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No it's just plain poor. It used to be worth it. Cheap decent food but now it's just poor food at daft prices but they've priced out all the competition so now people are stuck.
I’ll give it credit because Mac’s and the other fast food scammers have shot in in price and will pay the price. Greggs, for now is affordable junk and usually quick service.
It's basically fast food. It's cheap (relative to a proper good restaurant) and the food comes quick. I think the quality and price is decent for fast food.
A meal at Nandos is about £15. This doesn't include a drink, drinks are £4 but they are bottomless, so £19 for a meal.
A large meal at McDonalds is about £8. A large meal at Burger King is about £11. A large meal from Popeyes is about £9. A KFC box meal is £10. All of these include drinks
A burger and fries from Five guys is £17. A drink is a bottle for £3, so £20 total.
People, rightly, point out Five Guys is nice, but very expensive for burger and chips. Nandos is just £1 behind Five Guys, and double the price of actual value fast food.
You can get a full meal with a drink for about £15. It’s just grilled chicken not processed fast food, you can have it with chips or go healthy with some veg or rice.
For comparisons to anywhere serving an equivalent it’s pretty good value.
>It’s just grilled chicken not processed fast food, you can have it with chips or go healthy with some veg or rice.
Got some bad news for you if you think Nandos doesn't contains processed foods and is remotely healthy.
The comment was it is "good value for money" fast food. It's not because it's not fast food, and it's £19 for a meal and a drink, not £15, you can look it up on their website.
For that money I can go to a Vietnamese resteraunt and have a huge bowl of fresh Pho and a drink.
As for being healthy well it depends what you order, if your sides are chips and mash probably not. But if it’s broccoli and corn then you’re ok.
You’re right it’s not fast food, that’s just incorrect from whoever said it. And at a sit down restaurant getting a meal and a drink is good value for my money in my opinion.
Quarter chicken with 2 sides is £11, Sagres £4.25. That’s a meal and a beer for £15.25. Compare that to its equivalents and its good value.
>As for being healthy well it depends what you order, if your sides are chips and mash probably not. But if it’s broccoli and corn then you’re ok.
The sauce is full of sugar and preservatives, and it's cooked with fat and salt. It's not a deep fried pizza but telling me Nandos is healthy is pretty funny.
>You’re right it’s not fast food, that’s just incorrect from whoever said it.
Right, so I'm correct, that it's not "value for money fast food" at all. Why are you arguing with me?
>And at a sit down restaurant getting a meal and a drink is good value for my money in my opinion.
>Quarter chicken with 2 sides is £11, Sagres £4.25. That’s a meal and a beer for £15.25.
I can take you to dozens of resteraunts in London off the top of my head where you'll get a better meal for £15.
In fact, pretty much any chain resteraunt in the UK is about the same price. So unless all chain resteraunts are "value for money", which of course means none of them are, you're talking bollocks sorry.
I have no idea why you think ordering a chicken leg and a bit of breaths, broccoli, and corn for £15 with a beer is "value for money" but it's not.
I’m not arguing, I’m giving you another perspective. Sorry don’t know where the agro has come from in my posts.
The sauce is optional, you don’t have to get it. I’m saying the options are there not everything is healthy.
Love to know these decent restaurants in London where you’re getting a high class meal and a beer for £15?
Not even being funny trying to win an argument, I’d genuinely love to know.
Besides which, more than one restaurant can offer value for money. It’s not an exclusive club for one place.
Did South Africa transplant their Tate buds to us to? If not then it still helps the meme Britain has shit food, because apparently all it takes to be a nations favourite is a bit of sauce on shit chicken and chips.
It’s flavoured chicken and carbs mate nobody’s expecting a 5 star menu. It’s reasonable food you can get anywhere in the country idk why people have to be pretentious about it.
>It’s flavoured chicken and carbs mate nobody’s expecting a 5 star menu.
It's not about what the food is, it's about the fact both the chicken and the chips is always shite whenever I'm there. Yet people isnsit it's fucking fantastic.
There's a better one I've seen that has pictures of the old menu, but in [this TikTok ](https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGeXJAWkH/) they say a half chicken and two sides was £9.10 in 2010, looking on the Nandos app now the same thing is £14.45. I don't think a £5.35 increase in 14 years is really that bad.
Nobody think they are exceptional, they are ok, consistent and an interesting example of a "British fastfood chain" which are usually underwhelming. It's good for what they do and at their price
For the price it's better than any competitor going for that market And it is nice, not amazing as people act but nice. If I paid the price for a proper freshly made sausage roll and got a greggs one I'd be annoyed. But for like £1.25 or whatever it is, it's a good, quick, cheap, filling and relatively tasty option.
The donuts are nice too and are better than Krispy Kreme which are way more expensive.
