Take a look here:-
http://www.taybarns.com/
You just got to take it easy with the portion size!!

Wow. It reminds me of the all you can eat buffets in America. What's the quality of the food like there?

We went again yesterday for my sons first birthday. My appetite has decreased a lot on low carb and I no longer have a sweet tooth (before this I lived for biscuits and cake), so it was great! I hate roast chicken, ribs and some salad. Then picked at some veg and turkey, but was far too stuffed by then lol

The food quality is sometimes fab and sometimes just ok, but we always love it. My 6 year old thought it was called the 'gay bar' at first and kept chanting asking if he can go there!lol

For a fast food place, I find Nandos great - I have grilled chicken and salad, and no one notices the absence of carbs because I have half a chicken!

However, at the Wetherspoons pub a crowd of us go to, I'm utterly stumped! Everything is carb-based or carb accompanied, and, no, they don't do substitutions. I end up always with the warm chicken and bacon salad, and hope that the honey dressing isn't too carby.

Posh restaurants aren't a problem since you can order what you want, how you want - and the waiters / waitresses are trained to accomodate your whims.

Indian and Chinese are fine with judicious ordering - but you have to stand firm on the no rice, no noodles, no naan, no poppadoms etc!

Urgh! I went to a pub in Edinburgh last week. When I asked for a burger without the bun or chips, the barman refused saying that the cook wouldn't accept that order. I was stumped as to why my order would be frowned upon when I was asking him to do LESS work than normal, i.e. he wouldn't have to fry the chips, nor would he have to toast the bun. CRAZY! It was a Hobgoblin pub btw.

Carluccios now do a gluten free menu which is very low carb friendly :-)

Just to reiterate really - I have found nandos to be good as well - half a chicken and the rataouille was really good!
Indian I do tandoori again as most people have said - I usually save some carbs to have the yoghurt with it.
Haven't tried chinese buffet yet but sounds like a great idea! For chinese takeout I usually go for tofu marinated in chilli and garlic with veggies and maybe satay chicken skewers if I save enough carbs.
Again places that sell meat and 2 veg are always fantastic.
Greek and Spanish - olives, feta, parma ham, salad, meat cheese - I don't feel deprived!
Look forward to more ideas =)

Discovered a great place to eat! Outback steakhouse. The website even gives you tips on what to say to order the dishes without if you're on a low carb diet! Great steaks, salmon and chicken, and can order with veg. And really tasty too. Check out the website definitely. Only downside is they are quite pricey, but so worth it.

Must add a note to here as to the great service I received at The Cambridge Chop House.
Not only were they willing to swap the potatoes listed as accompanying their lovely sirloin steak with extra greens, but they were also open to serving me a low-carb salad starter instead of a pudding so I wouldn't be sitting there being tempted by what everyone else was having.

We eat out quite a lot in a wide variety of places and I generally never have any trouble staying on plan (ish).

As everyone has said - Indian (my favourite!) and Chinese are easy. I just have whatever main courses I want and skip the rice / naan. I will sometimes allow myself a popadom... I accept that there will probably be some carbs in the sauces, but hey, as long as you don't do it too often... There is an indian dish in many restaurants called murghi masala (or some variation) which is tandoori chicken in a mince beef sauce with an egg. Completely unacceptably greasy on any other diet, but perfect for us..!! I also love saag paneer (spinach & cheese) or aubergine bhaji as a side dish.

Pizza places are the hardest. Whilst they do normally do meat/veg dishes these are usually about twice the price of the pizza, which can be tricky if you are in a group. Quite a lot of places have an aubergine bake on the menu, often alongside the pasta / lasagna, and this is a pretty good choice. Otherwise you're stuck with salad.

In pubs etc I will often choose the gammon & egg and either sub the chips for salad (most places are happy to do this) or just leave or let the kids eat my chips. Portions are usually generous so I can validly claim that I am full after finishing the meat/egg. Otherwise I will order the biggest burger I can find - again subbing chips for salad if possible. Generally I just leave the bun rather than bothering to ask for them to make it without.

I'm not a big fan of salads unless there's no other option, as generally they are aimed at dieters and are about 100kcal with virtually no meat on them so I'm starving about 10m later. Or are full of croutons which take ages to pick out. Or are smothered with some really overpowering dressing which is probably full of sugar...

Quite funny story, I was recently at a festival type place and went to a burger stand there. They informed me that they had run out of buns so couldn't serve me. Delighted, I said that was absolutely fine - I would have the burgers & salad etc without the bun. They looked at me like I was absoultely crazy - had to go and check with the equally dumbfounded supervisor who informed me that I would still have to pay the same price but did let me have it. 12oz of meat with salsa, guacamole, bacon & cheese...- best dinner I've had in ages! But really, it was like I was from another planet!!

I'll usually have coffee (with cream) when everyone else is having dessert so I don't look / feel left out.

It is lunchtime I really struggle with. Sandwich places really don't have many options and salad choices are usually rubbish and small. EAT is one of the best - they actually had a bread-free sandwich thingy last time I went - and the soup is sometimes suitable (and very good when it is). Not cheap though.

I have just been on the harvester website and would say look out when ordering the chicken, it has 8 carbs per portion, they must put something on the chicken before spit roasting it. The kicking garlic butter sauce has no carbs though so I suppose 8 for the meal isn't to bad. Although thats without any salad etc.

Here is the nutrition page for Harvester.
http://www.harvester.co.uk/nutritio...formation1.html

It always amazes me how carby their marinades/rubs/glazes must be. I have never asked them if they have any chicken without the glaze, but I assume they get them in already coated

But the chicken is the least carby choice, so is the one I usually get. They are always amazed when I ask for just the chicken - no corn or chips - and just put some salad with it.

I always use their blue cheese dressing which is yummy!!

And if my companions are having starters I order the melon. Having climbed the OWL ladder is so useful when eating out as there are many more 'legal' choices.

After posting my last message I thought it might be nice to have some more posts on this thread with as many nutrition info sites for fast food/restaurants as we can find to help everyone plan in advance.

Here are mine so far:

Harvester Restaurants
http://www.harvester.co.uk/nutritio...formation1.html

Burger King
http://www.burgerking.co.uk/nutrition
Click on particular menu item for detailed info on ingredients to work out what it would be like without the bun etc

Or download their chart here
http://www.burgerking.co.uk/files/d...%20booklet1.pdf

McDonalds
http://www.mcdonalds.co.uk/ourfood/index.shtml
It doesn't seem to have the USA facility to customise the menu by removing items you are not going to eat.
Maybe use Burger King's info to do this in your head?

KFC
http://www.kfc.co.uk/nutrition/

Subway
http://www.subway.co.uk/menu/how-to-order.aspx

Nando's
http://www.nandos.co.uk/default/FEM6/Eating_Well.html
Select menu items from dropdown on the RHS of webpage

Wimpy
http://www.wimpy.uk.com/menu-bgr.html
No facility to deduct the bun that I could see.
Maybe use Burger King's info to do this in your head?

Oooh Elizellen thanks for these links. They are brilliant. Also congratulations on your loss - how long has it taken you? x

Wow, lots of good info in this thread. Would it make sense to go Chinese but just not eat the rice or noodles?

I'm only suggesting it because I lost a lot of weight in China, and I was eating huge amounts of food, but very little rice.

To be honest, I tend to relax a bit when I go out, but that is not THAT often.