Foody thread - eat out to help out

[Beth_Disney]

We had 2 meals out this week.

First was lunch at Brewers Fayre. It was the only place I could find with tables at short notice. It was busy but very well organised.

Breaded mushrooms and mac n cheese burger

The second was lunch at Miller and Carter. The £10 discount could be used with the lunch menu so it was excellent value. It was fully booked but very quiet. Nice atmosphere though and attentive staff.

Cheesy mushrooms, steak ciabatta and salted caramel profiteroles.

Just one day left now. We’re staying at The Village on Sunday night so we have a table booked there for Monday.

[Bootrip2]

For us this week, it was a local cafe, DD had a roast, DH his usual ham, egg and chips ani i just had a prawn cocktail, £20 with drinks, then F&Bs with DD and her friend - 2 adult meals, 2 kids meals with desserts £21, tuesday was Toby carvery, £31 for 3 adults and child with desserts, wednesday was F&Bs again with family £ 19 for 2 adults and 3 kids meals.

[MrsBC]

We ate lunch at Zizzi yesterday, we shared garlic bread, I had tagliatelle and DH had salmon and a side of roast potatoes. We had 3 drinks. DH had a £25 gift card left from Father’s Day, and with that and the £20 off the whole meal including tip (Zizzi are now adding one automatically) only cost £4.10!

[Smilesonfaces]

The last of the eat out meals last night. It was our wedding anniversary and we went to one of the nicest restaurants round here and it was delicious.

We also had garlic bread starter and husband had fish and chips and stick toffee pudding.

The bill without drinks was £57 and we had saved the £20. We thought for how nice the meal was it was well worth it. The scheme has done its job though and there are a couple of restaurants we will go back to. It has made us realise we should go for the occasional expensive local meal rather than regular visits to chains.

[Guest]

Mse article on which restaurants have unilaterally extended the scheme. A good few it seems.

moneysavingexpert/ne...to-help-out--/

[Vanillapod]

I think I’m kind of torn with the whole extension thing now it’s coming out of the restaurant’s pocket. I love a bargain and we regularly use Code (an industry app) when we’re in London but, constantly offering deals does devalue a brand. The ludicrous prices in Pizza express are surely due to everyone having a voucher or a clubcard deal.
We went to pizza express on Monday and with both clubcard vouchers and the eat out to help out, we still paid £58 for 4 of us (we did have a bottle of wine)
Dominoes, although a takeaway so not part of the scheme is another offender! £22 for a Crap pizza?! Dominoes has its place and I’m happy to eat one from time to time but it’s insanely expensive. You could have a well prepared, really decent main course for that in a nice restaurant.
I’d feel happier paying a fair price across the board and losing all of these blanket discounts. A deal for something specific is fair enough as there will be daily or weekly offers from butchers, fishmongers etc. Surely people would eat out more often if there weren’t these peaks and troughs in pricing? I noticed Hawksmoor had made a statement on Twitter last night and I completely agree with what they’re saying.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Vanillapod

I think I’m kind of torn with the whole extension thing now it’s coming out of the restaurant’s pocket. I love a bargain and we regularly use Code (an industry app) when we’re in London but, constantly offering deals does devalue a brand. The ludicrous prices in Pizza express are surely due to everyone having a voucher or a clubcard deal.
We went to pizza express on Monday and with both clubcard vouchers and the eat out to help out, we still paid £58 for 4 of us (we did have a bottle of wine)
Dominoes, although a takeaway so not part of the scheme is another offender! £22 for a Crap pizza?! Dominoes has its place and I’m happy to eat one from time to time but it’s insanely expensive. You could have a well prepared, really decent main course for that in a nice restaurant.
I’d feel happier paying a fair price across the board and losing all of these blanket discounts. A deal for something specific is fair enough as there will be daily or weekly offers from butchers, fishmongers etc. Surely people would eat out more often if there weren’t these peaks and troughs in pricing? I noticed Hawksmoor had made a statement on Twitter last night and I completely agree with what they’re saying.

See more...

I do agree with the quote. Well said.

underneath you see the "deal" of two/three courses for XX so still marketing on a bundle basis 😜


It's getting increasingly like the US Voucher / coupon system. All pervasive.

[Vanillapod]

Originally Posted by FamilyGWales

I do agree with the quote. Well said.

underneath you see the "deal" of two/three courses for XX so still marketing on a bundle basis 😜


It's getting increasingly like the US Voucher / coupon system. All pervasive.

See more...

I noticed the deal. I have nothing against deals like that though. Do people even use them much or do they just get you through the door? I always think we will but there’s never anything that takes our fancy on the set menus! They will have carefully considered what they can offer a discount on.
To slash £10 off anything on the menu out of their own pocket probably isn’t realistic.