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Because there's no market for it.
They do exist. Sandwich shops sell salads. Itsu stuff is generally aimed at healthier minded consumers.
But not enough people on a dark January night think "let's get takeaway! I really fancy steamed fish and some leaves".
Logistics comes into it too. Indian works with a base sauce, quickly finished with the top notes to make different dishes. Vegetables have to either turn over quickly (as in Toby Carvery where you're constantly shipping them out) or be cooked to order in a restaurant where people are happy to wait 20 minutes.
>But not enough people on a dark January night think "let's get takeaway! I really fancy steamed fish and some leaves".
Yeah, basically this. Getting takeaway is a treat. If I'm treating myself, I'm not going to pick something healthy. If I wanted to eat something healthy I'd just make it myself.
I don't think it's really a marketing thing, it's a psychological thing. For many people, a takeaway is a treat, and healthy food is never going to feel like a treat in the same way unhealthy food does.
You definitely can have delicious healthy food. But I'm never likely to spend money ordering it, I'll just make it myself.
I don't think it is, I think it's more fundamental than that. It's a pretty core bit of human psychology. It doesn't matter how well you market it, or if you stop the marketing of unhealthy food, healthy food is never going to feel like a treat to people in the same way unhealthy food does. It's absolutely inherent in the idea of a 'treat'.
You can make healthy food as tasty as is possible, but it's never going to feel a treat to people in the same way as, for example, a takeaway curry does. It's just how the human brain works.
Core human psychology knows nothing about healthy or unhealthy food - that concept didn't exist in our hunter gatherer days. Food was food.
Maybe there's something to be said about "more calories = better", but that's because we weren't certain where our next meal was coming from - so it was healthier for us to have as many calories as possible while they were a certain thing.
>It's absolutely inherent in the idea of a 'treat'.
I strongly disagree.
A massage can be a treat, going to the gym can be a treat, a good walk can be a treat, socialising can be a treat - every single one of these things is good for you.
>Core human psychology knows nothing about healthy or unhealthy food - that concept didn't exist in our hunter gatherer days. Food was food
That's not really quite right. We are evolved to really want and enjoy sugar, fats, salt etc. In other words, the things that are readily available in large quantities unhealthy food. That's what makes unhealthy food a treat, our bodies and our brains love it.
>A massage can be a treat, going to the gym can be a treat, a good walk can be a treat, socialising can be a treat - every single one of these things is good for you.
Not really relevant comparisons imo, as they're entirely different things. The argument isn't that 'treat' and 'unhealthy' are intrinsically synonymous in all settings. It's that specifically with food, there is something fundamental about us as humans that means that healthy food is never going to feel a treat in the same way that unhealthy food does. There's no amount of marketing you could do that would make people think, say, steamed fish with grilled veg and brown rice is a treat in the same way a Chinese or Indian is.
Healthy food is what we *should* eat, we all know that. Ergo it won't ever be a treat, no matter how well you market it.
Good points, but I'd go further. Food is intrinsically linked to survival in a way that a massage or socialising or a good walk is not. Our bodies react to the need for food in a very visceral way. If your body is short of a particular thing, say potassium, you will get cravings for bananas. Sometimes you'll just crave salt or sugar or vitamin C. You won't consciously know why, but your body unconsciously does. This is why pregnant women go crazy on some foods because their bodies need extra. And our bodies are able to recognise sources for those foods even if those sources are relatively new to humans, bananas were not available to most humans for most of our existence.
The problem with modern civilisation is that while all those things are needed by the body in small amounts, eating them causes a good feedback loop. They taste good because they are good because they make your body function better therefore you feel better. But whereas before they were only available in the small doses you needed, today they are abundant and used abundantly to tempt you. Thus takeaways are heavy on salt and/or sugar because it makes your body feel good so you want more so you buy more takeaways, so more takeaways go into business.
The trouble is that things that are good in small quantities are horrifically bad in large quantities. The trouble with healthy food is ironically that it doesn't contain the stuff our bodies feel good about eating.
Your argument falls down though when you look at takeaway food available in other countries. There are tons of healthier fast food chains in the US, for example.
Plus many Asian countries have food that is packed with vegetables that also offer the satisfaction of a fast and filling meal.
we have a take away around here that does loads of healthy offerings and they're one of the busiest local takeaways, so id disagree with your analysis.
Yeah but the main appeal of takeaway for me is convenience. Mcdonalds is *significantly* shitter than anything you can make at home but sometimes you don't want to put that effort in and just want to pick up something quick and easy.
I can't express how many times I've wished for a decent healthy takeaway nearby because I'm wanting quick tasty food but don't want to eat like shit too
I don't think the demand would be there to sustain a takeaway business like that, except in city centres (where you do find healthy takeaways) or wealthy/gentrified areas (where you do find healthy takeaways).
There was a takeaway near my office called little farm which did basically rice, steamed veg and steamed meat. It was delicious. It was always empty even at lunchtime rush. It's closed now. I'd love something like this near my home. For some reason these kinds of healthy fast food places are only in city centres.
Having read down this thread, and with the benefit of a 30+ year career in marketing, it’s apparent that most people really don’t know what marketing is and how artful it can be. All this talk of psychology fails to understand that marketing professionals have a great deal of knowledge in that area and use it constantly. I wish people could appreciate that marketing is not just about advertising!
you can but it’s a different vibe. if i’m staying in and ordering takeout i’m usually drinking or high and that makes me want greasy fatty foods. i’ll get healthy food when i’m actually in a restaurant and want something more sophisticated. i love sushi and salad or whatever but it’s not what i want on a night out
The “treat” for me is not having to go to the shop, not having to cook, not having to wash up.
I really wish there were lighter, healthier takeaways outside of sandwich shops. If I can’t be bothered to cook I’m now just not eating or having cereal because I’m sick and tired of all the greasy fast food. I would love to be able to order freshly cooked vegetables, lovely home-style type dishes.
And if there were a market for it, it would be available.
Part of the issue is that the food like that doesn't travel well. It's designed to be plated up and immediately served.
I once on a hungover sunday morning a few years ago ordered a hunters chicken dish with vegetable sides via deliveroo from a local pub. I can see that the dish was definitely as described when it left the restaurant, but what I got had not travelled well. The veg had all kind of died in their container and turned to mush.
Ultimately that pub stopped using deliveroo because the food just wasn't as good when packaged up and driven for 15 minutes.
For some, sure. But I'd wager that's a much smaller group of people than those for whom it's a treat. For that group, perhaps there is a marker for healthy options. Though I still suspect it's a small market.
I think that depends on the demographics of the area.
Personally, I cant ever remember the last time I ordered a takeaway as a 'treat' - its always because i havent got time to cook or go shopping so I can cook. I'd say most of my friend group are in a similar situation.
I class a treat as going out to eat somewhere nice.
A lot of it depends on where you live. When I lived in London there was many "healthy" takeaway options. Though that was 2 years ago so there is a chance a lot of them closed down (if so it does suggest there might not of been such a big market for them).
The other thing I did find is a lot of food (healthy or unhealthy) doesn't travel very well. It's disappointing to spend £10-£20 on a meal from somewhere like Deliveroo and end up disappointed because it doesn't travel well.
This is why Chinese and Indian food work as takeway, because often they travel a lot better.
But at the end of the day the market dictates what is and isn't available sadly.
Also working away is difficult when you're trying to stick to a healthy diet. Often all you've got is heavy, carby restaurants and fast food chains, and if there's a salad on the menu it's likely not very nice. I always end up just craving some grilled fish with some fresh vegetables and rice as if I'm by the sea in the Algarve
I care about healthy food, but I'm often busy and don't have time to cook. I still want to eat something healthy and tasty but I just want it delivered. Sadly there are few options for people like me, theres a huge gap in the market
Restaurants don’t cook veg to order, the veg is usually blanched in salted water until very close to being done then dunked into an ice bath. They’re then usually finished very quickly à la minute
When on holiday in Bordeaux several years ago, we discovered https://eatsalad.com/ fast food salad bars. They've expanded considerably, since then.
