Getting ready to infuriate my boring co workers

Having lots of ice isn't too bad when you get free refills, but at most restaurants/eateries in the UK, you pay per glass... so if you want to get your money's worth, you want as little ice as possible, otherwise, you're paying £3 for a cup of ice and almost no actual drink.

One tip I've seen for ordering drinks in a restaurant is to ask for no ice, so that you get more for your money .


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Yes! That and sometimes they overkill the ice so you end up getting a watered down version of your drink that already had a smaller amount of drink to begin with.


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I love eating at restaurants , but it can suck sooooo bad.  Not specific to this country either.

I think my UK restaurant issue is that when I was in the US, I was able to be lazy about food.  Soooo incredibly lazy.  Didn't feel like cooking?  No problem.  For $5, Taco Bell will make me feel completely satisfied, it's tasty, and I will have my leftover drink to carry around with me for the rest of the day.  Here?  I have found that fast food has lost something in translation.  And it's expensive for what you get, so it's hard to justify because it's junk, right?  So you have to go to a proper restaurant to get food worth eating.  And then it's even more expensive, which I can't afford because we just bought a house and I'm saving up for these extortionate UKVI fees.  Maybe when all my immigration costs are behind us, and our house is fully set up (did I mention we don't have a kitchen in our house?  We intend to build one, someday.  For now, we put a refrigerator, slow-cooker, single-burner electric camping stove, and microwave in our utility room, and that's where about 99.99% of my food comes from... and my food is awesome... much better than most things I can afford to eat dining out.)

Anyway.  One day, I will have the disposable income to buy restaurant food that's better tasting and better value than what I can cook in my laundry room.  That is the dream.

I think my UK restaurant issue is that when I was in the US, I was able to be lazy about food.  Soooo incredibly lazy.  Didn't feel like cooking?  No problem.  For $5, Taco Bell will make me feel completely satisfied, it's tasty, and I will have my leftover drink to carry around with me for the rest of the day.  Here?  I have found that fast food has lost something in translation.  And it's expensive for what you get, so it's hard to justify because it's junk, right?  So you have to go to a proper restaurant to get food worth eating.  And then it's even more expensive, which I can't afford because we just bought a house and I'm saving up for these extortionate UKVI fees.  Maybe when all my immigration costs are behind us, and our house is fully set up (did I mention we don't have a kitchen in our house?  We intend to build one, someday.  For now, we put a refrigerator, slow-cooker, single-burner electric camping stove, and microwave in our utility room, and that's where about 99.99% of my food comes from... and my food is awesome... much better than most things I can afford to eat dining out.)

Anyway.  One day, I will have the disposable income to buy restaurant food that's better tasting and better value than what I can cook in my laundry room.  That is the dream.

That might be down to where you're located? And what types of food you like. I know that we have tons of restaurants around us that taste delicious and are reasonably priced (but then I think that ado comes down to what you consider reasonably priced as that will differ from person to person).


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That might be down to where you're located? And what types of food you like. I know that we have tons of restaurants around us that taste delicious and are reasonably priced (but then I think that ado comes down to what you consider reasonably priced as that will differ from person to person).

The more I think about it, the more I realize it's down to my personal finances, and just the difference in cost of living between the US and the UK, generally.  Housing and food are just much more expensive here.  And after living here a while, I understand why that is, for both.  (Iwhile I want to fix the housing issue, with the food thing I'm slowly adapting to the costs and I would hate to see the standards loosened just to bring down costs.)  For now, eating out just isn't in my budget.  And on the few occasions I've tried to be lazy, I have had to go to places that are in my budget, and it's just not worth it.  So I'll wait 'til I can afford better. 

The UK restaurants I've been most disappointed with are chain pubs. And some of them look super quaint and not at all chain like until you see the menu.

When we eat out, I let Trip Advisor guide me. I read tons of reviews and even then I'm not always convinced.

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The more I think about it, the more I realize it's down to my personal finances, and just the difference in cost of living between the US and the UK, generally.  Housing and food are just much more expensive here.  And after living here a while, I understand why that is, for both.  (Iwhile I want to fix the housing issue, with the food thing I'm slowly adapting to the costs and I would hate to see the standards loosened just to bring down costs.)  For now, eating out just isn't in my budget.  And on the few occasions I've tried to be lazy, I have had to go to places that are in my budget, and it's just not worth it.  So I'll wait 'til I can afford better. 

I gotta ask, where do you live? Eating out for me isn't terribly expensive. Husband and I go to some nice restaurants for under $30. Some of the chains we like are the same price, TGIFridays, Byron Burger, Nandos. Some of our local chain pubs are nice for what they are. But there's only one I really like. The other two can be hit or miss on the menu for me. I have not completely warmed to British menus. 

The more I think about it, the more I realize it's down to my personal finances, and just the difference in cost of living between the US and the UK, generally.  Housing and food are just much more expensive here.  And after living here a while, I understand why that is, for both.  (Iwhile I want to fix the housing issue, with the food thing I'm slowly adapting to the costs and I would hate to see the standards loosened just to bring down costs.)  For now, eating out just isn't in my budget.  And on the few occasions I've tried to be lazy, I have had to go to places that are in my budget, and it's just not worth it.  So I'll wait 'til I can afford better. 

Totally don't blame you. I'd rather home cook than pay for something gross


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I gotta ask, where do you live? Eating out for me isn't terribly expensive. Husband and I go to some nice restaurants for under $30. Some of the chains we like are the same price, TGIFridays, Byron Burger, Nandos. Some of our local chain pubs are nice for what they are. But there's only one I really like. The other two can be hit or miss on the menu for me. I have not completely warmed to British menus. 

Agree! Can be misleading if you don't know what to look for.


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I gotta ask, where do you live? Eating out for me isn't terribly expensive. Husband and I go to some nice restaurants for under $30. Some of the chains we like are the same price, TGIFridays, Byron Burger, Nandos. Some of our local chain pubs are nice for what they are. But there's only one I really like. The other two can be hit or miss on the menu for me. I have not completely warmed to British menus. 

We lived near Salisbury for the first four years, but now we've moved to just north of Swansea.  I wasn't a massive fan of TGIFriday's in the US, so (having tried other UK versions of US chains and been disappointed--particularly, my sad, sad Five Guys experience! ) I haven't bothered with it over here.  But Byron Burger.... yes!  When we were in London for a weekend getaway, we ate there three times!  We also enjoyed a meal at Wahaca one night.

In Salisbury, there was an unremarkable little Italian place up a narrow staircase above some other shops that was really good and very affordable.  The lack of nearby parking made going a bit of an ordeal, so we only had it a few times.  There wasn't much else near there that we enjoyed and could justify.

Since moving to our new house in Wales, we discovered a place that was at the higher end of prices, but it got rave reviews, so when my in-laws came to see our new house and celebrate with us, we went there... and it was so good that I don't even mind that it was £120 for the four of us to have lunch.  Otherwise, there's just fast food (McDonald's and KFC) and fish&chip shops (one very good, and one very very bad!) near us.  For more, we'd have to drive down to Swansea or up to Carmarthen.

Oh, now I'm not surprised you don't love eating out.  We live in Canterbury and there are half a dozen nice places to eat on our street, let alone the rest of the city.  We're big pub fans though, we have a lot of great independent ones (or ones that seem independent but are run well by Shepherd Neame).  I think the chain 'nice' restaurants (like Zizzi or Chimichanga) are just as nice as the US, sometimes nicer depending on what you're comparing it to.

Of course I'm from a more expensive place in the US than Canterbury is here, so it doesn't seem overly expensive. 

I never get ice in my drink unless it's super warm, or iced coffee.  I don't like it when a drink is very cold, and I'm too nervous to chew ice since it's bad for your teeth.