Shipped in meals

[lindosfan1]

When I eat out at a restaurant I expect food cooked fresh by a chef for me. Not high end but any restaurant.
There are pub chains in the UK that do serve microwaved meals, they are cheaper but the quality is not there.
I would have thought that any food that requires spices EG curries to be cooked to order.
Therefore the establishments that do sell food prepared in advance should be named. It is wrong to say shamed but if they state it is fresh it should be fresh. That way you have a choice where you eat.

[GLCQuantum]

Most of my meals (when I'm in Bangkok) are pre-cooked as I eat them in the comfort of my own home. Make a big order, stuff it in the freezer then eat as and when I'm ready. Good food at good prices. Pork pies, gravy and peas, sausage rolls (2 jumbo), curries (large size with rice), scotch eggs (x4), pasties (2 jumbo), cottage pie (with gravy), Sausage and mash (large enough for 2).

That said...

I'm not a restaurant putting a 50% mark up on it.

As someone else said on this thread. If it tastes good and it's at decent prices - no harm done.

If any of the ready meals that I stated above are being given at a price of over 110 baht (a 20% mark up) then... Houston - we have a rip off!

One little gem of this thread is that 'Richie' has said that he does all these ready made meals. If I was in Hua Hin, I'd be all over him in a heartbeat stocking up my freezer. As it stands, I have my guy on Rama II. A few PM's to Richie would be coming from myself otherwise to see if he can deliver the goods at reasonable prices.

If it's at Hua Hin seller's own strange little pricing range that they have conjured up for themselves then...



... cheaper in Bangkok. (2 hours away). Load up and ,with the petrol, you'd still save yourself some money.

Lindosfan said...

There are pub chains in the UK that do serve microwaved meals

Change 'there are' to 'most'... You do realise that chicken and chips doesn't normally take 3 minutes don't you?

All joshing aside... if ya paying peanuts for a meal (a few quid) you can't complain about where it comes from. (Oh no... hang on. The English CAN can't they... *cue horible flashbacks of the horsemeat incident*)

[Bristolian]

When I eat out at a restaurant I expect food cooked fresh by a chef for me. Not high end but any restaurant.
There are pub chains in the UK that do serve microwaved meals, they are cheaper but the quality is not there.
I would have thought that any food that requires spices EG curries to be cooked to order.
Therefore the establishments that do sell food prepared in advance should be named. It is wrong to say shamed but if they state it is fresh it should be fresh. That way you have a choice where you eat.

When it says "home baked" you should check exactly who's home it was baked in. Same goes for curries in "pub grub" establishments and even the Sunday roast meats, many are microwave or boil in the bag!

It clearly depends on the "spend".

[dtaai-maai]

I would have thought that any food that requires spices EG curries to be cooked to order.

In my bachelor days (between marriages) in the UK, I was a firm believer in keeping a pan of curry on the go and topping it up from time to time. Curry always seemed better after a day or two to... mature...
Recently Mrs D-M went off to places north for a few days and left me to fend for myself. A trip to the soi 80 Indian restaurant provided sustenance in the form of several (later reheated) takeaways that did me very nicely indeed, thank you. Same principle, surely?

(Not to mention the almost forgotten pleasures of cold leftovers for breakfast from the tinfoil tray... <sigh>)

[richard]

I would have thought that any food that requires spices EG curries to be cooked to order.

In my bachelor days (between marriages) in the UK, I was a firm believer in keeping a pan of curry on the go and topping it up from time to time. Curry always seemed better after a day or two to... mature...
Recently Mrs D-M went off to places north for a few days and left me to fend for myself. A trip to the soi 80 Indian restaurant provided sustenance in the form of several (later reheated) takeaways that did me very nicely indeed, thank you. Same principle, surely?

(Not to mention the almost forgotten pleasures of cold leftovers for breakfast from the tinfoil tray... <sigh>)

Now I'm drooling. Especially a cold breakfast of curry. I'm still a great believer in the longer you leave a curry or heavily spiced meal the better it tastes and even better if you add to it on a daily basis.

sorry,

[GLCQuantum]

Richard said...