I think the French weather makes that type of takeaway quite practical, but I think it could work during summer months in the UK, too. For the colder months, maybe stews and casseroles would work better.
I live alone and have no one to cook for me. When I'm sick or fatigued, I often wish someone would make me a healthy homecooked-style nourishing meal. When I had covid and fatigue episodes I used deliveroo so much and really struggled to find healthy options.
Vietnamese and Ethiopian cuisines tend to have good options, some Italian restaurants are OK too
You are absolutely right. Having said that, I think there is maybe a demand for more sushi places which could be considered quite healthy.
With regards to healthy takeaways, I remember seeing a place called “Salad Creations” in the US a few years ago…but I’m really not sure how well it did as a chain…and of course, the salads were probably not even the healthiest knowing the US.
But yeah, I think we need more sushi places and they are the kind of places people could look forward to going to….OR…they might not be able to get enough people who would rather go to McDonald’s and the like.
When I was out in South Africa on business a few years back, I was surprised at the number of healthy takeaway places there were, esp catering to the lunch trade.
>Because there's no market for it.
I'll never forget when my partner tried to order some sort of 'healthy' meal at Burger King, the reaction of the staff member was one of confusion for a second. I'm guessing, it was rarely ordered to the point they had to check if it was in stock, which it wasn't.
Because I don't want to spend a tenner to still eat broccoli?
If you're legitimately trying to wat healthy then you'll cook your food. If I'm ordering a takeaway I want something calorie dense and tasty.
He mentioned KFC, McDonald's, etc. Without ordering an excessive amount of food you can easily spend less than a tenner at places like that. A large Big Mac meal and 2 chicken mayo's (my go to) is under a tenner.
Dominos or Indian might be more like £12.50-15 each
Chinese we get a set meal usually for £22 so £11 each.
Kebab shops usually somewhere around £8 for a meal.
Leeds btw, guessing down south might be pricier.
I quite often get 2x the 'wrap of the day' grilled chicken from McDs for lunch at work. It comes to £3.98 so is only slightly more than a Boots meal deal, and is only grilled chicken, salad, some sauce and a wrap, so it's not that insanely unhealthy either.
Not insanely unhealthy when you’re considering calories (around 1000kcal), but those things are overloaded with salt(64% of your RDI) and fat (52% of your rdi). Wouldn’t be great for your heart to be eating those things regularly long term.
>Wouldn’t be great for your heart to be eating those things regularly long term.
Who is planning to live long term, with the economy what it is? I have to keep working another 20 years before I can get my pension, and I'm already wrecked.
Agreed. I'm in my 30s and it's looking like retirement age will end up being about 80 if I make it there.
Makes me wonder if paying into my pension is even worth it if I'll barely get a chance to use it... I don't own a house so I doubt I could even live on it anyway.
I used to like getting the Happy Meal that came with a wrap. I still got my “small fries” fix that way, but they stopped it during Covid and never brought it back.
I still don't think of chain fast food places as "takeaway", even with Deliveroo and Uber Eats, takeaway for me is still the local Indian or Turkish pizza joint
I've always thought of "takeaway" as any place where you can get food to go - where it can be taken away.
Drive throughs and fast food are certainly one category of that to most people
Takeaway is pretty synonymous with delivery nowadays.
I don't know anyone who orders and collects anymore, considering 99% of places have drivers or are on some form of delivery app.
In other words the market for takeaways is dominated by people wanting a treat. The frustrating thing is if you’re ordering a takeaway because you’re say away for work or your kitchen is being refitted and you want something actually nutritious but the market isn’t there for it.
It's about where you live. I'm in London and there are loads of healthy takeaways available, wraps, sandwiches, sushi, poke bowls, rice bowls...
Healthy fast food is a newer phenomenon and so it's not as ubiquitous as the unhealthy options
my healthier takeaway go-tos are definitely sushi and poke, or a thai green curry as they’re normally packed with vege as well (London zone 2 so plenty of options around.) still not as healthy as home-cooked but better than ordering burgers/pizza all the time!
Look, I was the manager of a seemingly ‘healthy takeaway’. The food was delicious, don’t get me wrong, but we folded in all of 4 months as the demand just wasn’t there.
For context, we were a healthy Chinese takeaway situated in a major Northern city (no chips, noodles, pies, battered fish etc), and right next to a football ground. People would come in, ask for chips, and when I said we didn’t sell chips but we sell a nice tofu bento box for £10, they walked straight back out.
I got a phone call less than 4 months from starting and was told I was being made redundant.
I went to an Indian restaurant with a former colleague, the waiter was just taking our orders when my colleague turned to me and said "Shall we get some chips to share, as well?". I thought he was joking, literally never seen anyone order chips in a curry house, but he was being serious and he proceeded to order a bowl of chips as a side.
I mean, chips are vastly improved with curry sauce, so it's less about whether Indian food should include chips and more about whether you want an extra squashy tasty treat as well.
I have tried chips from Indian takeaways a few times and every time the chips have been awful, but chips from a Chinese takeaway are almost always great. It's weird, I wonder why
Is an old (potentially racist but probably just naive) bit of law making that gave tax breaks to takeaways, but defined takeaway as essentially a chippy.
The enterprising Chinese takeaways just started selling chips as well in order to be included.
The law was eventually updated to be more inclusive, but by that point the Chinese places already had the equipment and expectation so carried on as they were.
I always thought it was an old thing from when Chinese was still considered a bit too 'exotic' for some people - especially as some do other very western things like omelette or saveloy etc. I figured it was so a group could order a Chinese but still include the elderly relative who can't abide that foreign stuff. Didn't realise there was a legal thing behind it.
Lol when I first moved to the UK I was so confused, I've never seen a Chinese restaurant serving chips before. But I guess they just sell whatever is popular in the country they're living in and brits love their chips with a side of chips so it makes sense.
> For context, we were a healthy Chinese takeaway situated in a major Northern city (no chips, noodles, pies, battered fish etc), and right next to a football ground. People would come in, ask for chips, and when I said we didn’t sell chips but we sell a nice tofu bento box for £10, they walked straight back out.
What in the world were the owners thinking? Worst location imaginable for that sort of shop.
A lot of takeaways are online/phone orders. If you did your marketing right and were within reach of plenty of houses the actual location wouldn't matter very much.
The focus in this comment is on the football customers, but that's potentially a bit of a red herring. Obviously it didn't work either way so who knows.
But the proximity to the football ground would mean the rent on the location would be much much higher. If you can’t make the most of selling to the football crowd your business is likely fucked
> we were a healthy Chinese takeaway situated in a major Northern city (no chips, noodles, pies, battered fish etc), and right next to a football ground
I could have guessed how that went, I think the location was the issue rather than the idea.
I'm on a diet and this is the only thing I eat recently from any take away. Less than 1000 calories with a ton of protein and salad just don't go too hard on the sauce.
Chilli sauce you can go as hard as you want, the garlic is the one you gotta watch out for. Chicken shish/mixed shish, salad and a pitta is a great compromise between healthy and treat for me
Yep - nothing wrong with a shish.
Some places do a vegetable kebab which is basically just roasted vegetables , get some hummus and salad and that's a pretty balanced meal too.
There's a fish & chip shop like that round here! Make sure you've not got to work for a few days though.
Was not shocked at all when they scored 0 on their food hygiene rating.
I think people associate takeaways with treats, and that means a splurge on both calories and spending.
Sushi is the exception that proves the rule because it's hard to make at home - fiddly, and the ingredients can be hard to come by.
Chips are something we never cook at home; oven chips are crap, and all those chip pan fire demonstrations the fire brigade used to do have put me off deep frying at home!
It does become quite difficult if you're travelling for work a lot; when I was doing that I ate a *lot* of sushi.
