Why is take-away food so terrible?

cloud493

I had a take away last night. Don't eat take away very often, but I got a chinese last night, and it was so awful, made me sick it did. I was considering this morning and I realised, almost all the take away I've had that isn't either from a chippy that was recommended to me, or the big chains, mcdonalds, burger king, super mac, etc, is nearly always terrible*, and you nearly always get done over on delivery chargers.

So why do we eat take away? Are your take aways generally as terrible as mine?





*I'm not suggesting mcdonalds or super mac is actually amazingly good food, but certainly, it never makes me sick, you know what your getting at least.

KERSPLAT!

The Indian where I live is amazing and one of the Chinese places is OK. I generally don't like chipper food, its OK at the time but the next day I feel rotten!

It can be quite nice if it's not battered and deep fried. Sometimes I know I could cook the same thing but nicer though

Most takeaway food is very high in fat and if you're used to a low fat diet, it is a bit of a shock to the system.

If you eat stuff like that at home as well then you'll be completely immune to the affects.

cloud493

Sure I had these deep fried onion rings, like covered in batter. Wouldn't be the sort of thing I'd eat often, but I ate them, tasted like ****e, and made me feel like ****e

anncoates

Our local Indian takeaway is nice and there's a decent enough Chinese too. It's relatively cheap convenience food at the end of the day so you know what you're getting.

AulBiddy

I stopped eating take-aways after i got food poisoning from it for the third time. Only thing that ever made me really sick.

dharma200

Ordering chinese food, ask them to leave out the MSG.... It becomes a bland slime of nothingness... Gross unidentifyable meat and not taste whatsoever.... MSG is poisonous to me so now chinese food is off the list....try it, ask them to not out in msg....

cloud493

The 'chicken' balls, didnt look like chicken, didnt taste like chicken. Looked like batter and grease with some vague chicken-esque thing inbetween.

Lucy and Harry

bought a fish from the chipper last week and it was like some kind of mutant.Certainly not a fresh cod and not a big portion considering the price.I will not be buying fish again from a chipper.The other time I bought one was from a chipper by the sea thinking they must have nice local caught fish but no it was like rubber even my dog refused to eat it.

bnagrrl

If you're in Dublin 15 you can't beat a bit of Diep or Thai Garden at Home. Really tasty.

Dtp1979

cloud493 wrote: »

The 'chicken' balls, didnt look like chicken, didnt taste like chicken. Looked like batter and grease with some vague chicken-esque thing inbetween.

That's because it's probably pigeon

Amirani

bnagrrl wrote: »

If you're in Dublin 15 you can't beat a bit of Diep or Thai Garden at Home. Really tasty.

Yeah, Diep in general aren't too bad as far as takeaways go.

cloud493

Dtp1979 wrote: »

That's because it's probably pigeon

I know pigeon and that ain't it :pac:

RobYourBuilder

cloud493 wrote: »

The 'chicken' balls, didnt look like chicken, didnt taste like chicken. Looked like batter and grease with some vague chicken-esque thing inbetween.

You ordered chicken balls and onion rings from a Chinese and you're shocked that they didn't taste that good. Hmmm. If you want deep fried food, the chipper is your only man.

anncoates

I think it goes without saying that you don't order chicken balls expecting culinary excellence.

theteal

cloud493 wrote: »

The 'chicken' balls, didnt look like chicken, didnt taste like chicken. Looked like batter and grease with some vague chicken-esque thing inbetween.

I never understood chicken balls, anytime ive sampled them they should've been called "batter balls with some bird meat"

cloud493

I wasn't expecting culinary brilliance. I was expecting it to taste like chicken, and at least kinda decent, neither requirement was fulfilled.

Saipanne

Most takeaways I've tried on just eat have been absolute ****, and yet, they have High ratings with hundreds of reviews.

Hmm.....

Lucy and Harry

Chicken balls are in fact chicken balls all collected and put in a blender and then made into a ball and put in batter.True story.

I think the best way to get a good take away is to show some cleavage.

cloud493

Lucy and Harry wrote: »

Chicken balls are in fact chicken balls all collected and put in a blender and then made into a ball and put in batter.True story.

I think the best way to get a good take away is to show some cleavage.

Chicken balls blended into chicken balls?

Lucy and Harry

into bigger chicken balls.Coz they are too small normally.They often pump chinese food with gas to make the chicken meat bigger.That is why you fart after.

cloud493

Oh ok. Sounds disgusting.

shruikan2553

Good take aways do exist. Its just you have to wade through the sea of crap to find them. Currently on the quest for decent chips in Galway.

YellowFeather

cloud493 wrote: »

The 'chicken' balls, didnt look like chicken, didnt taste like chicken. Looked like batter and grease with some vague chicken-esque thing inbetween.

Were they in a ball though?

Lucy and Harry

better off making home made chips with fry tex.Although that can be dangerous if you do not watch over it.
I found a lovely Turkish place in Navan that gives you a kebab the size of a arm for 6 euro.It is so filling for the price.Just eat.ie is good for ordering as you can rate the food after.Keeps them on their toes.

mikeym

Ì blame the gluten

Shimmy Jimmy CocoPop

dharma200 wrote: »

Ordering chinese food, ask them to leave out the MSG.... It becomes a bland slime of nothingness... Gross unidentifyable meat and not taste whatsoever.... MSG is poisonous to me so now chinese food is off the list....try it, ask them to not out in msg....

Very true, its packed with MSG. All the meat for Chinese restaurants comes in frozen boxes imported from China. I've seen this first hand and have never eaten Chinese since. I was in a freezer warehouse in Navan that supplied Chinese and other restaurants. The forklift guy was moving all these boxes with Chinese writing on them into a truck. I asked him what was in the boxes and he said meat on its way to Dublin Chinese restaurants. It seem there was no checks on quality or what it even was.

I always did find the beef in a Chinese a bit chewy!

Awkward Badger

What you mean you nearly always get done over on delivery charges ? I've never had a takeaway that cost more than 2.50 for delivery.

The Backwards Man

Takeaways are a bit like sex, look tasty when someone else is having them, but when you have one yourself it's nothing but a mouthful of grease and salt.

Copper_pipe

Donkey Fords in limerick

Karl Stein

I had a King Creole from KC's in Douglas Cork on Wednesday evening and it was delicious.

KING CREOLE

Chicken (all our chicken is locally sourced, 100% Irish fillet) roasted in blackened Cajun
spices, served in a hot pitta with mayonnaise, iceberg lettuce and a few chips inside.

My Brother got the Kansas City Pitta.

KANSAS CITY PITTA

A hot pitta filled with slow roast Irish pork belly rubbed with our own blend of dry BBQ
spices, coated in homemade sticky BBQ sauce & served with mayo, sliced gherkin, a few
chips & iceberg lettuce.

I felt festively plump after washing my Creole down with an ice cold can of Coke.

Gbear

Take away has to be cheap, quick and easy to make and the majority of people who buy it like bland food.

That's why it's mostly ****e.

kowloon

I think with most places the cost of production is a race to the bottom. People vote with their wallets and the cheaper places do well unless they get so bad they shed customers to a competitor.

cloud493

Awkward Badger wrote: »

What you mean you nearly always get done over on delivery charges ? I've never had a takeaway that cost more than 2.50 for delivery.

In my area, according to just eat.ie, lowest delivery charger was €3.50, and the place wasn't reviewed well.

cloud493

YellowFeather wrote: »

Were they in a ball though?

It wasn't. It was kinda a boulder shape.

Baked.noodle

I never really eat Chinese food anymore, as it is always disappointing. Most people know its full of Msg, but its also full of salt, fat and sugar and whilst it might resemble the more healthy choice in fast food it is mostly crap. Battered Cod and chips would probably be healthier, once in a while.

spitfireIRL

Karl Stein wrote: »

I had a King Creole from KC's in Douglas Cork on Wednesday evening and it was delicious.

Daaaamn. It's been so long. Next time ask for Cajun chicken with it! Fckin starving now!

cloud493

https://38.media.tumblr.com/4626db8f17f84c2a1fb1c60664927d79/tumblr_ned1xvQdd21u071lno1_500.jpg


I kept it just in case I wanna complain :pac:

RobYourBuilder

cloud493 wrote: »

https://38.media.tumblr.com/4626db8f17f84c2a1fb1c60664927d79/tumblr_ned1xvQdd21u071lno1_500.jpg


I kept it just in case I wanna complain :pac:

How much did you pay for that abomination of a dinner?

joe swanson

Its so bad for me and full of fat and nasty things.....

But it tastes so good. Yum.

Remmy

I have it once every few months, gorge on it then remember why I don't order it very often. That msg stuff leaves me feeling like dog crap.

cloud493

RobYourBuilder wrote: »

How much did you pay for that abomination of a dinner?

For that, and the chicken balls it was just over 15 quid.

RobYourBuilder

cloud493 wrote: »

For that, and the chicken balls it was just over 15 quid.

Not cheap. They have some nice recipes over in the cooking club. Here's one for sweet and sour fried rice with chicken balls: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057027285

Nicer and a third of the price.

bnt

The devil's in the details. There's an independent pizza takeaway quite close to me, and their pizzas are very good quality and value. There's one ironic problem, though: their pizzas are nice because they're thin, which means that they go cold more quickly. I find that mine is nearly cold by the time I get home (under 10 mins walk), and it's a chronic complaint in online reviews. I would still go there more often if I wasn't watching what I eat.

From what I've read, Chinese cooking developed the way it did partly as a way of making the best of poor quality ingredients. Not that Chinese food is unique in this regard. Sausages were invented many thousands of years ago, so that butchers could use "everything but the squeal".

Toto Wolfcastle

I used to love Chinese, and I worked in a Chinese restaurant when I was younger so I ate it a lot, but I went a few months without eating it and when I had it again I felt like crap after it.

There are plenty of decent Thai and Indian take aways around though (depending on where you live I suppose) so I stick with them these days.

karaokeman

Gbear wrote: »

Take away has to be cheap, quick and easy to make and the majority of people who buy it like bland food.

That's why it's mostly ****e.

^ Hipster!

On a serious note most people (myself included) like their share of take aways (Indian is my preference) as a treat. Consider you cook yourself 6 meals a week, its nice to have something easily consumable for rewards sake. Similarly, a nice kebab or Supermacs is perfect after a night out especially if you are getting a nitelink and have a long journey home.

Kylo Ren

Leave MSG alone. The whole outcry over it was due to a single letter sent to the New England Journal of Medicine in 1968.

Although many people believe that monosodium glutamate (MSG) is the cause of these symptoms, an association has never been demonstrated under rigorously controlled conditions, even in studies with people who were convinced that they were sensitive to the compound

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glutamate_flavoring#Safety_as_a_flavor_enhancer

The One Doctor

Indian or Thai takeaways are usually very good. Chippers and Chinese takeaways are often terrible.

How Soon Is Now

KERSPLAT! wrote: »

The Indian where I live is amazing and one of the Chinese places is OK. I generally don't like chipper food, its OK at the time but the next day I feel rotten!

Indian takeaways tend to be one of the better ones for standard and taste.

If you get a bad Indian you know its bad!.

Chinese can be hit and miss no matter where its gotten because its all made around soupy sauces and batter.

Chipper food well that speaks for itself. No one is expecting five star food then! :pac:

Leilak

I think its the gloopy sauces that puts people off, but l suddenly get a ferocious appetite when passing a Chinese - what is it we smell that suddenly makes us want it? Similarly when you pass a chipper somebody said its the vinegar that throws out that pungent aroma l dunno:rolleyes: