# Where do you eat?



## Just a Guy (Mar 27, 2012)

Been reading several threads lately about people who are complaining about food.

As a self professed food snob, it always surprises me that most of the people complaining only seem to frequent the big chain stores.

In reality, it doesn't take any more time to stop into the local bakery to grab a coffee and a snack than it does to stop into a McDonald's or Timmy's. Often times the food is made in store, by an actual trained baker or chef and, from my experience, is usually of much higher quality...

For lunch or dinner, the local hole in the wall can be substantially better, and often cheaper, yet most people are too afraid to even try them...many road trips with kid's sports often have parents eating at the local version of whatever chain store is there...

We complain about these businesses taking over, yet most do nothing but support it.

Personally I look for the local hole in the wall shop. Sometimes it's a dud but, more often than not, I've come away pleasantly surprised at least.


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## mordko (Jan 23, 2016)

Agreed... but people, including moi, like to know in advance what to expect. Particularly if in a hurry. And a visit to a Tims or Subway is usually cheaper than a non-chain alternative. 

Given a choice, I prefer outlets which don't make any business sense. Like a Thai restaurant in a small hotel in the middle of nowhere. That usually indicates commitment to genuine quality food.


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

A general rule of thumb in my experience is that the quality of food is inversely proportional to the flashiness of the exterior.

Therefore it can take some adjusting to spot these hole in the wall places. My friends and colleagues typically use Urbanspoon or something

From travelling by motorbike, I feel I've developed an eye to spot them from the street with about the same rate of success

I've asked some people the same thing, and the response was they prefer chains for kids, wifi, bathrooms etc..


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## Just a Guy (Mar 27, 2012)

I'd argue the "price" aspect...it's nearly $4 for a bacon and egg mcmuffin at Mcdonalds, just the sandwich. Similar pricing, if not more, at subway and timmy's. $5 would get you a larger sandwich on fresh baking and using a real egg fresh cooked at a local bakery. 

It may take a little more time, but I haven't found price to be all that different. They are driven by the market just like the chains. And, despite the poor quality of food, I don't find the chains to be all that cheap, especially if you compare apples to apples (subway with its paper thin meat sandwiches vs. A stacked sandwich from the local deli). Have subway give you the same amount of meat and see what it would cost.


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## AltaRed (Jun 8, 2009)

For me, it's all about the odds of finding quality for the money. In our local area, over time, one eventually finds the local mom and pop jewels and thus we frequent the jewels where and when we can more often than some of the chains. That said, some of the small regional chains (not necessarily national or multi-national chains) can be very good. I don't find that reviews like Urbanspoon are very accurate. They seem to be a random walk based on either very different tastes the reviewer has, there have been different cooks on the day being reviewed, or the reviews have been planted (more often the case than not, even on TripAdvisor). So, very much a mix for us locally... perhaps 75% local and 25% chain (regional/national/multi-national).

That said, when we are travelling in new areas, it would be rare for us to try an unknown 'hole in the wall' because of the 'random walk' such an establishment might be UNLESS we see that it is highy popular with lots of traffic at the location. We are rarely disappointed when we migrate to 'new' unknown places that are busy. It just is not worth the risk to have a bad experience when one is travelling and on a specific schedule.


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## mordko (Jan 23, 2016)

Price depends on location, but as a general rule chains have a larger throughput. Those competing with them sell less so they have to set prices higher to survive. Also, Tim et al buy mass produced **** and simply warm it up. Their costs tend to be lower.


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## OnlyMyOpinion (Sep 1, 2013)

I'm a fan of buying our own ingredients and making it at home, whether its a barbequed filet and baked potato with cold beer and wine, pizza or soup.
But when we do find ourselves eating out - in the west, wanting a reliable meal and good selection at a higher price point we still favour Earls. 
In the east, to go cheap and fill the stomach its Harveys. On the road its just a coffee and a muffin till dinner.
I agree, the fast food joints ain't all that cheap. Service and food quality at the sit-down chains really seems to depend on individual management.
Out of country we research ahead of time and also ask our accomodation host and a few locals where they favour - that has led by far to our most enjoyable and memorable meals.


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## AltaRed (Jun 8, 2009)

OnlyMyOpinion said:


> Out of country we research ahead of time and also ask our accomodation host and a few locals where they favour - that has led by far to our most enjoyable and memorable meals.


We find that can be hit and miss. Accomodation front desks are pretty good in their recommendations but Concierge, Bellman, etc. in hotels are more likely to refer to their friends, or whoever provides them with a kickback, rather than a good food experience.


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## Just a Guy (Mar 27, 2012)

mordko said:


> Also, Tim et al buy mass produced **** and simply warm it up. Their costs tend to be lower.


So, by your own admission, you'd rather eat warm **** than food to save money...

I remember once, years ago, me and a buddy decided to try and find the cheapest lunches possible. Each day we'd alternate and try to find something new and cheap...he final straw was his pick of KFC for toonie Tuesday. We were both so sick afterwards we decided it was the worst idea ever. Since then, I always go for quality.

Found some amazing stuff since then...a Somali restaurant where most patrons use the back door, a peri-peri chicken at a Portuguese deli made by a Portuguese grandmother, homemade pasta and sauce, snitzel pounded thin over a platter of potatoes (you can't even see the plate under the snitzel, a Vietnamise/French bakery (makes more sense when you realize Vietnam was a French colony) where you can get a noodle bowl and a croissant...

now I'm hungry.


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

A lot of people don't even want to get out of their vehicles, let alone go into a small restaurant, wait for the waitress, order and then wait for the food.

I think "time" is the most important for people...........right or wrong as it may be.

We have a couple of family restaurants around town that are very busy, but most are falling apart due to lack of business.

I have found that a lot of the success of family type restaurants depends on where the wave of retirees decide to go. 

Who else has time to sit down for an hour for breakfast or lunch on a weekday ?

A lot of employees don't get much time for lunch anymore. My wife's place gets 20 minutes. I used to get 20 minutes.

I have a good friend who inherited a restaurant from his parents. His family works there every day from 8 am to midnight.

Tough way to earn a living.


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## ian (Jun 18, 2016)

When we go out for dinner it is to a local, family owned Thai, Vietnamese, Italian, or Greek restaurant. Never a chain. 

We very seldom go to a fast food joint. If we do it is usually on the road, for coffee, because there is no Starbucks in sight.


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## Eder (Feb 16, 2011)

My idea of fast food is to got to Thrifty's/Sobeys...buy a couple kaiser buns,2 slices havarti, 6 slices smoked turkey from the deli,free package of mustard...about $3.50 for 2 nice sandwiches. Sometimes I go crazy and substitute 2 bagels.

Talking about French bakery's theres a sweet one in Barra de Navidad...he delivers to the boat each morning...


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

When it comes to food I really miss living in Europe. Far fewer chain stores, mostly for the hurried NA tourists, drive-thrus are a rare novelty at some McDs or Burger Kings. Even what's available in their grocery stores is typically better, if you consider quality over quantity. I never saw a Starbucks in Italy but apparently they are coming, I have to imagine for the tourists. I don't understand why someone would pay 5€ for a cup of sugary foam with a flashy logo when you could get the real deal for 1€ on any street corner. There are some amazing immigrant restaurants in major NA cities but the prices are astronomical compared to their home countries


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## olivaw (Nov 21, 2010)

I hesitate to admit this but my ROMEO (retired old men eating out) breakfast club meets a couple of times per week at local casinos. It's cheap. The food at one casino is passable. The food at the other is reasonably good. 

When my wife and I dine out, our favourite place is a little neighbourhood patisserie in Southwest Calgary. http://www.patisseriedusoleil.com It reminds me of the independant patisseries in Montreal.


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## mordko (Jan 23, 2016)

Just a Guy said:


> So, by your own admission, you'd rather eat warm **** than food to save money...


No, not what I said. I said it's cheaper. By my own admission I like to know what to expect. I mostly eat out lunch time and time is the main consideration. Where I am now, mostly go to Subway. Unlike Tims, the quality is ok and, crucially, very fast. There is one non-chain alternative. It's double the time, double the price and no internet. They make nicer soups but Subways sandwiches seem fresher.

Tim... I would only use when driving and it's the easiest reach. 

With our kids hockey teams it used to be Italian chains all the time, so I tend to avoid that now. 

When I actually go out in a city with some choice, it's not a chain. Nor do I like N American diners or holes in the wall. I do read reviews on the internet but also follow a few rules. Different regions have different things to go for. Like in Paris one has to be quite careful. Unless you are paying crazy prices, French food in Paris is designed for tourists and the quality is very average. Other parts of France are a lot better, lots of regional variations. Spain is ok, but better outside Madrid. Belgium and Holland - good food, although I prefer the nonFrench version. Sweden is boring but Germany, Bavaria is ok. French food in Germany and London is better than in Paris. You have to go out of your way or seek foreign cousine to get quality in Paris. Italy is one European country which provides really consistent food quality. I do like Thai, but most N American versions are not great, you have to really look for the right place. US does offer great ribs, although one needs to know the right place. Fish and chips are the best in England, tried many Canadian versions but not once was it good. Also, no good Indian restaurants in N America, not sure why. My favourite non-Israeli Jewish restaurant was a tiny place in Manchester. The good was good, but also... very friendly and funny. Actually, Paris has a couple of really good Jewish places, if one is brave. Chinese - Toronto has some good ones but outside GTA it's invariably crap. Korean... also good in Toronto but none of them taste like in Korea. Toronto in general... yes, lots of good places but also lots of very average ones. Towns around Toronto usually have one or two really, really good places. And KEG is a boring chain but the quality is good.


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## AltaRed (Jun 8, 2009)

mordko said:


> Tim... I would only use when driving and it's the easiest reach.


A bit off-topic but I don't understand how anyone can eat their stuff....really. About 3-4 years ago, I just 'hit the wall' in my ability to get Tim's stuff down my throat and I stopped going 'forever'. Well, until we had a long night on the Coquihalla 2 weeks ago and had to re-route back through Hope and around the long way. Was late and made an almost fatal mistake of grabbing a sandwich at Tim's there. I regretted it on the long drive home thereafter.

P.S. We've grabbed a coffee occasionally while on the road but don't buy anything to eat.


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## mordko (Jan 23, 2016)

Actually, I should mention that Vietnamese restaurants in Canada tend to be reliably good, in my opinion. More so than other Asian cousines. Not sure why.


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## mordko (Jan 23, 2016)

And McDonalds will always be the best restaurant ever. It was the first place which, when opened in Moscow, stayed open for lunches, didn't serve meat products which were off but masked by the smell of garlic and had stuff trained to say "welcome" and "please come again".


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## mrPPincer (Nov 21, 2011)

mordko said:


> Actually, I should mention that Vietnamese restaurants in Canada tend to be reliably good, in my opinion. More so than other Asian cousins. Not sure why.



Call me crazy, but I used to sometimes take a drive for like an hour and a half to a Vietnamese Pho restaurant on the edge of a nearby city just for a big-*** bowl of soup with all the fixins.
___

We have a Chinese restaurant here in my small town, owned by the same family for generations.
They serve the standard 'Canadianized' Chinese food. The food is decent and of dependable quality and I've known the family most of my life.

A fairly recent new addition to the area was a Philippeen food restaurant, just a few tables, not flashy, you might not even notice it driving past. 

All fresh, cooked after you order, which makes phoning in a good plan if you had a time issue.
Friendly, they treated you like family.
My nephew, who is married to a woman from a philippeen family, thinks their food is also a canadianized version, which imho is fine, you do what you need to to survive in the market you have.

The portions were very generous, the food was great, and fresh, the prices were very competitive, and you usually went home with leftovers.

A nice 'hole in the wall' (to steal the term); once people discovered it, it became busier and busier, lots of takeout orders, also lots of pre-booked eat-in orders.
Unfortunately for us, the proprietor has decided to move on and not renew the lease.
I'm sure she will do well where-ever she goes.


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## wraphter (Sep 21, 2016)

mordko said:


> Actually, I should mention that Vietnamese restaurants in Canada tend to be reliably good, in my opinion. More so than other Asian cousins. Not sure why.


I have eaten in numerous very good Chinese restaurants in Toronto. Chinese cuisine is famous.

The Chinese cuisine in Toronto is not "Canadianized". There is great depth, variety and complexity.It is the authentic Chinese cuisine.


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## mordko (Jan 23, 2016)

@MrPPincer, generally I don't mind westernized versions, sometimes they are really good, like Indian food in England. And New York pizza is better than the Napoli version as far as I am concerned. The three types of food that I had a chance to compare, are Korean, Chinese and Thai. Thai can be really good here but a lot of the time they put a lot of sugar and cut on spice. Like I say,... far away little towns in Canada, like Mattawa, may have a really good Thai cook who loves his food and makes authentic dishes even if it makes no business sense. Korean food is usually ok in Toronto, just not quite authentic, can't put my finger on it. Somehow not as exciting. For one thing, you know what you ordered in advance. Chinese is mostly fake and standardized but large cities usually have a few good places.


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## Eder (Feb 16, 2011)

I want all to promise to avoid this place when in Vancouver....nothing to see here ...move along! If you do check it out order fat noodles with every dish.

http://www.peacefulrestaurant.com/menu.aspx


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## Plugging Along (Jan 3, 2011)

We do eat it a fair bit, and where we eat depends on the situation. 

Generally, I will avoid chains for the most part, though there are a few US chains we hit only because we don't have them here. I will run to Tims for a coffee because it's close and cheaper while I am at work, I don't ten have time to go much further. On the the rare occasional our days have gotten away from us and we are running errands and ar busy, will will hit a chain, same if we are travelling and time is a critical factor. Otherwise, we will not go to chains. For sit downs or even take out, I will try and support local businesses. We have always taken our kids to many numerous places, and will often intentionally try something that isn't common.

We prefer to try something we can't get at home. We also, try to only eat things that I cannot make at home, or it's way too time consuming, or it's just better by the restaurant. I am a pretty adventurous cook, and not too bad, so we tend to eat out at local mom and pop shops. When vacation, as long as we are night time rushed, we will often google someone near by, and order things we have never tried before. The more different the better for us.

It has gotten us in some funny situations. We walked into a little Chinese hole in NYC chinatown. It looked really dingy, and was packed with Chinese people. Everything was written in Chinese, with poor translations. I pointed onto the menu, they said something back in Chinese, we received it, we thought we ordered eggplant, I don't think it was eggplant. It was delicious, and odd. We went back to the same place sometime later, ordered the thing got something competently different, it was still good. To this day we don't know if we ate a vegetable, starch, or meat. 

I believe food should be for a sense of adventure, we just look for signs that we may get food poisoning, other than that, everything is fair game. 

Our favourite restaurants in town are local owners where we frequent so much, they know us by name, and ask if we want the usual plus( we always try to change one dish).

I also used to love roach coaches, before food trucks became trendy. I would often have all roach coach day.


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

wraphter said:


> I have eaten in numerous very good Chinese restaurants in Toronto. Chinese cuisine is famous.
> 
> The Chinese cuisine in Toronto is not "Canadianized". There is great depth, variety and complexity.It is the authentic Chinese cuisine.


Well, both exist in Toronto.


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## 319905 (Mar 7, 2016)

Currently visiting family Nanoose Bay area on Vancouver Island, a few of the recent places from my Mastercard ... MILLER'S PUB, SHELTER, THE BLACKFIN PUB LTD, NORTH 48 RESTAURANT LT, JAMES BAY TEA ROOM, BREW PUB, BELLEVILLE'S WATERING, ROCK COD CAFÉ, CROW GATE PUB ... all good, well, North 48 nothing special. And then there's the Lingcod done on the grill ... the "fresh" seafood back home in Ottawa will never taste the same ...


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## Eder (Feb 16, 2011)

OMG...a fresh ling grilled with a bit of olive oil & lime juice....no other fish tastes even close.


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## Dilbert (Nov 20, 2016)

For lunches when working I feel that fast food places are way too expensive, so now I go to a local Longos for some sliced cold cuts and pick up a bun and eat back at the office. Less than two bucks a day and maybe more importantly, zero sales tax.


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## Spidey (May 11, 2009)

Not exactly fine dining but for something quick and inexpensive, the Ikea restaurant isn't a bad option and a better/healthier alternative to the burger joints. My wife and I both our meal, 2 Big Rig ales, and dessert for $30.00.


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## OnlyMyOpinion (Sep 1, 2013)

Aaaaaaaaaaah. No Spidey, please. :eek2:
You can be a furniture store or a restaurant - but you can't be both.


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## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

Spidey said:


> Not exactly fine dining but for something quick and inexpensive, the Ikea restaurant isn't a bad option and a better/healthier alternative to the burger joints. My wife and I both our meal, 2 Big Rig ales, and dessert for $30.00.


I plead guilty to visiting Ikea when I saw a sale (I think it was the meatballs). It was a good deal.

Was it Ikea that had the meatballs containing horse meat? Oh man.


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## heyjude (May 16, 2009)

One of the benefits of being retired is that I am seldom in a hurry. I now have more time to cook. Practice makes perfect, or at least, leads to improvement. Hence, my favourite place to eat these days is Chez Moi. Prices are very reasonable, there is free parking, the ambience is very relaxing, and the menu gets better all the time.


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

james4beach said:


> I plead guilty to visiting Ikea when I saw a sale (I think it was the meatballs). It was a good deal.
> 
> Was it Ikea that had the meatballs containing horse meat? Oh man.




i have this friend who charmingly thinks Idea cuisine is wonderful. So when shopping one day, we had to stop for lunch. It was meatballs. Meh.

a fond memory i have is my 7-year-old telling a friend that his favourite meal in the world is "Mom's meat loaf."

of course he was only 7, an age when they traditionally adore their mothers. Alas it doesn't last. Forward 7 years & the family kitchen is now producing GMO'd pesticide-poisoned slop. Another 7 years & they are running home for a free meal every weekend, begging for meat loaf. I hear it's worse for italian families, their offspring often come home to eat until the age of 30 or more.

.


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## Plugging Along (Jan 3, 2011)

HP | your post reminds me of that old commercial where there are two elderly parents on the kitchen and their very grown son is eatin and enjoying their home too much. THe father yells at the mother 'Stop feeding him cheese'.


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## SMK (Dec 10, 2015)

heyjude said:


> One of the benefits of being retired is that I am seldom in a hurry. I now have more time to cook. Practice makes perfect, or at least, leads to improvement. Hence, my favourite place to eat these days is Chez Moi. Prices are very reasonable, there is free parking, the ambience is very relaxing, and the *menu gets better all the time*.


Great post, when may I come over? There's nothing like homemade cooking, and in addition to the above, it's much healthier-cleaner!


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

Plugging Along said:


> HP | your post reminds me of that old commercial where there are two elderly parents on the kitchen and their very grown son is eatin and enjoying their home too much. THe father yells at the mother 'Stop feeding him cheese'.




in some families they come home with their laundry. Would you believe i once had a married italian client age about 32 who still took his shirts home to his mother to be laundered & ironed to his liking


.


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## SMK (Dec 10, 2015)

Spidey said:


> Not exactly fine dining but for something quick and inexpensive, the Ikea restaurant isn't a bad option and a better/healthier alternative to the burger joints. My wife and I both our meal, 2 Big Rig ales, and dessert for $30.00.


Haven't been at IKEA in years, but when shopping there, always liked their soups.

Not sure about being the healthier alternative, at least not for those who go for their more popular dish. Diners who enjoy a meatball dinner with a cinnamon bun will consume 1,318 calories, 62 grams of fat and 2,532 milligrams of sodium. That’s the same number of calories and more fat and sodium than what’s found in a double cheeseburger, regular order of fries and medium chocolate sundae from Dairy Queen. https://www.thestar.com/life/2015/0...althy-meal-at-ikea-the-dish-investigates.html


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## Spidey (May 11, 2009)

We had the veggie ball plate. The veggie balls are made of chick peas, other vegetables and spices. Comes with a side of spicy lentils and some mixed vegetables. (The mixed vegetables seemed previously frozen but what can you expect for $5 and change.) We both had a pint of beer and a dessert. Not an alternative to fine dinging but a great alternative to other fast-food. And having a beer or glass of wine is a nice touch. We liked the veggie balls so much that we bought a couple of bags. The salmon dinner also looks interesting and would be fairly healthy. And of course those watching the calories they could always skip the dessert and beer.


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## Just a Guy (Mar 27, 2012)

Personally, I try to live by the rule not to eat at a place that isn't better or different than I can make at home. Since I'm a pretty good cook, that limits me a lot. Since I can usually replicate anything I eat (unless I'm not familiar with the ingredients), and can improve on it by using higher quality ingredients, I've ruined a lot of restaurants for my family. 

My kids love steak for example, but now a high quality steak seems to be a sirloin...something I tend to use for stew meat, Korean bul go gi, roulades, etc.


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## Spidey (May 11, 2009)

Generally we only tend to go for something we cannot make at home as well - usually ethnic foods. Perhaps I lack sophistication but generally I find that once I pay past about $25.00 per plate that I am almost always disappointed. I almost always can't help thinking that I could get as good or better meal for about 22 bucks. Had such an experience at a highly-rated place just recently.


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## CalgaryPotato (Mar 7, 2015)

I prefer local places mostly. But Calgary is very chain heavy. And a lot of the local places have gone downhill to dive quality, because no one goes to them, because they are all going to the chain places.


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## olivaw (Nov 21, 2010)

CalgaryPotato said:


> I prefer local places mostly. But Calgary is very chain heavy. And a lot of the local places have gone downhill to dive quality, because no one goes to them, because they are all going to the chain places.


I'll say. Drive down Macleod Trail from the south and you'll pass almost every major restaurant chain in North America. 

If you live in SW, check out Patisserie du Soleil for breakfast or lunch It's in a strip mall in the Woodbine area (far end of the mall from the safeway). It's a bakery with full table service and a full menu. 

Bobby's Place Olde World Tavern is good if you like traditional pub style food. It is slightly more expensive than other pubs but it tastes far better than you'd expect. It's owned by a local couple.


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## Mukhang pera (Feb 26, 2016)

heyjude said:


> One of the benefits of being retired is that I am seldom in a hurry. I now have more time to cook. Practice makes perfect, or at least, leads to improvement. Hence, my favourite place to eat these days is Chez Moi. Prices are very reasonable, there is free parking, the ambience is very relaxing, and the menu gets better all the time.





Just a Guy said:


> Personally, I try to live by the rule not to eat at a place that isn't better or different than I can make at home. Since I'm a pretty good cook, that limits me a lot. Since I can usually replicate anything I eat (unless I'm not familiar with the ingredients), and can improve on it by using higher quality ingredients, I've ruined a lot of restaurants for my family.
> 
> My kids love steak for example, but now a high quality steak seems to be a sirloin...something I tend to use for stew meat, Korean bul go gi, roulades, etc.


Both of the above posts point out what is, I suppose, obvious. If you are a good cook and/or someone at home is a good cook and enjoys cooking, it gets harder and harder to find a good restaurant. It's disappointing to go out and pay a lot more than you would pay to produce the same meal at home, only to receive inferior quality.



Plugging Along said:


> We prefer to try something we can't get at home. We also, try to only eat things that I cannot make at home, or it's way too time consuming, or it's just better by the restaurant.


Same here. But, again, as your skill develops, the list of things you cannot do better at home gets shorter.

I like to cook and I have developed a handful of specialties. But I pale in comparison to my wife, who worked as a cook in restaurants in S.E. Asia, primarily Filipino and Chinese places. She worked on-call as a relief cook at a Malaysian restaurant in Vancouver and, since leaving Vancouver, she has worked seasonally as a cook at a resort. I am spoiled. But, come to think of it, I have never known her to make meat loaf. She makes embutido, a Filipino version of meatloaf, but I'll bet hp's kids would not accept it as meatloaf. 

It's long gone, but one of my favourite places was a small restaurant in Kamloops, B.C. called the Grassroots Teahouse. It was smack in the middle of Riverside Park and run by a family. Whenever business took me to Kamloops for a few days, I would go there one night, with a couple of colleagues. Anyone here on cmf remember it? Open for dinner only, for a small number of diners. Mom did most of the cooking and dad and the daughters helped out. No other employees. There was no menu. The idea was to call ahead and ask what was being served on any particular night. It might be, for example, roast beef tonight, grilled salmon tomorrow night, pork ribs the next, etc. All accompanied by a range of veggies and always a salad. Good variety. 

So dinner would be served at 7 and you would be asked to show up at 6:30 for drinks and appetizers. There would be homemade pickles and bread. All was brought out and served as it would be at a family gathering at home. Fine china tureens and serving platters to be passed around. Nothing served up in the kitchen. Seconds were usually available. An emptied platter would be recharged. Desserts were all fresh and taking advantage of seasonal fruits and berries, etc. 

My wife says she would like to open a place like that. However, I do not see to many coming here by boat to get it and the tiny local population would not support it. So she has to settle for me as her regular customer. And I am a lousy tipper.


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## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

humble_pie said:


> in some families they come home with their laundry. Would you believe i once had a married italian client age about 32 who still took his shirts home to his mother to be laundered & ironed to his liking
> 
> 
> .


HP - his first name wasn't "Nick", by any chance, was it? 


..


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## DealClaimer (Apr 1, 2016)

I eat at home if I have the opportunity. I use to eat out for lunch, wherever available, when I am at work. But I decided to make my own meals which I make every weekend and have it packed in serving portions. I did not know that this could lessen my expenses that much plus, I am certain that what I am having now is a healthier alternative.


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

Just a Guy said:


> ... As a self professed food snob, it always surprises me that most of the people complaining only seem to frequent the big chain stores.
> 
> In reality, it doesn't take any more time to stop into the local bakery to grab a coffee and a snack than it does to stop into a McDonald's or Timmy's. Often times the food is made in store, by an actual trained baker or chef and, from my experience, is usually of much higher quality ...


Partly true ... the ones I am aware of open about an hour after my start time at work. The ones that are open, add fifteen minutes to thirty minutes to the commute.

Much easier for me to brew my own at work, on the coffee front.




Just a Guy said:


> ... For lunch or dinner, the local hole in the wall can be substantially better, and often cheaper, yet most people are too afraid to even try them ...


Hmmm ... lunch / dinner is the opposite for my co-workers. I can recall Mandarin as the last chain that visited. https://mandarinrestaurant.com/

Usually it's a Pho place, Vietnamese, Thai, Indian or Korean.


We do have one guy who wants meat, typically along the lines of a burger place or Lone Star but he does not get invited much. :biggrin:

Cheers


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

Just a Guy said:


> ... Found some amazing stuff since then...a Somali restaurant where most patrons use the back door, *a peri-peri chicken at a Portuguese deli* made by a Portuguese grandmother ...


Now you are making my mouth water ... time for another lunch of Peri-Peri chicken at the restaurant downtown.





sags said:


> A lot of people don't even want to get out of their vehicles, let alone go into a small restaurant, wait for the waitress, order and then wait for the food.
> I think "time" is the most important for people...........right or wrong as it may be ...


Which at times is puzzling as some of those who say they don't have time can be seen spending far more than the lunch time socialising then having to stay to get their work done. Me ... I'd rather combine this with a good lunch.




sags said:


> ... Who else has time to sit down for an hour for breakfast or lunch on a weekday ?
> A lot of employees don't get much time for lunch anymore. My wife's place gets 20 minutes. I used to get 20 minutes ...


Likely it depends a lot on where one works ... some of the small places that we go to, if the departure isn't 11:45am or earlier - your party isn't getting a table until close to 1pm or later.


Cheers


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

mordko said:


> Actually, I should mention that Vietnamese restaurants in Canada tend to be reliably good, in my opinion. More so than other Asian cousines. Not sure why.


Excitement that quality ingredients are readily available? Not sure what to guess. :confused2:

My co-worker's wife has a sensitive stomach. Never had a problem at a Vietnamese place but constantly has problems at Chinese places. She is convinced a combination of not cleaning the food carefully enough plus re-using the oil too often is the cause.


I have rarely had a problem ... though have noticed a higher satisfaction with Vietnamese.




wraphter said:


> I have eaten in numerous very good Chinese restaurants in Toronto ...


You know you are in a good place when the asians vastly outnumber everyone else, you can't read the menu and an asian has to tell you that your number has been called to be seated. :biggrin:




james4beach said:


> I plead guilty to visiting Ikea when I saw a sale (I think it was the meatballs). It was a good deal.
> Was it Ikea that had the meatballs containing horse meat? Oh man.


The references I can find say it was the Swedish supplier to Ikea that shipped to Sovakia, Hungary, France, Britain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Ireland. Canadian Ikea's were reported to be supplied from the US and were not affected.


Of course, other than labeling - I am not sure I would have sweated it. My high school class mate used to make his living buying horses then shipping the meat to Europe.


Cheers


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## mrPPincer (Nov 21, 2011)

I love horses, but I also love horse meat.
Salt cured, sliced thin, mmm, a delicacy, but one I rarely eat.

I think all they all go to horse meat for human consumption now and have for a couple decades at least if I'm not mistaken.


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## ykphil (Dec 13, 2009)

My wife and I rarely eat out, simply because we always end up being disappointed by the quality of the food, and the price. Plus between her (Japanese) and me (Italian-Catalan-French), we can usually make better food than what most places serve, even when we use regular off-the-shelf or frozen ingredients. Also we enjoy field cooking while camping, and while I couldn't remember any of the restaurant meals I had in the past year, I can remember vividly some of the memorable dish we prepared on a camping stove while we were camping in the Utah desert last winter. We do go out a few times a year for special occasions and it usually involves food I would not have the time to prepare at home. The only exception to our dining out rule is when we are in Mexico where I don't bother to cook whatsoever. Then again, we eat at mom and pop' taco stands every single day, with the occasional sit-down place Mexican frequented by locals.


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## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

^ Anywhere ... especially where food is free eg. friend's place or soup kitchen. The latter really humbles you.


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## none (Jan 15, 2013)

I don't know what you're insinuating but I have plenty to eat at home.


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## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

^ If you're talking to me - I'm not insinuating anything, just answering the thread's question "where do you eat?". Anywhere and am particularly grateful if the food is free, thinking of all the hunger that goes in the world.


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## none (Jan 15, 2013)

It was a hilarious rob ford reference


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## Just a Guy (Mar 27, 2012)

My wife had never gone camping as a child (4th child, by then her parents had gotten sick of roughing it), so had never eaten "camp food". 

Of course, when I took her camping, I brought things like U4 tiger prawns, beef ribs, baked potatoes, grilled veggies...all cooked over an open fire. She couldn't understand why people complained about camp food...

I had to explain to her that this wasn't exactly "normal" camp food for other people.of course if you prep the food first (marinate the meat and then freeze it, put the veggies in a ziplock with some Italian salad dressing, etc), it travels very well for camping...never did get the beans and hot dogs idea. Of course banana boats are a camp food I did enjoy.


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

humble_pie said:


> Plugging Along said:
> 
> 
> > HP | your post reminds me of that old commercial where there are two elderly parents on the kitchen and their very grown son is eatin and enjoying their home too much. THe father yells at the mother 'Stop feeding him cheese'.
> ...


My Anglo-Saxon aunt coddled her son. She picked him over her first husband who wanted to discipline him. On retirement, she moved closer to him to cook/clean/do laundry/remind him of his medicine.

At her funeral, the speculation was that he would be dead within two years of her ... it turned out to be a generous estimate as he was gone in thirteen months.


Cheers


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## TommyFx (Apr 27, 2017)

in home hehe


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