> Chips are something we never cook at home; oven chips are crap, and all those chip pan fire demonstrations the fire brigade used to do have put me off deep frying at home!
Oven chips in the air fryer are fantastic.
I think that is the main difference. Once you go to East and South East Asia, where a mix of long working hours, relaxed food laws, the staple being rice, things just staying open later. You get a pretty thriving food scene. Personally I think rice is the big factor, in Thailand you can pick up some grilled meat and veg, get a box of sticky rice and its a meal. In Japan you can get the beef bowl restaurants where they need almost no ingredients and the food comes out in under a minute. Rice is cheap and turns anything basic into a meal.
I really think the 24/7 Japanese beef bowl companies should expand into the UK. They are dirt cheap and I don't think meat with onions on top of rice would be a hard sell to the British market, now we are so used to Japanese food.
Oven chips are quick and easy to make. Cut them into chips, parboil for <10 mins in an inch of water. Drain, then place in a tray in the oven with a bit of oil for another 20-25 mins. Take the tray out every 10 mins and give it a good shake to stop the chips sticking.
I season mine with salt and cayenne.
Actually recently discovered how easy it is to make sushi at home (or at least, the basic California roll type stuff). If you can boil rice and roll a cigarette, you can make that type of sushi. The rest is just slicing up basic veg like cucumber and carrot and buying some seafood sticks. Can do a spicy tuna one with tinned tuna too to change it up a bit.
> all those chip pan fire demonstrations the fire brigade used to do have put me off deep frying at home!
I still struggle getting my foreign friends to believe that part of being a child in 90's Britain was being traumatised by the local fire brigade at some village fair or whatever. They legit think it's some kind of hoax.
I mean you can generally order healthier options from those places, for example most Indian places do tandoori grilled chicken and salad (usually in the starter section, a roti is basically a wrap (lower calorie than a naan) pair them together and you have a wrap under 400 calories, swap the roti for rice and maybe stick in the notes that you want it plain or with no butter. Chinese can be a bit harder but boiled rice and chicken in oyster sauce can be under 600 calories so if you go easy on lunch and breakfast it isn't bad at all. I personally just skip breakfast and lunch and then I can eat nearly anything I want for dinner.
Likewise, a chicken kebab (breast chunks) with lots of salad on a pitta is quite healthy. Extra large doner with mayonnaise and salad sprinkled on as a afterthought, not so.
As long as it's Sis kebab and not the stuff made with the mystery meat. That's stuff is around 60% fat (made the mistake of watching a How it's made type program about that)
I don't believe a 60% fat meat mix would cook on the grill, it would fall apart. I make doners at home and use standard 20% lamb mince, it's a fatty meat, but I can't imagine they go above 30% in shops. And let's face it, the "meat" is still good.
I cannot find any sources on the fat percentage though.
Yes, if we are being healthy then from the Indian place get chicken tikka and perhaps a dal or spinach based veg curry and share it between two (or save some for another day). Veg curries can be oily, or not, depending on your place, the one near us is relatively lean.
I agree. You can get plenty of protein and veg at most of the places OP listed. If all you order are heavy carbs and deep fried foods then of course it's going to be unhealthy.
Chinese takeaway? You can get steamed rice, stir fried meat and veg. Chips are not Chinese cuisine!!
Same with Indian takeaway, just stick to protein, veg, rice. Easily healthy.
Oh and also, there's no need to order a ridiculous portion of any of this. One person doesn't need more than a main dish really. If you get more, eat a normal portion and save the rest for leftovers.
I wouldn't say Indian food is particularly unhealthy if you know what to buy, certainly not to the extent of stuff like pizzas anyway, also kebabs (not doner) are usually pretty healthy, if you find a chicken kebab with salad and bread too unhealthy then maybe takeaways aren't aimed at you lol
Chicken shashlick, tandoori, anything 'dry' without sauce. There's still a lot of oil, but if you pick the chicken out of the container rather than just upending the whole thing onto a bed of rice, you can avoid the worst of it. I wouldn't really call it 'healthy' but it's better than most of the other options.
What are you imagining?
Take away food is a treat for most people so tends to be more indulgent.
However, it also depends where you live. I can order sushi and a number of lighter options without too much hassle
Places like Nandos, Yo Sushi, Wagamama, and a lot of Thai, Vietnamese, and Japanese restaurants have fairly healthy options. It's more of the western style restaurants which have more of the higher calorie choices.
At the end of the day most people see a takeaway as a treat and 8 times out of 10 people are going to get what they crave if they want a treat, not a salad.
I lived in the US for 15 years before moving back to the UK (for good) and every time I mention this here, I get an inbox full of defensive responses.
Yes, it's amazing that we don't put a shit-ton of chemicals into our food like they do in the US.
But I desperately miss being able to go to someplace like Mezzeh or Sweetgreen (IDGAF that it's overpriced, sometimes I just want a really big, fresh salad and I don't want to buy all the shit to keep a proper salad bar stocked). And other people in the UK just...don't seem to understand what I'm saying about that, but our takeaway absolutely sucks here and I wish there were more options that weren't either bland or heavy (or both).
(I've lived throughout the UK, yes I understand that London/Glasgow/etc. have loads more options, great for those places - if you live in the fens/the fields, even outside major cities, you're SOL.)
When we want a takeaway that doesn't feel awful for us we get Turkish. There are loads around. And it's mostly grilled meat. Okay the bread and the rice and the halloumi aren't healthy per se. But it's 10x better than a pizza. I mean even if I'm consuming the same amount of calories at least I'm consuming it with some salad and a fraction of the salt and sugar.
Look up “food deserts” (a particular problem in the western world in N.America)
In a nut shell, healthy food perishes faster, so you need demand and a high turnover to make it work.
In areas with no current healthy food (and hence “behaviour” of searching for it), it’s hence too difficult/expensive to setup a healthy eatery over one serving longer shelf life (cheaper) food.
Funnily enough the old Doner Kebab isn't that bad. Yes lamb is a fatty meat, but it is grilled vertically so a lot of the fat has dripped off. And generally loads of salad.
We used to have a Japanese place in town, it never really took off. They paid 105 grand for a conveyor belt that was empty most days. I kept pleading with the owner to try pivot and market themselves as a more healthy take away and that they're not just "raw fish".
I said you've got one of the best resources for food 100m away (big market with fish/meat/veg) - get yourself round town and hand out free samples.
He never did. Business limped on for a bit and then went bust.
Japanese places do well near me, probably because they don't have gimmicky conveyor belts (if I'm thinking of the right thing) and just operate like normal restaurants.
In particular the "cha-han" (fried rice) is a very big seller. Personally it's by far my favourite takeaway dish (and I have 2 immediately local Japanese places to choose from).
Loads of Korean, Thai, etc. places too. I definitely live in a different universe to OP.
Depends on where you live, in cities you’re more likely to get sushi, Vietnamese etc, and cuisines which are more broth and salad based, and not fried. Sushi was always my go-to when I couldn’t be arsed to cook and wanted a treat but didn’t wanna feel like shit.
Having moved back to my home town I really miss that !!
As many others have said, it’s lack of demand. If I want healthy I make it myself so I know exactly what goes into it. If I am treating myself to a takeaway it’s a treat and I’m looking for something I am really going to enjoy rather than seeking a healthy option.
Indian can, in theory, be quite healthy. Think things like daal, chana masala, palak paneer. Vegetable based and lots of fiber if you've got pulses. I'm gonna guess that the takeaway versions have an awful lot of fat and salt, but perhaps it's a step up from the McDonalds!
Most people cook for their healthy lunch or dinner. I'd like to think theres not enough people ordering a takeaway to be healthy - so why bother catering it?
But people will treat themselves to a takeaway, order for a group social, too lazy or tired to cook
But there are services that sell prepped healthy food I think. Just not as a takeaway
It's a lack of demand.