I'm still a great believer in the longer you leave a curry or heavily spiced meal the better it tastes

Try tucking in to a 'Laab Moo' or 'Nam Dtok Moo' after it's been sitting in the bag all day...

[caller]

My Turkey stew (meat frozen on Christmas day) is on its 3rd and final day. Its sat in the pot on the hob since initially being prepared and cooked on Monday. I just re-heat when I'm hungry. Its great, I added Chorizo and pimento to give it that warming smoky feel, with a little heat. I mainly use the brown meat for stew and I've still enough left over for another one, not to mention 3 servings of the white meat still to be used!

[margaretcarnes]

My Turkey stew (meat frozen on Christmas day) is on its 3rd and final day. Its sat in the pot on the hob since initially being prepared and cooked on Monday. I just re-heat when I'm hungry. Its great, I added Chorizo and pimento to give it that warming smoky feel, with a little heat. I mainly use the brown meat for stew and I've still enough left over for another one, not to mention 3 servings of the white meat still to be used!

Which is great Caller - and many of us do just the same with no problem. But the restaurant trade - at least in the UK - can't risk that for fear of the Environmental Elf. Probably rightly so. And in the LOS the tradition is to use fresh food every day, which is a good thing IMO, and far better than having pre packed meals re-heated to order.
But cost and profit margins rule, together with the not inconsiderable influence of customer demand for fast food.
You get what you pay for anywhere. People who want fast food deserve what they get. Those who are prepared to pay more and spend much more time over a meal can expect quality.
For me the best compromise - if compromise is the right word - is a restaurant on HH Night Market where fresh food is cooked to order (and can be seen to be cooked) at very reasonable prices with good friendly service. What more can you ask?

[Dannie Boy]

My Turkey stew (meat frozen on Christmas day) is on its 3rd and final day. Its sat in the pot on the hob since initially being prepared and cooked on Monday. I just re-heat when I'm hungry. Its great, I added Chorizo and pimento to give it that warming smoky feel, with a little heat. I mainly use the brown meat for stew and I've still enough left over for another one, not to mention 3 servings of the white meat still to be used!

During my working career I had responsibility for the food that we provided to our staff at a number of establishments and did some research into food hygiene. Whilst it's a big subject, one of the "golden rules" regarding cooked food storage was that it should be kept either hot or cold, so kept in a fridge rather than on the hob, where bacteria multiplies and can contaminate the food, which may not all get killed off when reheated - hence food poisoning!!

[caller]

Agree with that, learnt to my cost (the trots!), that the 4th day is a day to far! Only make enough for three now. And I make 3-days stews regularly in winter!

[GLCQuantum]

^

I think the three day rule is a good marker.

My Dad will cook a mean chilli con carne (is that how it's spelt?) sometimes when I come home to Hua Hin. He will always do far too much knowing that the dustbin (me) is around. That, like your turkey stew, will usually just sit there in the pan on the hob till I've finished it off. Normally around the three day mark I've done just that. I don't even reheat the thing most times ! Never had a problem.

[Henry 14th]

its been going on in the uk for years its stored in a depot and shipped out over night to the big pub chain as mentioned above its all to do with cost and portion control etc ,im sure its pre cooked and measured in quite a few places here too

It has been going on in the UK 'pub chain' and that is why the food is utter shite in the majority of pubs back home. Very few home cooked food pubs exist (at least where I come from) and it a real shame. The deal may well be '2 meals for 7.99' but you can probably get better at McDonalds.

[Chromeman]

It has been like this in Norway too, like in all the roadside taverns where the food often were made by industrial food producers. But in the last years, there has been a lot of focus on this, both on the boring and bland food and that they often have too much additives like salt, so many have now started to make the food 100% them selves and as far as possibly, with locally produced food.