Let's dine out..

[HodgePodge]

Since I'm a Vegetarian, I am very picky about where I go out to eat. In my town, there is an Asian restaurant (which won Best Vegetarian, Best Asian, Best All-Around Restaurant). The owner and her husband are fantastic cooks, the food is great and I love to eat there. But I try to only go out to eat on special occassions … so mostly, I do my own cooking and eat at home. At least then I know what my food consists of and how it is prepared.

[[T]osHiro]

...there is an Asian restaurant (which won Best Vegetarian, Best Asian, Best All-Around Restaurant).

Ooh, does it serve anything else other than Fried Rice, Spring Rolls and Sweet and Sour Chicken?

...I do my own cooking and eat at home. At least then I know what my food consists of and how it is prepared.

Oh yeah, this reminds me of dish in a restaurant near my house. They use too much starch for the gravy, it look goo-ey that you can't tell if the cook had.... well, add anything 'extra' in it.

[DaemianLucifer]

Ooh, does it serve anything else other than Fried Rice, Spring Rolls and Sweet and Sour Chicken?

They would also have sweet and sour pork

[asandir]

Well I do like Chinese, and also some obligatory fast food, but the favourite has to be pizza, we have a place here in WA called Il Padrino's and the dude makes the best pizza's around - they have bugger all toppings and a tiny amount of sauce, no cheese either, but the base is so goddam tasty and the sauce a perfect compliment that you just don't need much in the way of toppings, my favourite is artichoke hearts with ham and mushrooms ..... yummy!!!!

[ByteBandit]

I'll eat just about anything. For health conscienious people, remember not only is it fat you watch out for, it's the salt! Very bad for you. I always ask to remove as much salt as possible in all foods I order. Most places, even gourmet ones use canned products in their food that contain more sodium than your body needs for the day.
Having said that, I like eating at the local Casinos. Tribal Natives have them all over the state where I live, dotted out in the countryside. They serve a mean baked Salmon with baked potatoes and fresh Asparagras. And I don't like a sauce over them. And it's all you can eat.
For a burger, I like the Buffalo Burger they serve about 30 miles out of town. It's not made of beef as the name implies. And they use Red Potatoes for French Fries with a homemade Tartar Sauce.

[DaemianLucifer]

I'll eat just about anything. For health conscienious people, remember not only is it fat you watch out for, it's the salt! Very bad for you. I always ask to remove as much salt as possible in all foods I order. Most places, even gourmet ones use canned products in their food that contain more sodium than your body needs for the day.

Blasphemy!There is no such thing as too much salt!

[Mytical]

(Disconnect stole my post so if this is a double I appologize). Right now my friend Karen is cooking for me. She is a wonderful cook, and even makes veggies that I can eat (this is hard to do). I will try to get her to share her recipies..but if she declines I will leave it at that. Currently my favorite is her Stuffed Celery (which actually isn't stuffed per se because the 'stuffing' is on outside not inside).

[winterfate]

Blasphemy!There is no such thing as too much salt!

Well, if you value your life, there actually is .

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/392755.stm

(Disconnect stole my post so if this is a double I appologize). Right now my friend Karen is cooking for me. She is a wonderful cook, and even makes veggies that I can eat (this is hard to do). I will try to get her to share her recipies..but if she declines I will leave it at that. Currently my favorite is her Stuffed Celery (which actually isn't stuffed per se because the 'stuffing' is on outside not inside).

I'm very picky with vegetables myself. I like lettuce, corn, broccoli and rice. That's it. If the vegetables in question are in Chinese rice though, I'm a little more tolerant .

As for my tastes, I love pizza and hamburgers (the classic American diet ). I love to eat Orange Chicken from Panda Express too (that's my little addiction ).

[DaemianLucifer]

Cooked vegetables=awful vegetables.Raw is the only way to go,except for very few exceptions.

[Mytical]

Well the celery part is no cooked, the 'stuffing' that goes onto the Celery is. (Again don't ask me what it is, may be best if I don't know hehe).

[BoardGuest808888]

Well, I don't go out dinner very often, especially since I used to cook my own food.

But there's some Chinese food restaurants in my town that had really good dish, and cheap too. I like to eat Chinese food a lot, even more so than Japanese or Western food.

Since I'm vegetarian, I rarely goes to fast food chains like McDonald's or Wendy's. The only one I really like is vegetarian pizzas from Canadian and Pizza HUT.

If I go out of town, I prefer to dine at local road-side traditional stands. Every regions in my country offers different kind of dishes and cookings. The experience sometimes is better than those from fast-foods restaurants.