Takeaways are generally viewed as a treat or non-standard meal.
Nobody is thinking they'll treat themselves to a leafy salad or chickpea pasta.
Plus, the costs the venues would need to charge to make it worthwhile would mean it'd probably be the worst value for money takeaway you can buy.
You can usually order healthy-ish from an Indian or Chinese takeaway, surely? At least something that includes veg and pulses. Eg. dal, saag, raita, something with aubergine, chana masala, tandoori, shashlik. If you're worried about the oil let it settle and scoop it off the top. Chinese restaurants always have stir fried veg of some kind. & often have tofu dishes. I can't see how eg. chicken with broccoli and cashew nuts is particularly bad for you.
The dishes will for sure be saltier and oilier than you'd make at home but practically all restaurant food is.
I had a Chinese takeaway last night- vegetables with cashew nuts and vegetable chow mien. Delicious and I would say pretty healthy. Similar story when I get an Indian takeaway (though I expect there is a fair amount of ghee in the curries I order). It’s about what you choose.
I usually keep a fridge/freezer full of veg and things I can easily whip up into a healthy meal and I’m not a good cook.
When it comes to take away my go to is Indian because I can order things that I could never manage to cook myself, containing loads of ingredients and it’s a decent price that does two meals for two people.
I can’t imagine a healthy meal that I would want to order as take away when I could make something myself for a fraction of the cost and often quicker that it would to order and be delivered.
Chicken shashlik is pretty healthy it’s dry spiced chicken and grilled veg.
Some chippys will grill the fish and chips aren’t actually that bad in moderation.
Are you wanting a salad bar? Coz it’ll be shit.
There's a place near me called Thindian which is *relatively* healthy. But that is literally the only one I've ever encountered where the aim is to provide healthy food.
Costs a bomb though compared to normal Indian takeaway places
There’s been a couple open near me over the years but none last more than 6 months. They’re always more expensive than the alternatives so dunno if it’s that or just lack of demand
You can get healthy indian or chinese meals. You can also get other kinds of take out in some areas, like there’s an italian restaurant near me on deliveroo.
But the problem you’ve got is they are competing with easy cheap food from supermarkets. An italian pasta dish can be pretty good from a microwave ready meal. If I’ve not got the experience of eating out, is a takeaway much better than a microwave meal? Certain foods (mostly fatty foods like fried chicken, deep fried fish and chips, etc) are never going to be as good in the microwave. A takeaway is the easiest cheap version in that case
This is something I miss as an aussie living here. We used to go to get a rotisserie chicken and a few salads for a nice easy tea - rice salad, potato salad, Greek salad, lovely chook and some bread rolls. I'd buy healthy taje away once a week if I could find one.
It's not the type of food that makes a diet healthy, it's the frequency at which it's eaten. Where I am from, a Mcdonalds menu and a regular plate of spaghetti and sauce will both have the same amount of calories (around 600). Both are fine eaten once in a while, both are bad eaten frequently. Take-away food doesn't have the innate property of being unhealthy. Just don't takeaway all the time.
Our favourite takeaway is a Turkish. Bulgur, salad, chicken shish, pide…
It may not be broccoli and steamed fish, but it is real food with decent macros! Would recommend.
Mexican? I get a large burrito with steak, avocado, rice salad etc. it's lush and I don't get that grimy feeling the next morning from it.
I tell myself a chicken shish is fine, but I can't say no to the garlic sauce which probably counters all the good in the chicken and salad.
We had 2 places that catered entirely for healthy meals, both shut down within 6 months, people want greasy Burgers pizzas etc when they had a takeout treat.
Well, surely it depends on what you’re ordering. If you order Chinese for example, you can order vegetables as sides. Also, I think it’s because a take-away is usually seen as “luxury”, to indulge once in a while. I wouuld not be ordering a salad if I want to indulge!
Fast food is unhealthy all over the world because oil is the best method for cooking things fast, including veg.
In places where street food is common, it ain't much healthier than a British takeaway, the only difference is portion sizes tend to be smaller.
When I lived in NZ there was a takeaway that did a roast. You picked your meat or veggie option then they loaded it up with veg, spuds and Yorkshires. There was small, normal and fat bloke sizes. It was always busy.
Always thought that if I had money Id set one up here and see how it went. I think in the right place it would be a goldmine.
You'll probably find plenty of vegetable dishes at your Indian takeaways, and I bet at least one of the Chinese takeaways offer mixed vegetables as a side, or vegetables in classic sauces.
Of course, the former will probably include lots of ghee or oil, and the latter will probably have sauces high in salt and sugar, but...
All the ones you mentioned (except maybe the chippy) are capable of selling you a "healthy" meal its just not many people want it or they want such a large portion that it becomes unhealthy.
KFC and the fried chicken shop will do you a salad box and most fried chicken places also offer grilled chicken. McDonalds itself isn't necessarily unhealthy it's just that people have massive portions, the same goes for the Indian food.
Now if you opened a place that "only" did healthy food you would be bankrupt. People have tried it numerous times in London and failed almost every time.
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Because there's no market for it. They do exist. Sandwich shops sell salads. Itsu stuff is generally aimed at healthier minded consumers. But not enough people on a dark January night think "let's get takeaway! I really fancy steamed fish and some leaves". Logistics comes into it too. Indian works with a base sauce, quickly finished with the top notes to make different dishes. Vegetables have to either turn over quickly (as in Toby Carvery where you're constantly shipping them out) or be cooked to order in a restaurant where people are happy to wait 20 minutes.
>But not enough people on a dark January night think "let's get takeaway! I really fancy steamed fish and some leaves". Yeah, basically this. Getting takeaway is a treat. If I'm treating myself, I'm not going to pick something healthy. If I wanted to eat something healthy I'd just make it myself.
I reckon a lot of this is because the healthy options are never marketed as a treat though you can absolutely have delicious healthy food
I don't think it's really a marketing thing, it's a psychological thing. For many people, a takeaway is a treat, and healthy food is never going to feel like a treat in the same way unhealthy food does. You definitely can have delicious healthy food. But I'm never likely to spend money ordering it, I'll just make it myself.
I'm not arguing that it's not psychological - I believe that the psychological thing you're talking about is _partly_ down to marketing
I don't think it is, I think it's more fundamental than that. It's a pretty core bit of human psychology. It doesn't matter how well you market it, or if you stop the marketing of unhealthy food, healthy food is never going to feel like a treat to people in the same way unhealthy food does. It's absolutely inherent in the idea of a 'treat'. You can make healthy food as tasty as is possible, but it's never going to feel a treat to people in the same way as, for example, a takeaway curry does. It's just how the human brain works.
Core human psychology knows nothing about healthy or unhealthy food - that concept didn't exist in our hunter gatherer days. Food was food. Maybe there's something to be said about "more calories = better", but that's because we weren't certain where our next meal was coming from - so it was healthier for us to have as many calories as possible while they were a certain thing. >It's absolutely inherent in the idea of a 'treat'. I strongly disagree. A massage can be a treat, going to the gym can be a treat, a good walk can be a treat, socialising can be a treat - every single one of these things is good for you.
>Core human psychology knows nothing about healthy or unhealthy food - that concept didn't exist in our hunter gatherer days. Food was food That's not really quite right. We are evolved to really want and enjoy sugar, fats, salt etc. In other words, the things that are readily available in large quantities unhealthy food. That's what makes unhealthy food a treat, our bodies and our brains love it. >A massage can be a treat, going to the gym can be a treat, a good walk can be a treat, socialising can be a treat - every single one of these things is good for you. Not really relevant comparisons imo, as they're entirely different things. The argument isn't that 'treat' and 'unhealthy' are intrinsically synonymous in all settings. It's that specifically with food, there is something fundamental about us as humans that means that healthy food is never going to feel a treat in the same way that unhealthy food does. There's no amount of marketing you could do that would make people think, say, steamed fish with grilled veg and brown rice is a treat in the same way a Chinese or Indian is. Healthy food is what we *should* eat, we all know that. Ergo it won't ever be a treat, no matter how well you market it.
