I can do it better!

I know that normally food tastes better when it's prepared for you (unless you're like a professional chef yourself), which kind of makes sense, since whem you're making the food you're taking in all those aromas before you even start eating, so you don't really get the same experience as the person you're serving.

But do you guys have that one meal that you just have to make on your own because when you eat it in a restaurant for example, it still tastes good, but it's still not quite it?

For me, it's lasagne a la bolognese. It's actually a vegetarian version, because I use soy beans instead of minced meat, but it actually tastes like meat. And it's just so good and I have no idea what I'm doing to make it taste so good, but obviously I'm doing something amazingly. I just don't know what it is. Huh.

Yes, I think it would have to be spring rolls.

English muffin pizzas. I mean, not that you would find them really in a restaurant, but I really enjoy making them. :)

Probably more of a cafe thing than a restaurant thing but Tuna bloody mayonaise. I tend to find that they make it too dry, or with too much mayo. That or there's no other hints to the flavour but Tuna and I like to add a few herbs/seasonings in to the mix when making mine to add to it.

Would take home made over store brought any given sunday.

Pretty much anything I cook at home I prefer to eat because I make it exactly as I like it. I think that my dish is chilli con carne though and anytime I've had it out it's not been right.

I have been a cook for 8.5 years. Most average restaurants are just that. I could better at home. I find especially with pasta that is the case. Unless it is a fine dining or an Italian place, most affordable places (read: chains) can't do pastas if their life depends on it. There's a special place in hell for those who make carbonara with cream.

None that I can think of. I rarely eat anything I usually have at home while I'm out.

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Originally Posted by Formalhaut

English muffin pizzas. I mean, not that you would find them really in a restaurant, but I really enjoy making them. :)

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This!!

But my favourite to make at home that no restaurant ever seems to get right: Cottage Pie.

I consider myself the Harry Potter of the Cottage Pie making world. I am that epic.:cool:

If the mood strikes I can really go for some mashed potato with cheese. Or some pasta with a homemade cheese added roux sauce. Restaurant portion sizes are always too big for me, its why I like buffets and carveries so much.

Last night I did it! Boiled and mashed the potatoes, added margerine, milk, rosemary, a pinch of pepper and loads of cheese. If I die of heart disease, I regret nothing, nothing I tell you...

And I also make a nice toasted sandwich, which café-type-places never seem to get right.

And ultimate cheese on toast (with Worcestershire sauce on it). **drools**

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Originally Posted by The Summoner of Leviathan

I have been a cook for 8.5 years. Most average restaurants are just that. I could better at home. I find especially with pasta that is the case. Unless it is a fine dining or an Italian place, most affordable places (read: chains) can't do pastas if their life depends on it. There's a special place in hell for those who make carbonara with cream.

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To be honest, dishes like pasta and chilli con carne are so basic (yet tasty!) that I kinda feel like I'd be wasting my money in a restaurant by ordering them. It'd be like going to a really fancy restaurant, only to order a burger, you know?

Besides, I prefer the pasta and chilli that I make at home, anyway. :p

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Originally Posted by The Summoner of Leviathan

I have been a cook for 8.5 years. Most average restaurants are just that. I could better at home. I find especially with pasta that is the case. Unless it is a fine dining or an Italian place, most affordable places (read: chains) can't do pastas if their life depends on it. There's a special place in hell for those who make carbonara with cream.

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I agree. The pasta dishes they foisted on me when I was a vegetarian. That and dull gritty breadcrumbs sprinkled on boring vegetables.

Most meals I eat esp cooked foods bc more often than not restaurant food is doused in oil/fat. If I eat out (which I do admittedly almost everyday) Im conscious that it is purely for convenience n social functions. I love making my own food. I control n make the necessary adjustments to my meals to suit my needs n its nowhere near the excessive amounts they use at a restaurant.

If I had to narrow it down to something itd be vegan carrot cake with buttercream icing. Mine's super sweet.

Can fancy chefs make toast as good as me? Can they bollocks. :cool:

Food tastes better to me when it cost's less so I tend to over-rate my own cooking. Though I like cooking my own steaks as restuaraunts have varying definitions of medium rare.

Fajitas. I cook them fairly regularly, and I've always preferred my ones to any I've had in a restaurant.

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Originally Posted by Mr. Carnelian

Fajitas. I cook them fairly regularly, and I've always preferred my ones to any I've had in a restaurant.

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They are nice. In general, any sort of 'homely' or 'comforting' foods, like fajitas, chilli con carne, etc. are almost always worth not ordering at a restaurant. I don't have steak terribly often; why would I order something I have more frequently?

I try not to eat out at places that I think will have food that I could cook better myself. Restaurant dining to me is an exciting opportunity. I would prefer to save the $40 p/h that some people spend on a date night every week/fortnight/month and have two or three $140 p/h meals a year. The bonus being that after any particularly amazing meal I'm more inspired to cook and experiment than ever.

The only cheap/reasonable eating out I do is to some select bistros and pubs that I know are good and I'll usually have the same few dishes there so I know it'll be worth the money. Everything else I feel I would be able to do better given a bit of practice and if it's something not up my alley then Night Fury usually does it (Mexican cuisine, Indian cuisine, stews etc.).