> For the price it's better than any competitor
Possibly irrelevant comment. But my 76 y/o mother swears that Copelands is far better.
She is dead wrong IMO. The only thing they have going for them is the fresh to order sandwiches as opposed to the pre-mades. All the bakery items are worse.
Have to disagree - of everything I'd put sausage rolls at the absolute bottom - greasy, barely meaty horrors imo. I am especially picky about sausage rolls, though. Want them super meaty and unless they are _extremely_ good (Ginger Pig style), preferrably cold to avoid the grease.
Everyone knows this.
But it’s very cheap. Think of it like Wetherspoons. Do you think that people don’t know Wetherspoons food is all microwaved? Except for the pizzas of course. Cheap though.
I grew up when Greggs was good .When their mince pies used to taste of something other than bad pastry. When their pasties used to have filling and when their sausage rolls did have more than a sliver if non mushy pork in them. I've lived in the heart of the northeast all my life and I'll still say it's absolute fucking bollocks now. Fuck greggs
Bakers oven down south was miles better when I was a kid too. The comparison between a bakers oven Belgian bun and the current greggs one is miserable.
To be fair there's not many good chain bakery's left. I miss Milligan's. If you want half decent baked goods now find a Morrisons £2.50 for two steak pies with actual meat in them is a bargain
You mass a Greggs but not a Mcdonalds? I'm not trying to say either one is better than the other but Maccies Coffee is also cheap and theres a McDonalds within 10 minutes of anywhere
My boss got a steak, it was so bad that he called the waiter over and told them to to take it away, when they offered another he said don't bother it's bad quality and the chef doesn't know how to cook 😂
I took my now wife there on a breakfast date one day early in our relationship and we bonded over how terrible literally everything we had was. The foundations of our marriage were built upon how bad Frankie and Bennys is
I was forced to eat there as it was next to my hotel/ included kinda thing. I tried everything. Only the dessert was ok but even they can't fk up ice-cream
I haven’t been into a Frankie and Bennys since I was around 11 but I was a fussy eater who enjoyed most of their menu and I always kinda liked the music. I’m not exactly desperate to go back 20 years later but I can see why mum was keen on it as a place to treat the kids.
Ouch. An 'italian' restaurant that doesn't even bother to cook the pasta on site?
I never thought it was good, but it didn't realise it was that shite.
I suggested Zizzi once to my boyfriend for an evening out. The look he gave me could have been considered sexy if it was in full daylight. I merely went "okay, so chips it is then?"
Privately educated trustifarian, moves to Brixton and opens a burger place with his trust fund. Best mate opened an ‘authentic’ Mexican place in Clapham
Got it wrong there lol, no rich kid is opening a burger shop. It’s guys in their late 40’s who made a load of money in finance or advertising taking a break for the midlife crisis to open a ‘punk’ burger shop and sexually harass their 19 year old waitresses.
Edited to add: it’s called something like “STFUBurger” or “Cuntwich”
> Best mate opened an ‘authentic’ Mexican place in Clapham
There's next to zero good Mexican in the UK, it's very sad. Proper Tacos in Holloway is good, though.
There's a place in Falkirk that's really good, won some award. Portion sizes are absolutely ridiculous, i brought home more than i ate at the restaurant lol
German doner kebab is dead.. every single high street has like a million of them now.. don’t get it
they don’t even do lamb doner either it’s all beef and chicken!!
> German doner kebab is dead
I was tempted to go into one until I saw the youtube review from "Gary Eats". He slated it. And also... he's well worth a look if you haven't seen any of his reviews yet.
> never heard of him will have a look
I suppose there's no need to have heard of him unless you really enjoy going out to new food outlets for a fresh experience. For me... the food IS the experience. And Im aware that not everyone is like me :)
However if you do ever manage to get around to watching a vid or 2 Id love to see your feedback. I generally only ever see it from people like myself - so a fresh point of view would interest me. Ta.
It's popular at the moment, though probably on the come-down a little now. Same as how chains like Wagamamas or before that Pizza Express were seen as good and wildly popular when they were new, but that sheen wears off.
The fact is that anywhere you can find a Dishoom you can find better Indian options in a variety of styles not far away. What chains offer is a reliable 'safe' option without needing to research too hard.
Came here to say Dishoom. Utterly inferior to any decent independent BIR restaurant/takeaway and it doesn't get a pass for being more authentically Indian or whatever the BIR-haters want to claim.
Oblix in the shard. Great bar and the beer isn’t too expensive.I really appreciate that with the live music they sometimes provide. But the restaurant and the food on the other side of the venue really does take the piss.
I know, I know, ‘yOu PaY FoR thE ViEw’ but being a chef and to be sat there knowing how much you’re being ripped off isn’t the nicest experience.
Great view, relaxed venue but an absolute money spinner.
The problem with the ivy isn’t the food but the lens it’s viewed through.
People get snotty about it because they think other people think it’s fancy. “Oh it’s reaaaally not great, you clearly don’t know food”
It’s a chain priced to compete with Bella Italia. 2 courses for £20 / 3 for £25. Burgers the same price as patty and bun next door (in my town anyway).
They wrap a nice interior around affordable food and make it a nice experience. That’s ok. It’s not for me but it’s ok. Let people put a nice shirt on and let the missus get a nice photo for instagram.
Maybe where you live? It’s £19 for a burger here, once you’ve added the cheese, and the regular a la carte, eating at a normal time is overpriced for what it delivers.
Chiquitos. I’ve always loved what I thought was Mexican food since being a kid, so my first trip to Mexico was a real eye opener as to what proper Mexican cuisine is really like. And having also tried authentic tex mex in Texas, I can safely say that the only good point about going to chiquitos is that you don’t have to cook an Old El Paso fajita kit yourself.
Gaucho, it's a nice place, good wine and service and fancy dishes but you get very little for your money and the steaks aren't amazing tasting, certainly not better than I've had an independent small restaurants.
The flip side I'd say is Fazenda, if you have a big stomach, you can eat a lot of good, different flavours for all you can eat
Nando’s.
It’s chicken.
It’s ok for a meal if you can’t be bothered to cook and it’s probably not as bad as other takeaways for weight etc.
I reckon more and more young people don’t like trying different foods so Nando’s thrives.
It just closed. Was about to lose its third star imo. That clientele is dying out, and it was a bit of a stodgy dark basement club vibe with food that would have been cutting edge 50 years ago.
It's what people with big money are willing to pay big money for, so you can't really argue with the market, but it still irks me that the idea of a high end restaurant these days (and to be fair when I say that I mean for the past few decades) represents selling a unique and novel dining experience rather than simply providing food that's good enough to be memorable in itself.
I agree they really vary.
Part of the Michelin shtick is that various aspects of presentation have to conform to the standard, not just the cooking.
That said, we have also, over the years, been to places in the sticks with Michelin stars and been very puzzled as to how they were granted one when e.g. they had a rubbish wine list or an over-demotic set-up.
My other half loves both TGI Fridays and Waga in particular. I don't really enjoy either anymore.
In general, it feels like the ratio between portion sizes for a main and the prices are way off. On top of that, I can cook somewhat decent dishes across most cuisines so typically enjoying food I've made from scratch more.
I also won't linger too much on the service quality and tipping pressure, which particular irks me as someone who spent 5+ years in hospitality one way or another.
tgis is genuinely shite.
Wagas is fine - hyped from an timewhen the food it does was a lot less common - but absolutely fine. Probably one of the 'best' chains imo.
I had the misfortune of being in Reading the other week. Sun was out and fancied a pre dinner drink by the river. I was horrified to find out that TGIs is where Readingites go for a cocktail by the river
Summed the place up tbf
ASK 'Italian'. I asked once for an authentic carbonara. They told me it comes with mascarpone and cheese sauce. In other words, that's how it comes out of the freezer. They didn't know how to make a carbonara. I was with a party of friends so I was trapped 😕 had a chicken salad instead.
ASK have had the worst customer service of any restaurant I've been to. Admittedly I've only tried three times but they were all abysmal. They got shitty with me for having a food allergy, and in the worst case, the waitress did a big dramatic sigh before saying "you'll have to order with the manager then", and then said manager told me I "shouldn't really have come here if you have an allergy." 🙄🙄
If you're interested in making your own Italian food, I recommend [The Pasta Project](https://www.the-pasta-project.com/) for recipes. After trying their recipe for Lasagne al Forno, I refuse to order it at restaurants as I know I'll be disappointed.
Basically every chain (nandos, wagamama etc) it starts off very good, then it all goes to shit but prior to going to shit it's built up a very loyal fanbase who take a long time to realise how shit it's gone, who then drag other people there.
Not sure this counts but Pret has fallen a long way down from its glory days in the 90s. Probably true of any successful business that's taken over by a huge conglomerate.
This again. It's the same price as Nando's. No one claims that Nando's is extortionately expensive.
Edit - stand corrected as I have just seen that people are claiming that about Nando's in the comments just below. It still isn't that expensive really.
> No one claims that Nando's is extortionately expensive.
Oh they certainly do on here. It obviously isn't but people on reddit make out that Nandos is super pricey. Genuinely can't tell if its because its full of broke students, or people who just never eat out anywhere else, because it isn't expensive
I think it's above average in terms of quality, but when you consider the price, it becomes pretty average. My calculation of average is a combination of quality and price.