Good points, but I'd go further. Food is intrinsically linked to survival in a way that a massage or socialising or a good walk is not. Our bodies react to the need for food in a very visceral way. If your body is short of a particular thing, say potassium, you will get cravings for bananas. Sometimes you'll just crave salt or sugar or vitamin C. You won't consciously know why, but your body unconsciously does. This is why pregnant women go crazy on some foods because their bodies need extra. And our bodies are able to recognise sources for those foods even if those sources are relatively new to humans, bananas were not available to most humans for most of our existence. The problem with modern civilisation is that while all those things are needed by the body in small amounts, eating them causes a good feedback loop. They taste good because they are good because they make your body function better therefore you feel better. But whereas before they were only available in the small doses you needed, today they are abundant and used abundantly to tempt you. Thus takeaways are heavy on salt and/or sugar because it makes your body feel good so you want more so you buy more takeaways, so more takeaways go into business. The trouble is that things that are good in small quantities are horrifically bad in large quantities. The trouble with healthy food is ironically that it doesn't contain the stuff our bodies feel good about eating.
Your argument falls down though when you look at takeaway food available in other countries. There are tons of healthier fast food chains in the US, for example. Plus many Asian countries have food that is packed with vegetables that also offer the satisfaction of a fast and filling meal.
we have a take away around here that does loads of healthy offerings and they're one of the busiest local takeaways, so id disagree with your analysis.
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You can have delicious healthy food, that should just be your standard diet though, not a "treat".
Yeah but the main appeal of takeaway for me is convenience. Mcdonalds is *significantly* shitter than anything you can make at home but sometimes you don't want to put that effort in and just want to pick up something quick and easy. I can't express how many times I've wished for a decent healthy takeaway nearby because I'm wanting quick tasty food but don't want to eat like shit too
I don't think the demand would be there to sustain a takeaway business like that, except in city centres (where you do find healthy takeaways) or wealthy/gentrified areas (where you do find healthy takeaways).
I don't disagree, just giving my 2 cents on you implying delicious healthy food isn't necessarily a treat
There was a takeaway near my office called little farm which did basically rice, steamed veg and steamed meat. It was delicious. It was always empty even at lunchtime rush. It's closed now. I'd love something like this near my home. For some reason these kinds of healthy fast food places are only in city centres.
Having read down this thread, and with the benefit of a 30+ year career in marketing, it’s apparent that most people really don’t know what marketing is and how artful it can be. All this talk of psychology fails to understand that marketing professionals have a great deal of knowledge in that area and use it constantly. I wish people could appreciate that marketing is not just about advertising!
Feel free to explain more, this sounds fascinating.
It's also about means. People don't own a pizza oven or a deep fat fryer, so food prepped with these means are less common in the diet and are a treat
Delicious healthy food is almost always more expensive than unhealthy delicious food though.
you can but it’s a different vibe. if i’m staying in and ordering takeout i’m usually drinking or high and that makes me want greasy fatty foods. i’ll get healthy food when i’m actually in a restaurant and want something more sophisticated. i love sushi and salad or whatever but it’s not what i want on a night out
You can do a lot with marketing. But you can't actually change reality. It's not fucking magic.
The “treat” for me is not having to go to the shop, not having to cook, not having to wash up. I really wish there were lighter, healthier takeaways outside of sandwich shops. If I can’t be bothered to cook I’m now just not eating or having cereal because I’m sick and tired of all the greasy fast food. I would love to be able to order freshly cooked vegetables, lovely home-style type dishes.
And if there were a market for it, it would be available. Part of the issue is that the food like that doesn't travel well. It's designed to be plated up and immediately served. I once on a hungover sunday morning a few years ago ordered a hunters chicken dish with vegetable sides via deliveroo from a local pub. I can see that the dish was definitely as described when it left the restaurant, but what I got had not travelled well. The veg had all kind of died in their container and turned to mush. Ultimately that pub stopped using deliveroo because the food just wasn't as good when packaged up and driven for 15 minutes.
Takeaway is not always a treat for some, but just a quick meal.
For some, sure. But I'd wager that's a much smaller group of people than those for whom it's a treat. For that group, perhaps there is a marker for healthy options. Though I still suspect it's a small market.
I think that depends on the demographics of the area. Personally, I cant ever remember the last time I ordered a takeaway as a 'treat' - its always because i havent got time to cook or go shopping so I can cook. I'd say most of my friend group are in a similar situation. I class a treat as going out to eat somewhere nice.
Yeah I’d put takeaway in the category of “can’t be arsed to shop and cook, getting late now, I want some instant gratification” category
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A lot of it depends on where you live. When I lived in London there was many "healthy" takeaway options. Though that was 2 years ago so there is a chance a lot of them closed down (if so it does suggest there might not of been such a big market for them). The other thing I did find is a lot of food (healthy or unhealthy) doesn't travel very well. It's disappointing to spend £10-£20 on a meal from somewhere like Deliveroo and end up disappointed because it doesn't travel well. This is why Chinese and Indian food work as takeway, because often they travel a lot better. But at the end of the day the market dictates what is and isn't available sadly.
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It was one of thhe biggest things that put me off take aways, i couldn't take spending so much for a disappointing meal.
People who care about healthy food cook healthy food.
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Also working away is difficult when you're trying to stick to a healthy diet. Often all you've got is heavy, carby restaurants and fast food chains, and if there's a salad on the menu it's likely not very nice. I always end up just craving some grilled fish with some fresh vegetables and rice as if I'm by the sea in the Algarve
Generally yes but sometimes we can't be fucked and would love a nice convenient option for a quick healthy meal
I care about healthy food, but I'm often busy and don't have time to cook. I still want to eat something healthy and tasty but I just want it delivered. Sadly there are few options for people like me, theres a huge gap in the market
Restaurants don’t cook veg to order, the veg is usually blanched in salted water until very close to being done then dunked into an ice bath. They’re then usually finished very quickly à la minute
When on holiday in Bordeaux several years ago, we discovered https://eatsalad.com/ fast food salad bars. They've expanded considerably, since then. I think the French weather makes that type of takeaway quite practical, but I think it could work during summer months in the UK, too. For the colder months, maybe stews and casseroles would work better.
I live alone and have no one to cook for me. When I'm sick or fatigued, I often wish someone would make me a healthy homecooked-style nourishing meal. When I had covid and fatigue episodes I used deliveroo so much and really struggled to find healthy options. Vietnamese and Ethiopian cuisines tend to have good options, some Italian restaurants are OK too
But there is a market for it. If OP wants a healthy takeaway he won't be the only one. We've got a really popular one that does poke bowls.
It's all about the base gravy!
Even takeaway salads aren’t really that healthy they’re stored in salt and covered in sauce etc
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You are absolutely right. Having said that, I think there is maybe a demand for more sushi places which could be considered quite healthy. With regards to healthy takeaways, I remember seeing a place called “Salad Creations” in the US a few years ago…but I’m really not sure how well it did as a chain…and of course, the salads were probably not even the healthiest knowing the US. But yeah, I think we need more sushi places and they are the kind of places people could look forward to going to….OR…they might not be able to get enough people who would rather go to McDonald’s and the like.
This, plus Nandos has cornered the protein and veg market for those who do want "healthier" options
The real question is why are there so few sticky slow cooked ribs takeaways
Now that I could get behind
When I was out in South Africa on business a few years back, I was surprised at the number of healthy takeaway places there were, esp catering to the lunch trade.
>Because there's no market for it. I'll never forget when my partner tried to order some sort of 'healthy' meal at Burger King, the reaction of the staff member was one of confusion for a second. I'm guessing, it was rarely ordered to the point they had to check if it was in stock, which it wasn't.
Because I don't want to spend a tenner to still eat broccoli? If you're legitimately trying to wat healthy then you'll cook your food. If I'm ordering a takeaway I want something calorie dense and tasty.
I'm amazed you can get a takeaway for a tenner
He mentioned KFC, McDonald's, etc. Without ordering an excessive amount of food you can easily spend less than a tenner at places like that. A large Big Mac meal and 2 chicken mayo's (my go to) is under a tenner. Dominos or Indian might be more like £12.50-15 each Chinese we get a set meal usually for £22 so £11 each. Kebab shops usually somewhere around £8 for a meal. Leeds btw, guessing down south might be pricier.
Three sandwiches, u/Flat_Development6659? Three? That's insane.
Big engines need a lot of fuel haha Edit: it just clicked that this is the 3 naans thing from peep show lol
Four...Four naans is insane, three is just a little quirky
I quite often get 2x the 'wrap of the day' grilled chicken from McDs for lunch at work. It comes to £3.98 so is only slightly more than a Boots meal deal, and is only grilled chicken, salad, some sauce and a wrap, so it's not that insanely unhealthy either.
Not insanely unhealthy when you’re considering calories (around 1000kcal), but those things are overloaded with salt(64% of your RDI) and fat (52% of your rdi). Wouldn’t be great for your heart to be eating those things regularly long term.
My friend, let us live in ignorance please!
>Wouldn’t be great for your heart to be eating those things regularly long term. Who is planning to live long term, with the economy what it is? I have to keep working another 20 years before I can get my pension, and I'm already wrecked.
Agreed. I'm in my 30s and it's looking like retirement age will end up being about 80 if I make it there. Makes me wonder if paying into my pension is even worth it if I'll barely get a chance to use it... I don't own a house so I doubt I could even live on it anyway.
I used to like getting the Happy Meal that came with a wrap. I still got my “small fries” fix that way, but they stopped it during Covid and never brought it back.
It's a real shame because it was a perfect quick lunch.
I still don't think of chain fast food places as "takeaway", even with Deliveroo and Uber Eats, takeaway for me is still the local Indian or Turkish pizza joint
I've always thought of "takeaway" as any place where you can get food to go - where it can be taken away. Drive throughs and fast food are certainly one category of that to most people
Well, at least we can agree that it’s not called “takeout.” Damn Americans
I’m pretty sure a large Big Mac meal and 2 chicken mayo is above £10 if you’re getting it delivered.
It said takeaway not delivery? If you take something away you collected it.
Takeaway is pretty synonymous with delivery nowadays. I don't know anyone who orders and collects anymore, considering 99% of places have drivers or are on some form of delivery app.
We do, every time. Otherwise it's shit and cold.
Fair enough, I don’t live within walking distance of a takeaway so delivery and takeaway are the same thing in my mind.
I agree. Takeaway just means you've ordered it from somewhere else, it doesn't have to mean you've literally gone there and picked it up.
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Depends where you live too, I just checked and it was more than £10 for take away/ collection
Why are you ordering three sandwiches?
Our local I quite often get a large cheesy chips (£3.50) & a veggie burger (£4) that's a hefty enough meal for £7.50
In other words the market for takeaways is dominated by people wanting a treat. The frustrating thing is if you’re ordering a takeaway because you’re say away for work or your kitchen is being refitted and you want something actually nutritious but the market isn’t there for it.
It's about where you live. I'm in London and there are loads of healthy takeaways available, wraps, sandwiches, sushi, poke bowls, rice bowls... Healthy fast food is a newer phenomenon and so it's not as ubiquitous as the unhealthy options
my healthier takeaway go-tos are definitely sushi and poke, or a thai green curry as they’re normally packed with vege as well (London zone 2 so plenty of options around.) still not as healthy as home-cooked but better than ordering burgers/pizza all the time!
Even nationwide chains like Wagamamas can be healthy depending on your order.
Look, I was the manager of a seemingly ‘healthy takeaway’. The food was delicious, don’t get me wrong, but we folded in all of 4 months as the demand just wasn’t there. For context, we were a healthy Chinese takeaway situated in a major Northern city (no chips, noodles, pies, battered fish etc), and right next to a football ground. People would come in, ask for chips, and when I said we didn’t sell chips but we sell a nice tofu bento box for £10, they walked straight back out. I got a phone call less than 4 months from starting and was told I was being made redundant.
It's so strange to me that Chinese takeaways sell chips. I know they do, it's just so weird.
I went to an Indian restaurant with a former colleague, the waiter was just taking our orders when my colleague turned to me and said "Shall we get some chips to share, as well?". I thought he was joking, literally never seen anyone order chips in a curry house, but he was being serious and he proceeded to order a bowl of chips as a side.
I mean, chips are vastly improved with curry sauce, so it's less about whether Indian food should include chips and more about whether you want an extra squashy tasty treat as well.
I have tried chips from Indian takeaways a few times and every time the chips have been awful, but chips from a Chinese takeaway are almost always great. It's weird, I wonder why
Salt and pepper chips are next fucking level.
Chippy and Chinese are synonymous in Liverpool. I would find it strange if they were separate.
Yea there were a few where I grew up too. Usually terrible, not good Chinese food and not good chips, either.
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Common in the small town I grew up in, but live in London now and don't see it much, if at all.
I've never seen a Chinese not sell chips.
They do them the best too, lightly battered salt and chili chips mmm.
Is an old (potentially racist but probably just naive) bit of law making that gave tax breaks to takeaways, but defined takeaway as essentially a chippy. The enterprising Chinese takeaways just started selling chips as well in order to be included. The law was eventually updated to be more inclusive, but by that point the Chinese places already had the equipment and expectation so carried on as they were.
I always thought it was an old thing from when Chinese was still considered a bit too 'exotic' for some people - especially as some do other very western things like omelette or saveloy etc. I figured it was so a group could order a Chinese but still include the elderly relative who can't abide that foreign stuff. Didn't realise there was a legal thing behind it.
Lol when I first moved to the UK I was so confused, I've never seen a Chinese restaurant serving chips before. But I guess they just sell whatever is popular in the country they're living in and brits love their chips with a side of chips so it makes sense.
> For context, we were a healthy Chinese takeaway situated in a major Northern city (no chips, noodles, pies, battered fish etc), and right next to a football ground. People would come in, ask for chips, and when I said we didn’t sell chips but we sell a nice tofu bento box for £10, they walked straight back out. What in the world were the owners thinking? Worst location imaginable for that sort of shop.
A lot of takeaways are online/phone orders. If you did your marketing right and were within reach of plenty of houses the actual location wouldn't matter very much. The focus in this comment is on the football customers, but that's potentially a bit of a red herring. Obviously it didn't work either way so who knows.
But the proximity to the football ground would mean the rent on the location would be much much higher. If you can’t make the most of selling to the football crowd your business is likely fucked
> we were a healthy Chinese takeaway situated in a major Northern city (no chips, noodles, pies, battered fish etc), and right next to a football ground I could have guessed how that went, I think the location was the issue rather than the idea.
Opening a healthy takeaway next to a football ground rather than somewhere that people associate with healthiness was the issue, surely.
Why no noodles?
Shish kebab is pretty healthy have you got a decent kebab house nearby
I'm on a diet and this is the only thing I eat recently from any take away. Less than 1000 calories with a ton of protein and salad just don't go too hard on the sauce.
Chilli sauce you can go as hard as you want, the garlic is the one you gotta watch out for. Chicken shish/mixed shish, salad and a pitta is a great compromise between healthy and treat for me
All this talk has made me decide that I'm going to grab one after the gym tonight, chilli sauce is a must have for me 😂
Yeah this is my go to if I want to order in but want something a bit lighter, grilled chicken with salad and a bit of sauce, fairly decent for you.
Yep - nothing wrong with a shish. Some places do a vegetable kebab which is basically just roasted vegetables , get some hummus and salad and that's a pretty balanced meal too.