Cooked vegetables=awful vegetables.Raw is the only way to go,except for very few exceptions.

You're quite right.

[[T]osHiro]

Blasphemy!There is no such thing as too much salt!

Come to my country then, you'll understand that there's no such thing as no salt in any dish.

The worst part is the amount of sugar some people use daily in our country. I know lots of restaurants that can make any dish (even curry) sweeter than candy.

[Panda Tar]

Sugar goes nice to cook sauce for macaroni. Putting salt on sweets also increase the flavor of the sweet itself (of course, is small quantity).

[Corribus]

The place I go to most often is Panera Bread, usually for lunch on the weekends. If I'm in Chicago, by far the best place to eat is Gino's East, where they make pizza correctly.

Panera is pretty good. I eat there occasionally, but I feel it's a little overpriced.

Around here, people love them some Taco Bell. I have no idea why. I don't go there at all, but nearly every time I drive past one there's a line of 6+ cars at the drive-thru.

I don't really see the fascination with TB either.

Butter has gotten a bad rap for some reason. As long as you're not eating several sticks of butter per day, I don't see anything wrong with it. I'd rather have real butter over something that kinda sorta looks and tastes like butter (i.e., margarine).

Well it's gotten a bad rap because it's very high in saturated fat. And true, all things equal, nut oils are much better for you. But there's no reason not to use butter in small portions because the flavor is completely different. Also it's irreplaceable in baking, for chemical reasons. And margarine is awful. It's no better for you than butter and tastes half as good.

Cooked vegetables=awful vegetables.Raw is the only way to go,except for very few exceptions.

Maybe you've never had them cooked well, then!

[ThunderTitan]

Blasphemy!There is no such thing as too much salt!

I know someone that likes to eat a handfull of salt without anything. You?

[Kristo]

Panera is pretty good. I eat there occasionally, but I feel it's a little overpriced.

I disagree. An average meal at Panera/St. Louis Bread Company is roughly $2 more expensive than McDonald's, but the food is 100 times better. That's worth the extra expense to me. Also, word on the street is that Fourbucks wants to break into the food market, offering sandwiches and such. If so, the competition might help lower the prices a little.

Butter has gotten a bad rap for some reason.

Well it's gotten a bad rap because it's very high in saturated fat.

It's high in monounsaturated fat, the kind that's the least bad for you. At any rate, this is not a thread about butter. Moderation in all things, including moderation.

[DaemianLucifer]

Maybe you've never had them cooked well, then!

I did.I ate them prepared in the best ways possible.But aside from potatoes and ocasional cabage meals,the rest is plain awful.And not just awful,but useless as well.

I know someone that likes to eat a handfull of salt without anything. You?

And where can I find that persone?Because,there can be only one!

[Corribus]

I disagree. An average meal at Panera/St. Louis Bread Company is roughly $2 more expensive than McDonald's, but the food is 100 times better. That's worth the extra expense to me. Also, word on the street is that Fourbucks wants to break into the food market, offering sandwiches and such. If so, the competition might help lower the prices a little.

OK, when you compare to McD's, I agree the 2$ is well worth it. Starbucks does sell sandwiches already and they are outrageously priced (no surprise) and not that good, either.

It's high in monounsaturated fat, the kind that's the least bad for you. At any rate, this is not a thread about butter. Moderation in all things, including moderation.

It's much higher in saturated fats than monounsaturated fats, AND it has a lot of cholesterol. It still is better for you than hydrogenated oils, which contain trans fats. And to relate this back to eating out, the reason it's better to cook at home is because you have control over how much butter and other saturated fats go into your meal. The thing about butter is that it only takes a little to impart a butter flavor. If I want a butter flavor in my dish, I usually use a little bit (usually less than half what a recipe might call for) and then supplement with some oils (peanut, grapeseed, or olive). At restaurants you have no idea how much they are using for their dishes.

I did.I ate them prepared in the best ways possible.But aside from potatoes and ocasional cabage meals,the rest is plain awful.And not just awful,but useless as well.

Well you haven't had them prepared by ME. And I'm not sure why you think they are useless.

[DaemianLucifer]

And I'm not sure why you think they are useless.

Because most of them arent very termal resistant and loose over half of their nutritious value that way.

Oh,I forgot to mention onions there,but those are actually a side dish so thats the reason.

But nothing can compare with a raw salad(no vinegar,no salt,no nothing,just chopped salad).

[ThunderTitan]

Well you haven't had them prepared by ME. And I'm not sure why you think they are useless.

Because eventualy you'll be dead anyway and ate foul tasting food. D'oh.