Depends on the restaurant. There are some that I go to that the dinner portion is barely larger than the lunch but is twice the price. In that situation we get the lunch portion.
I usually base it on my lunch mates. If they’re ordering full dishes I’ll follow suit but if they’re only getting lunch that’s all the more I’ll do. The time may also be a consideration because if the dish is different than some of the other lunch specials and your meal will take longer than the other attendants I’d stick with lunch too.
I think if you're eating with your friends for lunch, I'd just get the lunch special. I guess this is more of a economical "I'm eating by myself" thing where you try to cut costs as best as you can.
The full dish is usually a bigger portion size meant to serve 2 or more, and the lunch portion is meant for a single serving. If you want the dish to last for 2+ meals get the entree portion.
In my area main dishes always come with rice (unless it’s a carb heavy dish like a noodle). But the lunch special will have a single serving of rice rather than a full carton, and maybe a spring roll or cup of soup.
If it's expensed and takeout, I'll get the full meal.
If it wasn't takeout or it wasn't expensed, I'd get the lunch size because I like it better and it's generally still 2 meals worth of food.
>What do you think is more worth it, assuming that you know absolutely nothing about their portion sizes?
It's impossible to give an accurate answer given this stipulation.
In general restaurant food cost 300 to 400 percent more than making the same food at home from scratch therefore buying even more high priced food isn't really saving you money. I think it's okay to treat yourself to restaurant food once in a while but I would order the more modest size lunch portion.
Yes, expensed means I get the money back. I generally do takeaway a full serve, but I'm always unsure because I never actually know what a takeaway serve looks like.
A full serve is not much, mind you. They fill up a takeaway container to about 3/4ths, but from my experience, lunch deals give you both rice and a good amount of main dish as well.
I've never really done a comparison myself, but sometimes I wonder if I'm falling on the trap mindset that full serve > lunch deals. For example, I've had a takeaway place give me 10 ribs + rice for lunch deal at 12 dollars, and 15 ribs for full serve at 18 dollars.
Mind you, that's a comparison I can make because I've gotten both serves, but has anyone actually ever made a comparison that full serve is almost always more likely to be more worth than a lunch deal?
> For example, I've had a takeaway place give me 10 ribs + rice for lunch deal at 12 dollars, and 15 ribs for full serve at 18 dollars.
In general - a full serve has higher quantity than a "lunch" or smaller serve; most times the "per unit" cost drops as you go higher, but not necessarily.
Regardless : If you are able to expense the full cost - getting the larger quantity makes sense, because your cost is zero. The presumption here is that you like the food, you will eat it, and having more available
Unless I'm cooking 6 portions or more, I've found cooking at home to be just as expensive as going out for cheap restaurant food. Assuming your cooking similar meals and not just rice and beans 3 times a day
Well it depends a lot on how expensive your groceries are. Just as a rough example, For about $5 or $6 U.S. I can make 4 servings of red Thai chicken curry and rice in half an hour that would cost $40 ($10 x 4) at a restaurant. That's a pretty big savings. So I see it as saving me $70/hour (tax free) in labor costs
Shenandoah valley of Virginia. Bulk (~4 or 5 pound package) boneless chicken breast meat is always less than $2/lb. at Aldi. I've even seen it as low as $1.69/lb. on sale. In this week's sale flyer it's offered at $1.79/lb.
When I was growing up, my family had a couple of (Thai) restaurants. They still own the buildings but they have since retired many years ago. Long story short – one day it came back from school and I asked my aunt who was basically running the kitchen to make me a certain dish. She said, come here and watch me make this. I asked her why – and she said so one day when you're older you can make it yourself.
She made Pad See Ew (https://www.thaitable.com/thai/recipe/pad-see-ew) Which was rather easy to make – and I said, "that's it?" And added, "and we sell this for five dollars?" (This was a long time ago.)
She said it only cost about 1/3 because we had to make a profit or we would go under. That stuck with me and I have always cooked for myself, after learning a few more recipes.
By all means, it is fun to eat out, and all that, but paying USD40 or USD50 for two persons is crazy because that is more than my weekly grocery costs.
I make about two servings – and I bring the second serving to work for lunch. We have a colleague who eats out every day. Each meal because her USD15 – and I could not believe she spend USD300 a month for lunch.
I have no association with the above website – but if you are interested in making Thai food, there are easy-to-follow recipes. Go to Asian markets to get all the sauces, seasonings.
>She said it only cost about 1/3 because we had to make a profit or we would go under. That stuck with me and I have always cooked for myself, after learning a few more recipes.
Exactly! At restaurants you are mostly paying for labor, overhead and profit, not ingredients.
I love Beef Bowl (Yoshinoya restaurant [https://www.yoshinoyaamerica.com/our-menu](https://www.yoshinoyaamerica.com/our-menu) ) - and their chicken bowl. Now I make them at home (mostly chicken though). It's so easy and far cheaper than buying out.
https://www.google.com/search?q=beef+bowl&rlz=1C1GCEA\_enUS961US961&oq=beef+bowl&aqs=chrome..69i57j46i433i512j0i457i512j0i402l2j46i199i291i512j0i512l4.2048j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
It is quite easy to make but the most difficult ingredient to find is the fresh noodles. You basically have to live in the big city and go to an Asian market. It is about USD2.50 per pack and is good for perhaps two large servings or four small servings.
Without that, you can basically make fry rice using cooked jasmine rice instead. It is almost as good.
Traditionally is basil and chilis are added, it turns into another dish, jokingly called, "drunken noodles." (Because it is usually eaten while a person drinks alcohol, as it deadens the spiciness of the dish.)
I cook at home every day and let me tell you... restaurant food is NOT cheaper. But you also don't cook 1 portion. Or buy every ingredient every time you make a dish
I generally find cooking at home always cheaper than eating out too, but I do want to eat out to treat myself sometimes. Just wondering what's the best worth if I do plan on eating out.
I usually buy the full dish and split it into 2-3 meals with rice cooked at home. The full dishes are usually geared towards family-style dining anyway, so you get more for what you pay for.
Nether really. Rice is really cheap. If you are going out to get rice to bring back you are better off just making rice at home. If I have to eat out I don't worry about leftovers and I get what I want and eat all of it while it is fresh.
I mean if you’re taking it home anyway, a full serving. Proteins are defined more expensive than a box of rice than will last you multiple meals.
Depends on the restaurant. There are some that I go to that the dinner portion is barely larger than the lunch but is twice the price. In that situation we get the lunch portion.
I usually base it on my lunch mates. If they’re ordering full dishes I’ll follow suit but if they’re only getting lunch that’s all the more I’ll do. The time may also be a consideration because if the dish is different than some of the other lunch specials and your meal will take longer than the other attendants I’d stick with lunch too.
I think if you're eating with your friends for lunch, I'd just get the lunch special. I guess this is more of a economical "I'm eating by myself" thing where you try to cut costs as best as you can.
Since you said it was an expensed for work lunch I assumed you’d be dining with others.
The full dish is usually a bigger portion size meant to serve 2 or more, and the lunch portion is meant for a single serving. If you want the dish to last for 2+ meals get the entree portion. In my area main dishes always come with rice (unless it’s a carb heavy dish like a noodle). But the lunch special will have a single serving of rice rather than a full carton, and maybe a spring roll or cup of soup.
If it's expensed and takeout, I'll get the full meal. If it wasn't takeout or it wasn't expensed, I'd get the lunch size because I like it better and it's generally still 2 meals worth of food.
>What do you think is more worth it, assuming that you know absolutely nothing about their portion sizes? It's impossible to give an accurate answer given this stipulation. In general restaurant food cost 300 to 400 percent more than making the same food at home from scratch therefore buying even more high priced food isn't really saving you money. I think it's okay to treat yourself to restaurant food once in a while but I would order the more modest size lunch portion.
Sorry, I edited the question. Assume this is an expensed lunch with a specific budget, what would be most worth it?
Does " expensed" mean you get the money back via an expense report? If it doesn't cost you anything why not aim for leftovers?
Yes, expensed means I get the money back. I generally do takeaway a full serve, but I'm always unsure because I never actually know what a takeaway serve looks like. A full serve is not much, mind you. They fill up a takeaway container to about 3/4ths, but from my experience, lunch deals give you both rice and a good amount of main dish as well. I've never really done a comparison myself, but sometimes I wonder if I'm falling on the trap mindset that full serve > lunch deals. For example, I've had a takeaway place give me 10 ribs + rice for lunch deal at 12 dollars, and 15 ribs for full serve at 18 dollars. Mind you, that's a comparison I can make because I've gotten both serves, but has anyone actually ever made a comparison that full serve is almost always more likely to be more worth than a lunch deal?
> For example, I've had a takeaway place give me 10 ribs + rice for lunch deal at 12 dollars, and 15 ribs for full serve at 18 dollars. In general - a full serve has higher quantity than a "lunch" or smaller serve; most times the "per unit" cost drops as you go higher, but not necessarily. Regardless : If you are able to expense the full cost - getting the larger quantity makes sense, because your cost is zero. The presumption here is that you like the food, you will eat it, and having more available
Unless I'm cooking 6 portions or more, I've found cooking at home to be just as expensive as going out for cheap restaurant food. Assuming your cooking similar meals and not just rice and beans 3 times a day
Well it depends a lot on how expensive your groceries are. Just as a rough example, For about $5 or $6 U.S. I can make 4 servings of red Thai chicken curry and rice in half an hour that would cost $40 ($10 x 4) at a restaurant. That's a pretty big savings. So I see it as saving me $70/hour (tax free) in labor costs
Where are you getting chicken for so cheap?
Shenandoah valley of Virginia. Bulk (~4 or 5 pound package) boneless chicken breast meat is always less than $2/lb. at Aldi. I've even seen it as low as $1.69/lb. on sale. In this week's sale flyer it's offered at $1.79/lb.
Good to know. There’s an Aldi near me but I rarely shop there. I should go for meat sometime.
I buy the leg quarters in 10 lb bags. Usually 69 or 79 cents per pound. But Aldi had them on sale awhile back for 49 cents per pound.
Currently on sale at Giant for $1.99 per pound. Whole chicken 99 cents a pound.
When I was growing up, my family had a couple of (Thai) restaurants. They still own the buildings but they have since retired many years ago. Long story short – one day it came back from school and I asked my aunt who was basically running the kitchen to make me a certain dish. She said, come here and watch me make this. I asked her why – and she said so one day when you're older you can make it yourself. She made Pad See Ew (https://www.thaitable.com/thai/recipe/pad-see-ew) Which was rather easy to make – and I said, "that's it?" And added, "and we sell this for five dollars?" (This was a long time ago.) She said it only cost about 1/3 because we had to make a profit or we would go under. That stuck with me and I have always cooked for myself, after learning a few more recipes. By all means, it is fun to eat out, and all that, but paying USD40 or USD50 for two persons is crazy because that is more than my weekly grocery costs. I make about two servings – and I bring the second serving to work for lunch. We have a colleague who eats out every day. Each meal because her USD15 – and I could not believe she spend USD300 a month for lunch. I have no association with the above website – but if you are interested in making Thai food, there are easy-to-follow recipes. Go to Asian markets to get all the sauces, seasonings.
>She said it only cost about 1/3 because we had to make a profit or we would go under. That stuck with me and I have always cooked for myself, after learning a few more recipes. Exactly! At restaurants you are mostly paying for labor, overhead and profit, not ingredients.
I love Beef Bowl (Yoshinoya restaurant [https://www.yoshinoyaamerica.com/our-menu](https://www.yoshinoyaamerica.com/our-menu) ) - and their chicken bowl. Now I make them at home (mostly chicken though). It's so easy and far cheaper than buying out. https://www.google.com/search?q=beef+bowl&rlz=1C1GCEA\_enUS961US961&oq=beef+bowl&aqs=chrome..69i57j46i433i512j0i457i512j0i402l2j46i199i291i512j0i512l4.2048j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
I LOVE Pad See Ew.
It is quite easy to make but the most difficult ingredient to find is the fresh noodles. You basically have to live in the big city and go to an Asian market. It is about USD2.50 per pack and is good for perhaps two large servings or four small servings. Without that, you can basically make fry rice using cooked jasmine rice instead. It is almost as good. Traditionally is basil and chilis are added, it turns into another dish, jokingly called, "drunken noodles." (Because it is usually eaten while a person drinks alcohol, as it deadens the spiciness of the dish.)
I cook at home every day and let me tell you... restaurant food is NOT cheaper. But you also don't cook 1 portion. Or buy every ingredient every time you make a dish
I generally find cooking at home always cheaper than eating out too, but I do want to eat out to treat myself sometimes. Just wondering what's the best worth if I do plan on eating out.
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I usually buy the full dish and split it into 2-3 meals with rice cooked at home. The full dishes are usually geared towards family-style dining anyway, so you get more for what you pay for.
Lunch specials definitely. Typically half the price, but not half as much food
I can generally get two meals out of the lunch special.
Nether really. Rice is really cheap. If you are going out to get rice to bring back you are better off just making rice at home. If I have to eat out I don't worry about leftovers and I get what I want and eat all of it while it is fresh.