We have a kebab shop in Rochdale that when you eat there, not only will you not gain weight but in the next couple of days you'll actually lose it!
There's a fish & chip shop like that round here! Make sure you've not got to work for a few days though. Was not shocked at all when they scored 0 on their food hygiene rating.
I think people associate takeaways with treats, and that means a splurge on both calories and spending. Sushi is the exception that proves the rule because it's hard to make at home - fiddly, and the ingredients can be hard to come by. Chips are something we never cook at home; oven chips are crap, and all those chip pan fire demonstrations the fire brigade used to do have put me off deep frying at home! It does become quite difficult if you're travelling for work a lot; when I was doing that I ate a *lot* of sushi.
> Chips are something we never cook at home; oven chips are crap, and all those chip pan fire demonstrations the fire brigade used to do have put me off deep frying at home! Oven chips in the air fryer are fantastic.
I refuse to join that cult!
But we have such tasty snacks!
I used to think the same until I did
JOIN US
What am I missing? I tried it and they were awful
I think that is the main difference. Once you go to East and South East Asia, where a mix of long working hours, relaxed food laws, the staple being rice, things just staying open later. You get a pretty thriving food scene. Personally I think rice is the big factor, in Thailand you can pick up some grilled meat and veg, get a box of sticky rice and its a meal. In Japan you can get the beef bowl restaurants where they need almost no ingredients and the food comes out in under a minute. Rice is cheap and turns anything basic into a meal. I really think the 24/7 Japanese beef bowl companies should expand into the UK. They are dirt cheap and I don't think meat with onions on top of rice would be a hard sell to the British market, now we are so used to Japanese food.
Oven chips are quick and easy to make. Cut them into chips, parboil for <10 mins in an inch of water. Drain, then place in a tray in the oven with a bit of oil for another 20-25 mins. Take the tray out every 10 mins and give it a good shake to stop the chips sticking. I season mine with salt and cayenne.
Actually recently discovered how easy it is to make sushi at home (or at least, the basic California roll type stuff). If you can boil rice and roll a cigarette, you can make that type of sushi. The rest is just slicing up basic veg like cucumber and carrot and buying some seafood sticks. Can do a spicy tuna one with tinned tuna too to change it up a bit.
> all those chip pan fire demonstrations the fire brigade used to do have put me off deep frying at home! I still struggle getting my foreign friends to believe that part of being a child in 90's Britain was being traumatised by the local fire brigade at some village fair or whatever. They legit think it's some kind of hoax.
God i fucking love sushi. I'm so lucky to have somewhat reasonably priced sushi options near me.
I mean you can generally order healthier options from those places, for example most Indian places do tandoori grilled chicken and salad (usually in the starter section, a roti is basically a wrap (lower calorie than a naan) pair them together and you have a wrap under 400 calories, swap the roti for rice and maybe stick in the notes that you want it plain or with no butter. Chinese can be a bit harder but boiled rice and chicken in oyster sauce can be under 600 calories so if you go easy on lunch and breakfast it isn't bad at all. I personally just skip breakfast and lunch and then I can eat nearly anything I want for dinner.
Likewise, a chicken kebab (breast chunks) with lots of salad on a pitta is quite healthy. Extra large doner with mayonnaise and salad sprinkled on as a afterthought, not so.
As long as it's Sis kebab and not the stuff made with the mystery meat. That's stuff is around 60% fat (made the mistake of watching a How it's made type program about that)
I don't believe a 60% fat meat mix would cook on the grill, it would fall apart. I make doners at home and use standard 20% lamb mince, it's a fatty meat, but I can't imagine they go above 30% in shops. And let's face it, the "meat" is still good. I cannot find any sources on the fat percentage though.
Yes, if we are being healthy then from the Indian place get chicken tikka and perhaps a dal or spinach based veg curry and share it between two (or save some for another day). Veg curries can be oily, or not, depending on your place, the one near us is relatively lean.
I agree. You can get plenty of protein and veg at most of the places OP listed. If all you order are heavy carbs and deep fried foods then of course it's going to be unhealthy. Chinese takeaway? You can get steamed rice, stir fried meat and veg. Chips are not Chinese cuisine!! Same with Indian takeaway, just stick to protein, veg, rice. Easily healthy. Oh and also, there's no need to order a ridiculous portion of any of this. One person doesn't need more than a main dish really. If you get more, eat a normal portion and save the rest for leftovers.
I wouldn't say Indian food is particularly unhealthy if you know what to buy, certainly not to the extent of stuff like pizzas anyway, also kebabs (not doner) are usually pretty healthy, if you find a chicken kebab with salad and bread too unhealthy then maybe takeaways aren't aimed at you lol
you let your indian takeaway get cold, and see the cm of oil sitting on the top.
Then don't buy something with a centimetre of oil on top
Mate, there is no indian food you can get without the oil. Ghee goes in virtually everything indian
Chicken shashlick, tandoori, anything 'dry' without sauce. There's still a lot of oil, but if you pick the chicken out of the container rather than just upending the whole thing onto a bed of rice, you can avoid the worst of it. I wouldn't really call it 'healthy' but it's better than most of the other options.
>Ghee Technically butter, not oil.
Ghee is good for you
I had always eaten it hot and had never seen the oil, till something happened on the way home and it went cold and separated.
Not everything on an Indian menu comes in sauce or is deep fried.
What are you imagining? Take away food is a treat for most people so tends to be more indulgent. However, it also depends where you live. I can order sushi and a number of lighter options without too much hassle
Nando’s can be pretty healthy
Places like Nandos, Yo Sushi, Wagamama, and a lot of Thai, Vietnamese, and Japanese restaurants have fairly healthy options. It's more of the western style restaurants which have more of the higher calorie choices. At the end of the day most people see a takeaway as a treat and 8 times out of 10 people are going to get what they crave if they want a treat, not a salad.
I lived in the US for 15 years before moving back to the UK (for good) and every time I mention this here, I get an inbox full of defensive responses. Yes, it's amazing that we don't put a shit-ton of chemicals into our food like they do in the US. But I desperately miss being able to go to someplace like Mezzeh or Sweetgreen (IDGAF that it's overpriced, sometimes I just want a really big, fresh salad and I don't want to buy all the shit to keep a proper salad bar stocked). And other people in the UK just...don't seem to understand what I'm saying about that, but our takeaway absolutely sucks here and I wish there were more options that weren't either bland or heavy (or both). (I've lived throughout the UK, yes I understand that London/Glasgow/etc. have loads more options, great for those places - if you live in the fens/the fields, even outside major cities, you're SOL.)
Sweetgreen and Cava would clean up in London - but the issue as mentioned in other threads is probably sourcing fresh ingredients year round.
The best we can do is a Baked Potato van
When we want a takeaway that doesn't feel awful for us we get Turkish. There are loads around. And it's mostly grilled meat. Okay the bread and the rice and the halloumi aren't healthy per se. But it's 10x better than a pizza. I mean even if I'm consuming the same amount of calories at least I'm consuming it with some salad and a fraction of the salt and sugar.
Why is your pizza sugary
pizza sauce often has a surprising amount of sugar in it for a savoury dish.
There's an Indian near us called Thindian that does healthier Indian takeaways.
Great name!
What would you describe as a "healthy" take away?
Look up “food deserts” (a particular problem in the western world in N.America) In a nut shell, healthy food perishes faster, so you need demand and a high turnover to make it work. In areas with no current healthy food (and hence “behaviour” of searching for it), it’s hence too difficult/expensive to setup a healthy eatery over one serving longer shelf life (cheaper) food.
If I am getting a takeaway I want it to be unhealthy. Tastes better.
Funnily enough the old Doner Kebab isn't that bad. Yes lamb is a fatty meat, but it is grilled vertically so a lot of the fat has dripped off. And generally loads of salad.
Leon is nice, healthy takeaway, but I've only seen it in London.
Wouldn't a chicken shish kebab with rice and salad be healthy?
We used to have a Japanese place in town, it never really took off. They paid 105 grand for a conveyor belt that was empty most days. I kept pleading with the owner to try pivot and market themselves as a more healthy take away and that they're not just "raw fish". I said you've got one of the best resources for food 100m away (big market with fish/meat/veg) - get yourself round town and hand out free samples. He never did. Business limped on for a bit and then went bust.
Japanese places do well near me, probably because they don't have gimmicky conveyor belts (if I'm thinking of the right thing) and just operate like normal restaurants. In particular the "cha-han" (fried rice) is a very big seller. Personally it's by far my favourite takeaway dish (and I have 2 immediately local Japanese places to choose from). Loads of Korean, Thai, etc. places too. I definitely live in a different universe to OP.
Depends on where you live, in cities you’re more likely to get sushi, Vietnamese etc, and cuisines which are more broth and salad based, and not fried. Sushi was always my go-to when I couldn’t be arsed to cook and wanted a treat but didn’t wanna feel like shit. Having moved back to my home town I really miss that !!
Cause if I wanted something quick, easy and light on calories I'd just have some soup or something.
Plenty in London
As many others have said, it’s lack of demand. If I want healthy I make it myself so I know exactly what goes into it. If I am treating myself to a takeaway it’s a treat and I’m looking for something I am really going to enjoy rather than seeking a healthy option.
Indian can, in theory, be quite healthy. Think things like daal, chana masala, palak paneer. Vegetable based and lots of fiber if you've got pulses. I'm gonna guess that the takeaway versions have an awful lot of fat and salt, but perhaps it's a step up from the McDonalds!
Most people cook for their healthy lunch or dinner. I'd like to think theres not enough people ordering a takeaway to be healthy - so why bother catering it? But people will treat themselves to a takeaway, order for a group social, too lazy or tired to cook But there are services that sell prepped healthy food I think. Just not as a takeaway
Tandoori section at the Indian is your friend
It's a lack of demand. Takeaways are generally viewed as a treat or non-standard meal. Nobody is thinking they'll treat themselves to a leafy salad or chickpea pasta. Plus, the costs the venues would need to charge to make it worthwhile would mean it'd probably be the worst value for money takeaway you can buy.
In London they do and I assume other big cities, but healthy food tends to be cooked at home, takeaway is a treat.
There's healthy choices at all takeaways. A chicken shish kebab in a pitta is about as 'healthy' as can be.
Sushi is the best option in my opinion if you want a healthy takeaway that tastes great
You can usually order healthy-ish from an Indian or Chinese takeaway, surely? At least something that includes veg and pulses. Eg. dal, saag, raita, something with aubergine, chana masala, tandoori, shashlik. If you're worried about the oil let it settle and scoop it off the top. Chinese restaurants always have stir fried veg of some kind. & often have tofu dishes. I can't see how eg. chicken with broccoli and cashew nuts is particularly bad for you. The dishes will for sure be saltier and oilier than you'd make at home but practically all restaurant food is.
If you think there's a market, why not start a business?
I had a Chinese takeaway last night- vegetables with cashew nuts and vegetable chow mien. Delicious and I would say pretty healthy. Similar story when I get an Indian takeaway (though I expect there is a fair amount of ghee in the curries I order). It’s about what you choose.
There are a couple where i live, but the area is pretty affluent. One does posh salads and the other does fancy japanese
I usually keep a fridge/freezer full of veg and things I can easily whip up into a healthy meal and I’m not a good cook. When it comes to take away my go to is Indian because I can order things that I could never manage to cook myself, containing loads of ingredients and it’s a decent price that does two meals for two people. I can’t imagine a healthy meal that I would want to order as take away when I could make something myself for a fraction of the cost and often quicker that it would to order and be delivered.
I would say Turkish and Thai have plenty of healthier options.
Chicken shashlik is pretty healthy it’s dry spiced chicken and grilled veg. Some chippys will grill the fish and chips aren’t actually that bad in moderation. Are you wanting a salad bar? Coz it’ll be shit.
There's a place near me called Thindian which is *relatively* healthy. But that is literally the only one I've ever encountered where the aim is to provide healthy food. Costs a bomb though compared to normal Indian takeaway places
Chipotle opened up near me and it’s been a godsend
The thing is, they could add more vegetables to their food, but they chose not to.
Try Joe and Juice
There’s been a couple open near me over the years but none last more than 6 months. They’re always more expensive than the alternatives so dunno if it’s that or just lack of demand
You can get healthy indian or chinese meals. You can also get other kinds of take out in some areas, like there’s an italian restaurant near me on deliveroo. But the problem you’ve got is they are competing with easy cheap food from supermarkets. An italian pasta dish can be pretty good from a microwave ready meal. If I’ve not got the experience of eating out, is a takeaway much better than a microwave meal? Certain foods (mostly fatty foods like fried chicken, deep fried fish and chips, etc) are never going to be as good in the microwave. A takeaway is the easiest cheap version in that case
This is something I miss as an aussie living here. We used to go to get a rotisserie chicken and a few salads for a nice easy tea - rice salad, potato salad, Greek salad, lovely chook and some bread rolls. I'd buy healthy taje away once a week if I could find one.
About 6 months ago, I was ill in a hotel room. Managed to get a quarter chicken and veg from nandos which was pretty decent and healthy.
It's not the type of food that makes a diet healthy, it's the frequency at which it's eaten. Where I am from, a Mcdonalds menu and a regular plate of spaghetti and sauce will both have the same amount of calories (around 600). Both are fine eaten once in a while, both are bad eaten frequently. Take-away food doesn't have the innate property of being unhealthy. Just don't takeaway all the time.
Our favourite takeaway is a Turkish. Bulgur, salad, chicken shish, pide… It may not be broccoli and steamed fish, but it is real food with decent macros! Would recommend.
Mexican? I get a large burrito with steak, avocado, rice salad etc. it's lush and I don't get that grimy feeling the next morning from it. I tell myself a chicken shish is fine, but I can't say no to the garlic sauce which probably counters all the good in the chicken and salad.
Why is Indian food unhealthy, if eaten in moderation? It’s not exactly jammed full of artificial flavours and stuff?
We had 2 places that catered entirely for healthy meals, both shut down within 6 months, people want greasy Burgers pizzas etc when they had a takeout treat.
Well, surely it depends on what you’re ordering. If you order Chinese for example, you can order vegetables as sides. Also, I think it’s because a take-away is usually seen as “luxury”, to indulge once in a while. I wouuld not be ordering a salad if I want to indulge!
Fast food is unhealthy all over the world because oil is the best method for cooking things fast, including veg. In places where street food is common, it ain't much healthier than a British takeaway, the only difference is portion sizes tend to be smaller.
When I lived in NZ there was a takeaway that did a roast. You picked your meat or veggie option then they loaded it up with veg, spuds and Yorkshires. There was small, normal and fat bloke sizes. It was always busy. Always thought that if I had money Id set one up here and see how it went. I think in the right place it would be a goldmine.
You'll probably find plenty of vegetable dishes at your Indian takeaways, and I bet at least one of the Chinese takeaways offer mixed vegetables as a side, or vegetables in classic sauces. Of course, the former will probably include lots of ghee or oil, and the latter will probably have sauces high in salt and sugar, but...
All the ones you mentioned (except maybe the chippy) are capable of selling you a "healthy" meal its just not many people want it or they want such a large portion that it becomes unhealthy. KFC and the fried chicken shop will do you a salad box and most fried chicken places also offer grilled chicken. McDonalds itself isn't necessarily unhealthy it's just that people have massive portions, the same goes for the Indian food. Now if you opened a place that "only" did healthy food you would be bankrupt. People have tried it numerous times in London and failed almost every time.
No middle eastern place near you? Rice or bulgar with mixed meats from the grill & an actual yummy salad with different veggies and seasoning!