Dining Out- an odd proposition

[odd sock]

I am interested in seeing everyone's tips for eating in restaurants... where do you go, what do you order, and how do people generally react?

To start things off, my suggestion is to Pick the Restaurant!
My best experiences have always been in places that I am certain what to expect. The biggest no-brainer is Spanish tapas, where you can find a multitude of LC dishes a la carte, but stay away from the potato-laden tortilla. This is quickly followed by sushi... try sashimi (without the rice) instead of the rolls, and try pickles, soups, and many serve grilled meats, again a la carte.
In these settings, I am eating no differently than any other customer and I get a night away from cooking!


I have questions about Indian and Chinese--- Beyond the obvious of not ordering naan, rice, or noodles, what about the whole cooking processes? Was that Saag Paneer made with cream or buttermilk? Spare ribs sound great but often have a sweet sauce, meat is covered in cornstarch before being stir fried, and sugar is often a 'secret' ingredient. I feel a bit funny asking how everything is made. Am I being paranoid?

What are everyone's favourites?
thanks!

[Havuk]

The wife and I went to Denny's a few days ago and I ordered Steak and Sauteed Shrimp. I told the waiter I did not want any other side orders. He was like, uh, you mean you dont want any bread? What about , uh, soup? I had to repeat myself 3 times before he left. All I want is the Steak and the Shrimp.

When they brought out the food they brought me bread with it. Of course I didnt eat it.

Havuk

[odd sock]

Flashes of, "What part of NO don't you understand?"

Sorry about your experience. Makes you wonder why some places stay open when they don't listen to what the customer wants. What if your request had been due to severe allergic reaction? Uncivilized.

Hey... something I forgot to ask in the general question:
Has anyone been really successful in dining at Italian and Tex-Mex restaurants? Salad and fajitas without the tortillas, sure, but what else when you get surrounded by pasta, etc?

[Lessara]

I love Italian, so what I do is order pasta dishes with veggies instead of pasta. (I'm familiar to sauces so I know what has carbs and which don't) Alfredo's and thin sauses are good.
Last time I had creme Rosa, which is Alfredo with Red wine. I had it over a broccoli/Cauliflower which they put in a pasta bowl... yum!

[EllieEats]

About Denny's....

They have a nice Grilled chicken Ceasar salad--- get the dressing in the side (they always put too much on) and tell them to hold the bread. No problem!!

Also out (other places)-- Greek salad (some put potato salad under it, so ask)
Tell them hold the potato salad and bread and dressing on the side. No problem!!

Then theres always steak, prime rib, pork chops, etc. Side salad (ask if they put croutons--cancel them) and a veggie if they have one you can eat.

I think its easier to eat out the LC way than low fat or salt free!!

Happy eating!!
Ellie :wave:

[carbavoidr]

That's a great idea about the pasta over veggies, I would have Never thought of that. good call, I will try it at old olive garden next time!.

Taco salad no beans leave the shell, it will get all soggy if you eat slow enough. :p

Greek salad with gyro meat on the side is filling. no pita

French Onion soup is good, (no bread) or any clear broth soup, heck, I asked for the chicken rice soup without the rice once. yes, it took them 10 minutes to figure out I just wanted a cup of broth!

For chinese, try egg foo young, light on the gravy, wonton broth, sweet and sour meat with the breading off dipped in hot mustard sauce, they usually have seafood of some kind. buffets are huge in florida. buffets are the easiest in most restaurants...

sonny's BBQ smokes their meat and serves it without sauce, the sauce is on the tables, maybe others are that way? ( I often bring in my own lc brand if you don't wave it around the room no one will notice)

Wings..no breading..hot as you can make them, dipped in sour cream.

stuffed mushrooms, or cherry tomatoes chose seafood or cheese stuffing.

Hamburgers..fancy restaurant, no problem, its not called a hamburger anyway and they would charge you extra for the bun. fast food, order a few double cheese burgers plain, Wendys has a grilled chicken breast, no ketchup, I use the bun to hold it, [tear the bun away before you take a bite, toss it, repeat till you have finished the burger. unless some bread police sees the pile of rubble you left in the wrapper, no one will know.]

