII at 10:02AM on 06/19/08
I eat out all the time; don't get me wrong, I also cook for myself. When I go out, it is usually to Korean, Dim Sum or sushi restaurants. Living in Las Vegas gives me the opportunity to try so many different places, so it just really depends on my mood.
Tasty Morsel at 12:37PM on 06/19/08
My Korean is pretty damn good, so I only go out for Korean if I feel the need for its comfort, but I feel lazy (or if my kitchen is all torn up or in boxes--like the last time I went out for Korean).
We have a great source for prime beef, so we feel ridiculous eating steak out. But it's one of our favorites. We really love the ambience of old-school, prime steakhouses or chophouses. There's just something about a dry martini, a magnificent wine list, and a huge slab of meat.
I used to go out for dim sum and pho, but I haven't found a decent place for either in this town, so I have to make my own or wait till I'm in LA, SF, NY, or back in VA to have either.
I go out for sushi, Thai, "moules frites," and certain Chinese dishes have that wok-breath flavor that I can't duplicate at home.
And of course the super high end meals. I adore being waited on, having my napkin folded, and tons of china and crystal and silver...plus everyone looks so pretty by candlelight.
wookie at 1:15PM on 06/19/08
We only eat steak out if we're around one of our favorite steak places (out of town or out of state, which means I wouldn't have a kitchen to begin with). When I just feel too lazy to cook I'll order thin crust pizza from the best Italian place in town (not cheap, but oh so good) or go to the little burger joint in the next neighborhood.
The usual fare for "let's go sit down and have dinner somewhere" is Thai, Indian or sushi. We're pretty good at making chicken or lamb curry, but I can't make a decent saag to save my life and I'm only beginning to think about trying to make tom ka on my own. There's also a little Peruvian place that steals our heart from time to time.
We do sear tuna rare on the grill and eat it with wasabi, but high-grade fish is so expensive (and questionable, in my head, even though it's probably fine) that they way we like to eat sushi (big sashimi platters with lots of variety sprinkled with roe), it's just not worth the money/effort.
I live in a resort/college town, so most places are somewhat pricey to begin with. So if we're going out, the food has to be worth it. Plus, aside from a handful of really good places, the restaurant scene here is not that good (I moved west after living in Pittsburgh for years, dear god the food there is worth getting fat for!). I've turned this into a money-saving, health-boosting lifestyle change of cooking/eating at home more often and treating eating out like the true treat it should be.
joyyy at 3:55PM on 06/19/08
This brings up all my failings. It's just my daughter and me now and she's super picky then what she does eat is rarely something I will. So we often have to cook two meals or go get food to eat together. We really don't eat in a restaurant together because we are so different. Even with a menu of choices our tastes are so disparate we can't often find common ground. But one thing we often like is the pasta of the day at our store a few blocks away. Things such as Roasted Red Pepper and Almond sauce, Chipotle Cheese, Puttanesca, It changes often and seasonally so there's a lot I'd likely never make plus all organic, and for some reason noodles just don't get cooked at home. I feel really goofy with so many saying they'd never have pasta out but these are really good and only $4.95 each hot and a lot. :)
If the daughter doesn't want the pasta of the day she can get a sandwich to her specs or any of dozens of other things she'll actually eat (subject to my approval -- there's a lot she can get only with her own money as I won't contribute and it's rather funny how quickly it loses importance to her when I point that out).
The daughter likes sushi (I don't) and she took a class on how to make it and loves doing it that way as she has more control over her picky. However, to get all the ingredients is quite an investment so she usually goes to a friend's house where several gather to pig out and she's the hero.
Mostly though, I guess it's the fried stuff I detailed in the Fave Fried Foods post. As you point out Brooke29, I can't stand the waste of oil so I'm unlikely to make pepper-salted green beans at home even if I could figure it out (and the waste in figuring it out would make me squeamish too).
That's my other issue. I haven't figured out how to cook in little portions yet so I tend to make a lot. This isn't so bad in that I can portion out servings and freeze for later but it usually means I'd better like what I'm making. I went on an Indian food kick (in part because of these fab how-to videos on youtube; Vahrehvah) and became obsessed. Studied it, then ventured out and bought a bunch of the special ingredients and spices, made one thing, was unhappy with it and haven't been in the mood since. Would have saved money going out. Now I'm obsessed with pupusas...
Sieseye at 5:51PM on 06/19/08
I go out for, or order in, food.
Circumstances: when I don't want to clean up after myself (usually on weekends, but during the school year it's also about once a week).
I wish I could say "only stuff I don't know how to/can't make", but sadly that is not the case. Even with sushi.
Amandarama at 6:11PM on 06/19/08
Almost Everything.
- I don't cook (very often).
- I don't want to cook.
- I have no desire to cook.
- I'm fascinated by cooks, chefs, cooking shows on TV, and food in general... but it's not something I would do myself.
Like watching "This Old House". One of my favorite all-time television shows, but you won't catch me remodeling my home or converting my garage into a den.
Watching other people work - while sitting on my couch doing nothing.
Eating food that other people have prepared for me - These things I enjoy.
:)
FastFoodCritic at 5:38PM on 06/20/08
@FastFoodCritic........just a wild guess here
(did you hear me giggle?)
you're male?!?
;-0
PerkyMac at 5:47PM on 06/20/08
I'm lucky enough to live in Pittsburgh, so even if I make ethnic cuisine at home, there is a real, live European or Asian grandma around most every block whose food trumps mine almost every time with some notable exceptions (Italian). Our favorite eating out dishes are potato and cheese peirogies sauteed in butter and carmelized onion and gyros. We also go out for prime rib since making a roast is out of the question for only three people.
Eating in: Everything else. New Orleans Cajun/Creole cuisine are our faves. I make a mean gumbo which is the most requested dish in the house.
Josdean at 11:35PM on 06/20/08
Great question. I usually eat out for Indian and for Sushi -- both types of food that I know I can make very well on my own at home. I tend to make my own pizza and my own pasta, since the difference between what I can make and what I can pay for isn't that big. I'm not a big meat eater, so I rarely find myself in a hamburger joint or a steakhouse. Basically, I've turned eating out into something I do once a week (and look forward to), and then I accept the food I make at home during the week as not being as good, but likely being more healthy and good for me. Hope that helps!
yummydietfood at 5:37PM on 06/22/08