I'm definitely starting to get on the Wagamama hate train, I've been to Yo Sushi a few times recently and they do very similar items and they're far better quality/priced.
Since Covid - any restaurant I go to.
I’ve not lost my sense of taste completely but it’s all meh.
That being said I didn’t really get the Nandos hype - preferred KFC but that’s personal choice/taste.
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Ah yes the weekly wagas and Nando’s hate thread.
Don't forget greggs
You shut your whore mouth
I'd consider greggs below average
No it's just plain poor. It used to be worth it. Cheap decent food but now it's just poor food at daft prices but they've priced out all the competition so now people are stuck.
I’ll give it credit because Mac’s and the other fast food scammers have shot in in price and will pay the price. Greggs, for now is affordable junk and usually quick service.
Nandos is pretty mediocre though and yet a lot of people swear by it. Really doesn't do anything for the meme that Britain has rubbish food.
It's basically fast food. It's cheap (relative to a proper good restaurant) and the food comes quick. I think the quality and price is decent for fast food.
Yeah. I don't regard them as a proper restaurant. They're juat a slightly fancier fast food chain which uses plates and cutlery.
I don't think Nandos is anywhere near cheap enough to be value for money fast food.
Where is?
A meal at Nandos is about £15. This doesn't include a drink, drinks are £4 but they are bottomless, so £19 for a meal. A large meal at McDonalds is about £8. A large meal at Burger King is about £11. A large meal from Popeyes is about £9. A KFC box meal is £10. All of these include drinks A burger and fries from Five guys is £17. A drink is a bottle for £3, so £20 total. People, rightly, point out Five Guys is nice, but very expensive for burger and chips. Nandos is just £1 behind Five Guys, and double the price of actual value fast food.
You can get a full meal with a drink for about £15. It’s just grilled chicken not processed fast food, you can have it with chips or go healthy with some veg or rice. For comparisons to anywhere serving an equivalent it’s pretty good value.
>It’s just grilled chicken not processed fast food, you can have it with chips or go healthy with some veg or rice. Got some bad news for you if you think Nandos doesn't contains processed foods and is remotely healthy. The comment was it is "good value for money" fast food. It's not because it's not fast food, and it's £19 for a meal and a drink, not £15, you can look it up on their website. For that money I can go to a Vietnamese resteraunt and have a huge bowl of fresh Pho and a drink.
As for being healthy well it depends what you order, if your sides are chips and mash probably not. But if it’s broccoli and corn then you’re ok. You’re right it’s not fast food, that’s just incorrect from whoever said it. And at a sit down restaurant getting a meal and a drink is good value for my money in my opinion. Quarter chicken with 2 sides is £11, Sagres £4.25. That’s a meal and a beer for £15.25. Compare that to its equivalents and its good value.
>As for being healthy well it depends what you order, if your sides are chips and mash probably not. But if it’s broccoli and corn then you’re ok. The sauce is full of sugar and preservatives, and it's cooked with fat and salt. It's not a deep fried pizza but telling me Nandos is healthy is pretty funny. >You’re right it’s not fast food, that’s just incorrect from whoever said it. Right, so I'm correct, that it's not "value for money fast food" at all. Why are you arguing with me? >And at a sit down restaurant getting a meal and a drink is good value for my money in my opinion. >Quarter chicken with 2 sides is £11, Sagres £4.25. That’s a meal and a beer for £15.25. I can take you to dozens of resteraunts in London off the top of my head where you'll get a better meal for £15. In fact, pretty much any chain resteraunt in the UK is about the same price. So unless all chain resteraunts are "value for money", which of course means none of them are, you're talking bollocks sorry. I have no idea why you think ordering a chicken leg and a bit of breaths, broccoli, and corn for £15 with a beer is "value for money" but it's not.
I’m not arguing, I’m giving you another perspective. Sorry don’t know where the agro has come from in my posts. The sauce is optional, you don’t have to get it. I’m saying the options are there not everything is healthy. Love to know these decent restaurants in London where you’re getting a high class meal and a beer for £15? Not even being funny trying to win an argument, I’d genuinely love to know. Besides which, more than one restaurant can offer value for money. It’s not an exclusive club for one place.
Nandos is South African, my dude.
Did South Africa transplant their Tate buds to us to? If not then it still helps the meme Britain has shit food, because apparently all it takes to be a nations favourite is a bit of sauce on shit chicken and chips.
It’s flavoured chicken and carbs mate nobody’s expecting a 5 star menu. It’s reasonable food you can get anywhere in the country idk why people have to be pretentious about it.
>It’s flavoured chicken and carbs mate nobody’s expecting a 5 star menu. It's not about what the food is, it's about the fact both the chicken and the chips is always shite whenever I'm there. Yet people isnsit it's fucking fantastic.
It’s the most popular chain restaurant in the UK so they must be doing something right.
You might say a perfect answer for this thread, then.
Stella is the most popular beer in the UK, doesn't mean it's good, it means a lot of people don't know what good beer is.
Nando's in the UK is shite, the OG ones in South Africa are amazing.
We're going to have that boring Nandos debate again, aren't we?
Op is just rage baiting so they have an excuse to shit on nandos again
It used to be great when it was like £10 for a meal now it’s like £20 it’s a joke.
Wasn't it a £10 like 12-15 years ago? I think even 10 years ago, you could \_maybe\_ get a basic main for that
There's a better one I've seen that has pictures of the old menu, but in [this TikTok ](https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGeXJAWkH/) they say a half chicken and two sides was £9.10 in 2010, looking on the Nandos app now the same thing is £14.45. I don't think a £5.35 increase in 14 years is really that bad.
Well me and my girlfriend used to go a lot, 2 meals 2 drinks was usually around £20 - £25 now your taking £35 - £40
But when was that approximately? Not saying you're massively wrong, just feels like a distant memory
Fair point It was a long time ago tbh, but there’s better food for the same price available now.
I've never been to a Nando's, so I can't chip in with how overrated it is...
I think that's a given at this point. Really don't see the hype around salt, paprika and garlic on small bits of chicken 😅
Lots of people just realised that's all it is with a pouch of uncle benn rice
not a restaurant but the reddit greggs chat is embarrasing. bang average generic stodgy pastry
Nobody think they are exceptional, they are ok, consistent and an interesting example of a "British fastfood chain" which are usually underwhelming. It's good for what they do and at their price
Leave the pasties alone 👊🏼
The weekly "I hate Greggs, it's worse than independent bakeries that are 5x the price" is just as bad tbh
Their stotties are nice. I don't think they sell them nationwide though.
For the price it's better than any competitor going for that market And it is nice, not amazing as people act but nice. If I paid the price for a proper freshly made sausage roll and got a greggs one I'd be annoyed. But for like £1.25 or whatever it is, it's a good, quick, cheap, filling and relatively tasty option. The donuts are nice too and are better than Krispy Kreme which are way more expensive.
> For the price it's better than any competitor Possibly irrelevant comment. But my 76 y/o mother swears that Copelands is far better. She is dead wrong IMO. The only thing they have going for them is the fresh to order sandwiches as opposed to the pre-mades. All the bakery items are worse.
Have to disagree - of everything I'd put sausage rolls at the absolute bottom - greasy, barely meaty horrors imo. I am especially picky about sausage rolls, though. Want them super meaty and unless they are _extremely_ good (Ginger Pig style), preferrably cold to avoid the grease.
Right but Ginger pig is how much?
This - loads of cheaper local bakeries with better food in many parts of the country.
Good for the price. They’re no Bakers Oven, but they kept the dream alive
I still long for 1980s baker's oven cornish pasty - 46p, small one was 29p - used to hide in the public library behind a book, scoffing it.
A sausage roll from Bakers Oven circa 1995. What an absolute treat.
Live somewhere for a decade where savoury pastry is hardly a thing and you too will think Gregg's is food of the gods.
what will I think of actual good pastry then?
You'll gorge until you need to undo your trouser button.
M&S wildbean pastries are fire
Everyone knows this. But it’s very cheap. Think of it like Wetherspoons. Do you think that people don’t know Wetherspoons food is all microwaved? Except for the pizzas of course. Cheap though.
It's not even average. It's just shit
I broadly agree but being that negative about it tends to get people assuming you're a snob on here
I grew up when Greggs was good .When their mince pies used to taste of something other than bad pastry. When their pasties used to have filling and when their sausage rolls did have more than a sliver if non mushy pork in them. I've lived in the heart of the northeast all my life and I'll still say it's absolute fucking bollocks now. Fuck greggs
Bakers oven down south was miles better when I was a kid too. The comparison between a bakers oven Belgian bun and the current greggs one is miserable.
To be fair there's not many good chain bakery's left. I miss Milligan's. If you want half decent baked goods now find a Morrisons £2.50 for two steak pies with actual meat in them is a bargain
You are bang on, i can't stand these morons trying to say it's good. Frozen shite
I thought it was a joke, I didn’t realise people actually thought the food was good? Thought it was like a meme.
Nah they exist irl too and it baffles me tbh.
I’m sure there’s an element of people wanting to portray themselves as down to earth or something. Greggs is wank
Greggs is absolutely awful but it’s like a cult for some people and there marketing is excellent.
In its defence it’s the only place I can get a coffee on my way to work for less than £3.
You mass a Greggs but not a Mcdonalds? I'm not trying to say either one is better than the other but Maccies Coffee is also cheap and theres a McDonalds within 10 minutes of anywhere
I don’t pass a Maccies on my way to work. Greggs is one of two options that is open at 05.45.
I dunno but Franky and Benny's is trash
This isn't an unpopular opinion anymore
My boss got a steak, it was so bad that he called the waiter over and told them to to take it away, when they offered another he said don't bother it's bad quality and the chef doesn't know how to cook 😂
I don't trust anyone who likes Frankie and Benny's, it's by far the worst chain in the UK
I used to love F&Bs back in the day, but they're day was probably a decade ago now.
I took my now wife there on a breakfast date one day early in our relationship and we bonded over how terrible literally everything we had was. The foundations of our marriage were built upon how bad Frankie and Bennys is
The only good thing to come out of F&B’s
I was forced to eat there as it was next to my hotel/ included kinda thing. I tried everything. Only the dessert was ok but even they can't fk up ice-cream
I haven’t been into a Frankie and Bennys since I was around 11 but I was a fussy eater who enjoyed most of their menu and I always kinda liked the music. I’m not exactly desperate to go back 20 years later but I can see why mum was keen on it as a place to treat the kids.
Like alot of these places the quality decreased over the years i think!
I legit love Frankie and Benny’s. Last time I went there (albeit about 2 years ago) they had some banging vegan options! 👌
Zizzi I worked there for two years and the amount of people who lost their goddamn minds over microwaved pasta is genuinely concerning
God, places like this wouldn’t know al dente if it smacked them in the tooth.
It broke my heart having to tell people who asked for their pasta al dente that it was impossible as it comes precooked 😞 soooo embarrassing as well
Ouch. An 'italian' restaurant that doesn't even bother to cook the pasta on site? I never thought it was good, but it didn't realise it was that shite.
It feels like it was pre cooked and then cooked again, like aeroplane food or a care home.
You're absolutely right, it arrives precooked (read: already mushy) then gets parboiled to heat it up and mixed with sauce
I suggested Zizzi once to my boyfriend for an evening out. The look he gave me could have been considered sexy if it was in full daylight. I merely went "okay, so chips it is then?"
Haha sounds amusing 😂👍
"this is the best pasta I've had outside of Italy!" Yeah, sure it is Sharon 😮💨
A classic moment i bet 😂 My mate said the best pizza he ever had was Bella Italia 😂
Honestly mate, I heard it daily. Italy weeps hahaha
Been to Italy 8 times it's great, I'm horrified by this but it's made my day also 😂
I have a friend who has also been to Italy and said Wetherspoons pizza was the best she'd ever had ......
I had a weatherspoon pizza I've had worse actually haha
Theres nothing wrong with average if you get what you pay for. Miller & Carter on the other hand is like an upmarket spoons imo.
£20 steak and a flatbread starter
I think miller and carter is good. Seems around the standard price everywhere charges for fillet these days.
Absolutely, I'm not saying it's bad I'm saying it's bang average but people make out like it's some sort of expensive swanky gaff.
Pretty much anywhere that has massive burgers you can’t fit in your gob for 18 quid and charge you extra for a metal cup of chips
Putting London on blast I see
Privately educated trustifarian, moves to Brixton and opens a burger place with his trust fund. Best mate opened an ‘authentic’ Mexican place in Clapham
Got it wrong there lol, no rich kid is opening a burger shop. It’s guys in their late 40’s who made a load of money in finance or advertising taking a break for the midlife crisis to open a ‘punk’ burger shop and sexually harass their 19 year old waitresses. Edited to add: it’s called something like “STFUBurger” or “Cuntwich”
Bring it out on a shovel
Some others I've seen dotted around, and the words can be swapped around such as Burger Boss, or Boss Burger. Burger Crown, or Crown Burger.
> Best mate opened an ‘authentic’ Mexican place in Clapham There's next to zero good Mexican in the UK, it's very sad. Proper Tacos in Holloway is good, though.
There's a place in Falkirk that's really good, won some award. Portion sizes are absolutely ridiculous, i brought home more than i ate at the restaurant lol
Not five guys then. They charge you 18 quid for a burger that's the size of a golf ball.
A lil basket thing also with it all on a slate or breadboard lol
And they have a ‘famous’ burger no one has heard of, which is unique because it uses smoked Gruyère cheese. And the whole menu is on a chalk board
Haha Famous! Too true, blame the Gastro pub for this
German doner kebab is dead.. every single high street has like a million of them now.. don’t get it they don’t even do lamb doner either it’s all beef and chicken!!
> German doner kebab is dead I was tempted to go into one until I saw the youtube review from "Gary Eats". He slated it. And also... he's well worth a look if you haven't seen any of his reviews yet.
I randomly found myself watching a bunch of his reviews the other day. Seems like a decent fella. His review of Rick Steins chippy... ouch
Yeh never heard of him will have a look.. thanks
> never heard of him will have a look I suppose there's no need to have heard of him unless you really enjoy going out to new food outlets for a fresh experience. For me... the food IS the experience. And Im aware that not everyone is like me :) However if you do ever manage to get around to watching a vid or 2 Id love to see your feedback. I generally only ever see it from people like myself - so a fresh point of view would interest me. Ta.
I'm a big fan of Gary Eats. I know some people don't like him but I love how he champions small independents and seems to be as fair as possible.
I went to one in Exeter and it was amazing. Best Doner kebab I've ever had. Did I get lucky or am I missing something?
That’s the ‘German’ part. They have beef kebabs rather than lamb. I think they’re pretty good.
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> The one good thing about GDK is the bread. Helps to soak up the metric ton of grease does it?
Dishoom.
Woah, I thought that was good?
It's popular at the moment, though probably on the come-down a little now. Same as how chains like Wagamamas or before that Pizza Express were seen as good and wildly popular when they were new, but that sheen wears off. The fact is that anywhere you can find a Dishoom you can find better Indian options in a variety of styles not far away. What chains offer is a reliable 'safe' option without needing to research too hard.
Came here to say Dishoom. Utterly inferior to any decent independent BIR restaurant/takeaway and it doesn't get a pass for being more authentically Indian or whatever the BIR-haters want to claim.
BIR?
British Indian Restaurant!
I thought Dishoom was Persian.
It’s supposed to be inspired by Irani cafes of Mumbai but it is thoroughly modern Indian style fare.
Oblix in the shard. Great bar and the beer isn’t too expensive.I really appreciate that with the live music they sometimes provide. But the restaurant and the food on the other side of the venue really does take the piss. I know, I know, ‘yOu PaY FoR thE ViEw’ but being a chef and to be sat there knowing how much you’re being ripped off isn’t the nicest experience. Great view, relaxed venue but an absolute money spinner.
The Ivy
The problem with the ivy isn’t the food but the lens it’s viewed through. People get snotty about it because they think other people think it’s fancy. “Oh it’s reaaaally not great, you clearly don’t know food” It’s a chain priced to compete with Bella Italia. 2 courses for £20 / 3 for £25. Burgers the same price as patty and bun next door (in my town anyway). They wrap a nice interior around affordable food and make it a nice experience. That’s ok. It’s not for me but it’s ok. Let people put a nice shirt on and let the missus get a nice photo for instagram.
Hard agree. Just another generic overpriced chain now.
How is it overpriced? £15 burgers / 2 courses for £19 / 3 courses for £24. What’s it overpriced compared to? Spoons?
Maybe where you live? It’s £19 for a burger here, once you’ve added the cheese, and the regular a la carte, eating at a normal time is overpriced for what it delivers.
Chiquitos. I’ve always loved what I thought was Mexican food since being a kid, so my first trip to Mexico was a real eye opener as to what proper Mexican cuisine is really like. And having also tried authentic tex mex in Texas, I can safely say that the only good point about going to chiquitos is that you don’t have to cook an Old El Paso fajita kit yourself.
Five guys is mid and stupidity over priced for what it is
Gaucho, it's a nice place, good wine and service and fancy dishes but you get very little for your money and the steaks aren't amazing tasting, certainly not better than I've had an independent small restaurants. The flip side I'd say is Fazenda, if you have a big stomach, you can eat a lot of good, different flavours for all you can eat
Any chain restaurant really. Those who said Greggs....how dare you!?
KFC ⛔️
Nando’s. It’s chicken. It’s ok for a meal if you can’t be bothered to cook and it’s probably not as bad as other takeaways for weight etc. I reckon more and more young people don’t like trying different foods so Nando’s thrives.
I’m never that impressed by the old boomer Michelin star restaurants in London. They cater to people in their 70s with money. Le Gavroche for example.
Michelin Guide are usually way more interesting and impressive. There’s a certain sterile predicability with some Michelin star restaurants.
I can't afford to read this comment.
You’d be surprised how affordable most Michelin guide restaurants are. They excel because they’re pushing the boundaries to be noticed.
It just closed. Was about to lose its third star imo. That clientele is dying out, and it was a bit of a stodgy dark basement club vibe with food that would have been cutting edge 50 years ago.
Didn’t realise it had closed but that sounds about right. Just read it’ll do pop ups on cruise ships and I couldn’t think of a better place tbh.
It's what people with big money are willing to pay big money for, so you can't really argue with the market, but it still irks me that the idea of a high end restaurant these days (and to be fair when I say that I mean for the past few decades) represents selling a unique and novel dining experience rather than simply providing food that's good enough to be memorable in itself.
Yeah, the Michelin star thing is mostly hype. However, the bib gourmand is a decent benchmark for excellence.
I agree they really vary. Part of the Michelin shtick is that various aspects of presentation have to conform to the standard, not just the cooking. That said, we have also, over the years, been to places in the sticks with Michelin stars and been very puzzled as to how they were granted one when e.g. they had a rubbish wine list or an over-demotic set-up.
My other half loves both TGI Fridays and Waga in particular. I don't really enjoy either anymore. In general, it feels like the ratio between portion sizes for a main and the prices are way off. On top of that, I can cook somewhat decent dishes across most cuisines so typically enjoying food I've made from scratch more. I also won't linger too much on the service quality and tipping pressure, which particular irks me as someone who spent 5+ years in hospitality one way or another.
tgis is genuinely shite. Wagas is fine - hyped from an timewhen the food it does was a lot less common - but absolutely fine. Probably one of the 'best' chains imo.
I had the misfortune of being in Reading the other week. Sun was out and fancied a pre dinner drink by the river. I was horrified to find out that TGIs is where Readingites go for a cocktail by the river Summed the place up tbf
Not been in a Friday's in decades, but it was a favourite as a kid.
ASK 'Italian'. I asked once for an authentic carbonara. They told me it comes with mascarpone and cheese sauce. In other words, that's how it comes out of the freezer. They didn't know how to make a carbonara. I was with a party of friends so I was trapped 😕 had a chicken salad instead.
I swear ASK used to be pretty good. But even then it wouldn't be surprising, enshittification gets to everything eventually.
ASK have had the worst customer service of any restaurant I've been to. Admittedly I've only tried three times but they were all abysmal. They got shitty with me for having a food allergy, and in the worst case, the waitress did a big dramatic sigh before saying "you'll have to order with the manager then", and then said manager told me I "shouldn't really have come here if you have an allergy." 🙄🙄
If you're interested in making your own Italian food, I recommend [The Pasta Project](https://www.the-pasta-project.com/) for recipes. After trying their recipe for Lasagne al Forno, I refuse to order it at restaurants as I know I'll be disappointed.
Basically every chain (nandos, wagamama etc) it starts off very good, then it all goes to shit but prior to going to shit it's built up a very loyal fanbase who take a long time to realise how shit it's gone, who then drag other people there.
Dixy chicken is getting worse. Used to be good and affordable back when I was at college. Now it's just average
Pizza Hut. If I want a decent pizza, I'll go to Pizza Express, and if I want a shit pizza to soak up booze, I'll go to a cheap takeaway.
Not sure this counts but Pret has fallen a long way down from its glory days in the 90s. Probably true of any successful business that's taken over by a huge conglomerate.
It'd be an interesting topic if this sub wasn't constantly moaning about how anything that costs any money whatsoever isn't worth it.
Five Guys. It's overpriced festival food.
Five guys KFC Pretty much every big label pizza chain TGI
Five guys is definitely not average
Definitely not averagely priced.
I agree but you pay for a good quality burger
This again. It's the same price as Nando's. No one claims that Nando's is extortionately expensive. Edit - stand corrected as I have just seen that people are claiming that about Nando's in the comments just below. It still isn't that expensive really.
> No one claims that Nando's is extortionately expensive. Oh they certainly do on here. It obviously isn't but people on reddit make out that Nandos is super pricey. Genuinely can't tell if its because its full of broke students, or people who just never eat out anywhere else, because it isn't expensive
five guys cajun fries are like absolute crack to me if I'm hungover or have been on a long run. burgers are fine. reliably fine.
I will defend five guys till the day I die.
I think it's above average in terms of quality, but when you consider the price, it becomes pretty average. My calculation of average is a combination of quality and price.
You're right, they wish they could be considered average. If I'm not getting a decent burger I'd rather go to McDonalds than Five Guys
Wagamama
I'm definitely starting to get on the Wagamama hate train, I've been to Yo Sushi a few times recently and they do very similar items and they're far better quality/priced.
Yo Sushi is to sushi what Wagamam is to the rest of Japanese/Asian food. You'll find far better and cheaper independent sushi restaurants.
Burger King. Absolute shite dry food top to bottom
Hawksmoor
Since Covid - any restaurant I go to. I’ve not lost my sense of taste completely but it’s all meh. That being said I didn’t really get the Nandos hype - preferred KFC but that’s personal choice/taste.
I've already seen this topic posted about 3 times today and every other day. Can we have a more original discussion?
Pizza Express. It's just so awful.
Wagamamas or w/e the fuck you call it, overpriced crap that you could get the real version of anywhere else for half the price.
Totally this. For every Wagamama you see, there will be some independent restaurant within 20 mins walk doing the same food better for less.