Never feel funny about asking, if you were allergic you would ask and not feel funny at all, and they get questions all the time and probably don't think anything of it, (down here in geriatric land it would be amazing if the waiter didn't get asked). you can always try to trick them out of the answer...try... "yumm, this (whatever) sounds/looks just delicious, tell, me their secret on how they prepare it? " :p try to keep a straight face when you do it the first time..laughing gives it away.

My favorites..steak and caeser salad, dressing on side. Then I don't have to think about eating I can enjoy the people I am with..besides after awhile no one will even dare suggest a restaurant that they know won't have good choices.

[jmary]

Hi Odd Sock -
Eating out LCing in the UK is a bit more of a challenge than in the USA, but it can be done. How about a pub lunch or evening meal of steak, or roast chicken. Ask for salad instead of chips. Take the batter off plaice or cod and eat the fish. Shrimp cocktails are marvellous. I probably wouldn't go for the ethnic foods because of the questions about what's in it. Having said that I'm heading out for Balti as soon as I get back! I have friends who'll help me with the details.
Some of the newer "chain" restaurants are anxious to please their customers and you could probably get help there. (Can't rmembr their names right now). I'm not sure if I could deal with a roast beef dinner without roasties and parsnips etc., so I'll probably give that temptation a miss. Although it could be done with sprouts and salad alongside
I'll be looking for your successful sorties into the carb laden world of we Brits. Beans on toast for crying out loud. Lots of people can handle it. I know I can't.
Lots of luck
Jacqueline

[Herald]

I usually go to a steak house like TGI's, beefeater or somesuch, and have steak (choice of about 5 sorts!)or chicken.

Also there's carveries, huge amounts of meat, hold the gravy (or have a tiny bit if you've the spare carbs) and you serve your own potatoes and veggies, so can choose. Carveries are usually pretty cheap too!

If people are going down the chip shop, then order 2 pieces of chicken no chips, with maybe a pickled egg ;) or if you're strong, a bit of fish and pick the batter off :daze:

[odd sock]

Thanks for all the relpies so far!

UK tips are greatly appreciated especially! I was wondering if there was life after chips! AAAAARRRRGGGG!!

I always wondered how to eat a hamburger gracefully. My one experience was to order a double meat, take the meat out of the bun, and then turn them inward so the cheese and mayo was on the inside and eat it like a sandwich. Not very pretty. Needless to say, I have avoided such forays since! hahaha!

French onion soup, Italian veggies, greek salad with gyro meat... mmm, my options are growing!

[carbavoidr]

Wow, I am sooo dense...
I am learning a great deal about the UK and Australia and all, and how different the world is, it makes for some very different challeges. Thanks for the opportunity to share.
Jane

[Snoopy]

This is my favorite 'safe' way to dine out, now.

Here in Sacramento CA, we have several 'mongolian BBQ restaurants: Picture a buffet or Smorgasboard table. You grab a bowl, and file past binsof finely sliced frozen meats (pork, beef, turkey, & lamb, usually), then various veggies( celery, onions, mushrooms, broccoli, tomatoes, cilantro, cabbage, those tiny ears of corn, noodles, etc.), then various oils & sauces (wine, vinegar, ginger, hot oil, sesame oil, teriyaki, lobster sauce, etc), then hand your bowl to a guy slaving over a big, round, flat griddle. He may add some water, and then dumps your bowl on the griddle, & shepherds it around the circumference of the thing, basically stir-frying or saute-ing it for about a minute and a half, then plops it back in the bowl & hands it back to you.

These are generally all-you can-eat operations, so I go up 2 or 3 times, picking 'safe' stuff (lots of meat, then cabbage, onions, mushrooms, & cilantro makes up my usual bowl) I add a tablespoon of cooking wine, some hot oil, some sesame oil, & usually about a quarter teaspoon of crushed garlic. DW & I have water, & tea w/dinner, we tip the cooks a dollar or so each 'pass', & we still get out of the place for under $20, full as we'd like to be!

