Going out to eat at a restaurant is a luxury, but there are some things that are not worth ordering. Redditor buboop61814 asked, “What’s a dish you no longer order at restaurants because you’ve learned to make it well at home?” Here’s what home cooks said about the dishes they prefer to make at home.
1.
“A good salad. Most restaurants have really boring salads, or they rely on meat to hold up the salad’s flavor. And they are always very expensive for the ingredients and the effort it takes to make. I can make much better salads at home, with different greens, nuts, seeds, fruit, veggies, proteins, and I can customize my dressing, too. I don’t buy salads from restaurants if there is any other viable option.”
2.
“Grilled cheese. And don’t get me started on the audacity of the prices for a grilled cheese at restaurants…”
3.
“Honestly, hash browns from most fast food places. Turns out, the ones you can buy frozen at the grocery store are even better and take only a short time in the air fryer.”
4.
“Alfredo sauce. It’s so simple and easy to make, and it tastes better than the restaurant version most of the time, especially chain restaurants.”
5.
“Avocado toast for sure. A place near me charges $16 for a slice. It’s absurd.”
6.
“Lobster. It’s not that cheap to make at home, but it’s way cheaper than ordering it at a restaurant. And it’s so simple if you just boil the lobster.”
7.
“The big one for me is crab cakes. For the price of one teeny restaurant crab cake, you can buy a pound of jumbo lump meat and make multiple at home. Or one big one. I’m also picky about my crabcakes (Maryland style or bust). They’re simple, especially if you’re just doing them in the oven.”
8.
“Pasta dishes. Making fresh pasta is amazing once you figure it out. Now, when I go out to a restaurant, seeing a $35 plate of pasta is a hard no.”
9.
“For me, it’s steak. I can get a high-quality cut of beef (even get a dry-aged one if I really want) cook it to the proper doneness, and have it ready with the sides I want. I feel that at restaurants, it’s not much better, but it’s always so much more expensive.”
10.
“Eggs. Over easy or over medium or scrambled or an omelet – tastes better at home, and I can eat them while they are hot.”
11.
“I never order soup from a restaurant unless they specifically specialize in it. It’s just not worth it. I can usually make it at home for much less money and with less salt and butter.”
12.
“Salsa. I can make taqueria-grade salsa at home for a fraction of the price.”
13.
“Curry. I can make many versions and varieties at home. No need to pay through the nose for what is essentially a spicy stew.”
14.
“Sandwiches. No way I’m paying $15 for a sandwich and a soda when it’s just a lazy slab of mayo on a dry slice of turkey and a wilted leaf of lettuce with a singular pickle trying its best to keep the whole thing together. And when you go to nicer places, a club sandwich can set you back like $25-$30.”
15.
“Cheesecake. I always thought mine was missing something because friends told me that Carnegie Deli, the place that invented it, was the gold standard for cheesecake. I made the trek from the Midwest to Manhattan to try the original cheesecake. I waited in line for an hour, finally got to the front of the line, and proudly ordered my plain Carnegie Deli cheesecake. I tentatively took the first bite; it tasted exactly like mine. I had already peaked, replicated the original. I had achieved nirvana years before. I could not do better than I already had.”
16.
“I can almost never justify buying a chicken dish in a restaurant because I know I can do it better at home. The one exception to that is Coq au Vin. I’ll leave that to the professionals who have more patience than I do.”
17.
“Crème Brûlée. It’s a much more forgiving dish than it seems, I normally just eyeball the ingredients and once I got the basic technique down, it’s come out perfect every time.”
18.
“Hamburgers. Hamburgers really are a crapshoot when eating out. I’m kind of bewildered by it. A professional chef should be able to make a burger better than I can. Sometimes they do, and it’s mind-blowing, but other times they’re super dry, lacking in flavor, and quite overdone.”
19.
“Swordfish or salmon. Restaurants can’t seem to cook these fish without overcooking them. Do they not have instant-read thermometers? Even high-end seafood restaurants over swordfish.”
20.
“Lasagna. I much prefer my own lasagna. Whenever I make a batch, I make two. It’s just as easy to double the recipe. One goes in the oven, one goes in the freezer for a ready-to-eat meal when you don’t feel like cooking one night.”
Do you have something to add? What is a dish that isn’t worth ordering at a restaurant because it’s cheaper, easier, or straight-up better when made at home? Tell us in the comments or in this anonymous form.
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