If you can find a place like this in your area, I heartily recommend trying it out. Places like this aren't terribly elegant, but they make for a satisfying meal that you have complete 'control' over, at a price that makes you grin :D . I don't mind paying top dollar for a nice piece of prime rib in a downtown linen-tablecloth restaurant, but paying that much folding money makes it real hard toss away the steamy baked potato that I love so much! :(

[odd sock]

Sounds wonderful. I have seen them occasionally around the UK, one near Covent Garden and another in Newcastle spring to mind immediately. For some reason, I've never concidered them. Maybe because I always think of all the sugary sauces that you get with BBQ, but now I will definitely take a look next I go by!

[Elora Jade]

A GF and I went out to a nice steakhouse (The Keg)

Anyway I got the top sirloin, explained to the waitress that I was on a special plan, and she told me to take a look at the menu and see what else I could substitite for the corn and the potato, so I got a side cesar, and about a cup of sauteed mushrooms, it was really yummy. Places like that I usually am only there for the steak anyway and I was prepared to only eat the steak, but that was a bonus for sure!

I think that in this day and age with all of the special plans and allergies out there that people have, resturants must adapt or die out!

[Fumih_81]

being in Singapore and surrounded by lots of chinese foods and many other int'l cuisines ....one can imagine how to avoid those complex carbs in order to lose weight steadily.

read carbavoidr's suggestion for eating a burger....sounds interesting ...for me, in order to eat it gracefully.....usually i will throw away the bottom bun because it is quite clean without the sauces....the only problem i have is to avoid eating the top bun with those sticky ketchups, mustard...maybe i shld tell the fast food crew to specially prepare my burgers. :p

and coz the burger has a wrapper....usually i use the wrappers and spread them out so as to cover the art of juz picking out the meat patties and wasting those buns. end up sometimes my nose gets the ketchup. i have to get the napkins on guard to wipe them away :D when i am done with my 'art-making' ...i put back the bottom bun with the crushed up top bun into the wrapper....so at least the bread police may not be able to detect any mess....but a molehill on my tray.

juz as anyone else, at a sushi bar i will prefer to eat sashimi or soft shell crab......but sometimes i still have one or two rice rolls. wonder if anyone tried the steamed egg dish....it may have some carb contents but certainly great.

[GatorGal93]

Snoopy, thanks for the Mongolian BBQ idea. I associated BBQ with the sugary sauces as well. I did a search and I have a Mongolian BBQ restaurant only a mile away from my house! Tonight, I will try it out.

Thanks again!

Julie
:cheer: :cheer: :cheer:

[Snoopy]

Happy to oblige, Gator, hope you enjoy!

I had to laugh at myself when I read Fumih's post: I too have had many "Mustard Noses" when struggling with fast food hamburgers :eek:

I drive around in a Telephone Co. truck all day, so I'm always on the lookout for snacks I can grab 'on the run', as I 've eaten so many bunless burgers that I'm ready to :Puke: !

Lately, I've found a grocery store with a Deli section that sells spicy chicken drumettes (you know, the meatiest third of the chicken wing that looks like a little drumstick). They're great! Skin on, no breading, and the sauce isn't sweet , so you're not picking up a lot of unwanted sauce carbs. Eight of these make a great lunch for only a buck or so more than I used to pay for a 'value meal' at Mickey D's!

[jknowles]

I have to laugh at the detailing of trying to eat a fast food hamburger and remember being down that path myself. I often even though I have an hour for lunch still have to find something fairly simple to eat. My latest favorite is from Wendy's (Yes they have them here in the Bahamas too) I go through the drive thru and order the double cheesburger with bacon added, tell them to hold the ketchup and mustard(I hate Mustard!) and then I order a side salad. When I get my burger I use the cover of the salad tray and dump the burger there and throw away the bun, then I cut it all up and throw it on top of my salad. I have a ranch dressing with 1 carb per 2 TBsp that I keep in the fridge here at work. I use a little of that and then I eat everything up...YUM! My co-workers look at me a little strange, but I enjoy losing the weight and enjoying what I am eating at the same time!

[MistyBee]

A lot of the Chinese resturants here - especially in the Boulder area - now offer a dish that is steamed and had no sauce. So you can order steamed chicken and veggies (rememver to tell them firmly, No rice).

Then you can eat with everybody else when they go out for Chinese!

:)
Misty


:roll:

[GatorGal93]

Snoopy:

Thank you!!!!!!!!
I had Mongolian BBQ last night and it was absolutely fantastic! Of course, I sent back the tortillas and rice. :clap:

If you can help, I have a couple of questions.

1. Do you know anything about the Szechuan Sauce oil? It was the best! Do you think it has lots of sugar? I tried some of the others, but this one was the best.

2. Do they put salt in everything ? My eyes were so puffy this a.m. that I could barely open them. Do you think the salt is in the oil, veggies, meat or all?

Thank you again! I can't wait to go back.

Julie

[Snoopy]

Hi Gatorgal!

Since we're on opposite coasts, I'm hesitant to guess about your local Mong. BBQs presentation, so I'll answer based on what I can infer from mine. (The fact that your place serves up tortillas is novel to me; being a Californian, I'm no stranger to tortillas, but I don't get the thematic link to Mong. BBQ). Our place gives you fried rice, an over-thickened soup, wontons, & little chinese pastries,which all get sent back.

The meat at our place is shaved bits of frozen, raw, pork, beef, turkey or lamb; the vegetables also are in raw state so salt wouldn't be coming from there. The 'sauces' I use most are the cooking wine, ginger, hot oil, & sesame oil. Now I know that if they buy what's commonly sold as 'cooking wine' (usually a Sauterne), that salt is added to that, & it's generally a sweet wine, so there'd be some extra carbs, too. Don't know what's in their Szechwan sauce, but what I would do is either ask to see the ingredients, or go down to your local ethnic food section in the supermarket & compare ingredients on a couple of different types of 'szechuan sauces. Certainly if you're using teriyaki sauce, you'd be getting both sugar and salt, & of course our place keeps soy sauce on the table, and that's quite salty.

Good luck, & happy dining! :D

[GatorGal93]

Thanks a bunch! I am going to check the label on some Szechuan sauces as you suggested. I love spicy things, so I don't know if I could pass up the Mongolian Szechuan sauce oil if I do find out it is bad in carb-land. This may be incorrect thinking, but I think much of the oil is evaporated on that super hot grill anyways.

The wine, mojo, plum etc. sauces looked a little unappealing to me. I think other sauces had been accidentally dribbled in them. The Szechuan oil was a deep red with what looked like crushed red peppers in it. Yum! :yum:

Before I visited the BBQ, my boss told me to load up on the veggies, as they lose their water in the cooking and shrink. But, I had little room for the veggies with all of the yummy meat I had to choose from. Would you like to compare FL to CA?

There was beef, chicken, lamb, pork, Andouille sausage, calamari, scallops, shrimp, mahi, and mixed grill (fish).

Thanks again,
Julie

[Snoopy]

Julie, FL has CA beat nine ways to Sunday!

Meatwise, at least--Our place only has the first four on your list. Mahi?! I'm so jealous! Be careful though; mullosks (scallops & calimari, for example) always show up as containing carbs in my carb-counter books. Your boss is right; the veggies (the meat, too) lose a lot of water during cooking. Unfortunately, the carbs stay, so like you I stock up on lots of meat, and stick to cabbage, onions, mushrooms, & cilantro on the produce side ( I also 'mash down' after I'm done putting meat in the bowl--tacky, I know, but oh well-I'm not touching anyone elses food.

Your 'szechuan' sauce sounds like our 'hot oil' sauce: ours is just oil with the ground pepper 'steeping' inside, and as such, should be fairly safe. I use a little of the 'wine' sauce, but less than 3 or 4 oz., & then we drink tea (plain hot green tea, not that yummy sweet stuff that seems to be everywhere down South. Extra note: once you've ID-d your 'safe' sauces, don't be stingy with them, I usually use4 or five scoops of oils, & 3 or 4 scoops of the watry-type sauces.

Anyway, enjoy!

-Scott

[phat]

the last time I had buffalo wings, I spontaneously squeezed some limes over them, and it was excellent! Just a thought!

[Snoopy]

We started making our own, with salt andcrushed red pepper sprinkled on the raw wings before they pop into the oven (no crumbs, flour or batter). I bet a squeeze of lime after they come out would make them just heaven-like. Thanks for the idea!

[mbschlgr]

OK now when it comes to wings and just about any food, here in Buffalo there is no lack of it!! :lol:

Hubby prepares wings on the grill and then tosses them in Frank's hot sauce and melted butter :yum:

We have the Mongolian BBQ type thing here too and that is such an easy way to go. As to the "salt", most of that frozen meet is salted believe it or not!!!

I order hotdogs, no roll, and of course they always say real loud so the whole place can hear "NO ROLL????"

A favorite of mine is a steak/chicken/tuna ceasar salad NO CROUTONS. And believe me when it comes out with them on it I now send it back. I used to just pick them out, but if I order it a specific way, then it's their fault for not doing it right in that I'm paying for it. Same thing when I order a salad, I just tell them I want lettuce and dressing, nothing else... then you can bet 1 out of 3 times they will "add" something, thinking they are making it "cute" and I send it back.

Another easy order is souvlaki. Either the open which is beef or chicken with a greek salad (leave off the pita) or the breakfast, no potatoes.

When I would tell a restaurant to skip the potatoes, bread, rice, what ever and they would bring it, I would just push it aside, now I've gotten B...s and tell them take it away I said I didn't want it. It really is amazing when you look at their face when yo say I just want plain meat on a plate :lol:

Someone always says "Oh your on Atkins" I always reply now with "No, I just don't eat carbs" end of discussion. Hubby now chimes in with me too, "She just doesn't eat carbs, got a problem with that???" of course that can embarras me, but he means well.

By telling yourself, you just don't eat them confirms that it is a WOL not a diet!!!

Eating out is not as challenging as many would think. Just order the protein, and a salad, tell them to leave the starch off. If its a veggie of the day I can't eat I just say, meat on the plate please. It gets easier each time you say it.

I've thrown away a lot of hamburger buns, and oh the pizza crusts! My friends just laugh now when they see me with a slice of pizza I just ate the top off of. I always try to give it away, but Ive yet to have any takers... just goes int he can with the paper plate.. :D

You are paying for it, so you should have what you want...

I even went to a Chinese restarant once and completely had a custom meal. Ginger Garlic Chicken, no batter on the chicken, and no sugar in the sauce. They did it and it was great!!!!!!

[carbavoidr]

Mary,
I love your attitude when dining out, I just order meat and salad too, but I do it so I don't have to think about what I am eating and try to concentrate on the people I am with...I also TRY not to lecture them on putting the poisonous crap THEY order into their bodies!! :D I don't send stuff back though, cause I know what they do to your food when you do that!! :eek: believe me its better to just toss it to the side. if you have trouble with keeping it at the table, dump pepper or scrape something onto it, I use the bun of the hot dog or burger to hold what I am eating, I just peel it off, take a bite, peel back some more etc, its handy and less noticable except for the mountain of dead bun leavens on the plate when I am done ;) I do ask for the noodle soup without noodles (just broth) and no bread or onions in my french onion soup and that always throws them a bit. keep fighting the good fight
Jane

[mbschlgr]

Oh Jane I don't send the whole meal back!!! :lol:

I just give them what I didn't want and tell them to take it back, I figure why should I look at it it I didn't order it, it doesn't even have anything to do with temptation any more, cause I just con't eat that way... it is more a matter of principle, they need to learn to follow the orders given and to read :read2: what they have written down. I know, it does sound harsh, but it kinda makes it fun to be able to take a stand!!!!! :lol: :devil:

I agree with you, I never say anything to anyone about what they eat, and if someone (that I don't like, or who doesn't even know me) comments to me, I say "do I comment on what you are eating?", my friends tease me lovingly so I laugh with them. They get the biggest kick when I'm eating the tops off slices of pizza or holding 2 plain hotdogs in a napkin!!! That one gets a lot of laughs :blush: