Beef, but it's not in the preparation. I'm accustomed to very rare, very lean grassfed beef and the restaurant or grocery store variety just doesn't taste as good to me. I seldom order pancakes at restaurants because they never seem to get them done in the middle. Chili because they always get it too spicy. It's not restaurant food but I seldom buy bread because I'm appalled at paying $5 a loaf for flour/water/yeast/salt and because I actually LIKE to make my own.

I'm picky, so most things I like better at home, because I CAN cook them the way I like them. I tend to eat things that are involved or have ingredients I can't use for anything else. I'd never order grilled cheese, for example, it's too easy to make my own.

Things I do eat in restaurants include sesame chicken because I haven't quite gotten the hang of it yet, and sushi, because I like 3 or 4 kinds instead of just one, which is what I'd make at home. I also eat things like my once per year chili dog, because I'm not making a whole pot of chili sauce and buying a package of hot dogs and buns to make one darned chili dog!

Annie

Omelettes. Every breakfast place I go too makes a tough mess out of my omelette. They cook on heat that is too high to begin with and then it comes to me looking like a scrambled lump of stuff. At home my eggs are cooked on low heat so they remain tender and then are gently folded over the fillings and heated through.

Fried Eggs, over medium. Never fails, they come with the white part not cooked enough or the yolk cooked too much.I make them just like I like them here at home.

If I'm having a hard time deciding what I want from a couple of things on the menu, I'll make my choice by eliminating the item that is easily made at home.

Grilled cheese, obviously.
And Blackened fish.
Potato salad.

And in reverse, if I want fried chicken, I go for Popeye's every time.
Just too time and energy consuming, and too messy to
bother with at home for one or two people.

Rusty

Grilled swordfish: most of what I've had in restaurants was very dry, and there is always the possibility that it was previously frozen. When I grill it, I use a square grill pan with wide ridges and put a domed lid over it (the lid for my wok) and add either a bit of water or a couple of mushrooms. This way it steams while it is grilling and always comes out very moist.

I won't order spinach calzone in an Italian restaurant because it will invariably have nutmeg in it, which I hate on spinach. I will make it at home, however, and leave the nutmeg out. I won't order Chicken Prik King or any stir fry dish with peanuts because often they use stale or rancid peanuts. I used to think I just didn't like peanuts in the dish, but when I made it at home and used fresh dry roasted peanuts, I liked it. Restaurants tend to use peanuts that have been cooked in oil, and I don't like those.

Lars

Hamburgers. Unless I'm at a restaurant that is well known for their fresh made, hand formed patties I will not eat a restaurant burger.

Also won't order tuna, egg or salmon salad sandwiches because they almost always use Mayo and I want my MW!

Tho I LOVE crab, rarely (if ever) get crab cakes or fish/shrimp stuffed with crab. ONE little bite of shell or cartilage and I'm DONE!

Same thing with chicken salad or ala king. Rarely make either one, but when I do I KNOW there will be NO unpleasant surprises.

For a while was trying some prepared/frozen things... cooking for one is hard. Though no real complaints... prefer MY stuffed peppers, lasagna, stuffed shells, chili, and soups.

As for steaks... prefer them out at a place that specializes in them.

Most of what has been mentioned I like better than restaurants. Also any kind of chicken (except fried) or hot pasta dish is better at home. Pasta salad is better at home and so is pimento cheese. I don't know a single pork dish or vegetable that isn't better at home.

We lived in Maine for 20 yrs. & are now back in the NH Seacoast area where most of our family is from. No one in our families ever orders boiled lobster in a restaurant. And that is true for most locals.

Eating boiled lobster can be messy and it's best enjoyed in the privacy of home. Even more when you start out with steamers & have hot grilled corn on the side. And you get to choose your favorite butter for dipping and make sure it never gets cold. Because at home you can take your sweet time and really savor the experience.

Almost everything. I do order Ciappino out (not that I'll be able to afford that again anytime soon! LOL) because it's way too much work and expense for just me.
And I never have mastered a fluffy omelette at home!

Amck...way off topic but take a look at my post on conversations. Would love some ideas on must sees/dd/eat on the NH Atlantic coast.

Now back to regularly scheduled programming..........

What y'all said including steak, pasta, burgers and omelettes. Eileen, do a Youtube search for classic Julia Child video on omelette making. That's the only way I make them now.

I'm a bit surprised about the pasta. I love eating pasta out, the restaurants we frequent always have so many interesting sauces, sauces I never try at home.

I make great pasta but maybe only four or five different ones. I seem to make the same ones over and over. I would have to say eating pasta out is probably my favourite restaurant choice.

When we are travelling and eating out at breakfast, I never order anything that requires syrup.... not only are my pancakes and waffles way better, but almost no one gives you real maple syrup anymore! I can't abide that fake maple/corn syrup concoction that you get at most restaurants. Can make even the best pancakes taste like gunk!

I was thinking that Cracker Barrel had real maple syrup in those little bottles.... but it's only 15% maple.

Grace

Grace, here in New England all self-respecting restaurants serve the real deal syrup, thank goodness 'cause I agree with you about the artifical flavored.

I also won't order chicken salad, egg salad, tuna salad, potato salad, macaroni salad, etc. in a restaurant.

I enjoy a good steakhouse. For some reason, I find it considerably more difficult to get good beef even at a high quality butcher or WFs than I did when we lived in the western part of the country. I suspect it's got something to do with the northeast being very seafood oriented & local food traditions. Fortunately, we've got a great steakhouse within 5 miles. We do grill steaks at home but I'm usually ho-hum with the results. DH purchased a whole tenderloin a couple days ago. We usually only eat steak during the summer. No idea why?

Pancakes/waffles are definitely better at home. Restaurant pancakes are way too thick for my tastes, tough, & always flavored with artifical vanilla. Ick. Even otherwise very good restaurants have lousy pancakes/waffles. My very first meal in New England was waffles at a wonderful B&B in Bedford, NH with an award winning restaurant. They were awful. :)

It doesn't bother me to order something in a restaurant that I also make at home. For instance, because I'm not fond of hamburgers after owning the A&W when we're at a burger place I usually order a grilled cheese w/tomato. I know it'll be edible, if not great. However, I once got a grilled cheese in Stonington, CT that met my definition of inedible! :(

Lobster feasts are another that's best either at home or on the beach. That particular meal requires a certain ambiance. It's difficult, and mostly impossible, to duplicate the right ambiance in a restaurant, IMO.

Pasta - I'll sometimes order pasta at a restaurant. Mostly, I can live without pasta but I keep thinking it's just my preparation. So, I try pasta in nice Italian restaurants. I always end up wishing we'd chosen another restaurant.

Chicken prepared in any manner is better at home. I don't know what restaurants do to chicken but often it's almost criminally awful. We love roast chicken at home. It's one of our favorite meals.

I do enjoy a good Mexican restaurant. I make a lot of Mexican at home but not the variety that a good restaurant offers.

I also prefer to have Chinese in a restaurant. My home attempts have always resulted in quantities more suited to a family of twelve rather than two. :(

/tricia

Gina, I have never mastered the proper omelette making method without making a mess of it so I do what works for me. I have a Calphalon omelette pan with a lid. I mix up the eggs with a bit of water and pour them into the heated buttered pan. I turn the heat to low and cover it. The egg cooks while I prep the fillings. When the egg is done. I place the fillings on one half and fold the other side of the egg over the fillings. I slide it onto the plate and garnish. Not classic method but the egg is tender.

Meatloaf, mac & cheese. Chicken salad--sometimes you get a winner in a restaurant and sometimes not.

Restaurant soups are almost always gaggingly salty.

I've had some spectacular steak dinners a nice restaurants. And I grill a pretty good steak myself.
Almost anything on most menus I can make better at home.
That of course doen not include those very special 4 and 5 star restraunts where I so seldom have the opportunity to eat any more.
Unless there is some "specialty of the house" or I am at a Chinese Greek or Italian place, I most often order a steak, because it's hard to completely ruin.
I hate too salty soups gluey mashed potatoes greasy chicken etc etc...
A steak and a baked potato with a steamed veggie is pretty hard to ruin.
Linda C

When I say spaghetti, I do not mean pasta. I mean a generic red sauce with meat in it. Which I make to my tastes better than I've ever had out. Other 'pasta' dishes are not s'ketti!

I guess I am all alone. Although I may like my whatever better, I really appreciate the break so I will go out anyway and enjoy having someone wait on me.

"----So, what things do you just not like (after having tried) in restaurants, but you like very much at home prepared your way?"

Nothing.

When I go to a restaurant, I pick a place where they can make food better than I can, or dishes which are too difficult to make myself.

Except maybe one: Home-baked bread. There is nothing like hot bread just coming out from the oven. That they cannot do in a restaurant.

dcarch

Tea! Every North American restaurant in which I've eaten in the past 25 yrs serves a pot of warm water with a tea bag on the side. I make mine in a teapot with REAL boiling water. While I drink several cups per day at home, I go without whenever I travel. Can't stand the disappointment.

I won't order certain things (like fried chicken) in any restaurant. But I won't bother with any restaurant that I think doesn't have SOMETHING that I'll like. Or else why bother? So yes, we choose places that prepare things well, but I don't order some things that I can do better.

Tonight, we're going to the Whole Enchilada (not the one in Southern CA with the same name!) and I'll have the sweet corn tamales. Even tho we make wonderful enchiladas and chile rellenos and chile verde at home, we still enjoy other variations of those dishes at good restaurants.

dcarch, aren't there things you won't order because you prefer your own better?

Here is a link that might be useful: Whole Enchilada

I like certain ethnic restaurants, where I like the cuisine but not quite enough to learn to make it at home, or to get the foodstuffs or equipment. Examples: thai, indian, greek, cuban - I like occasionally but haven't been motivated enough to learn it. Dim sum - love it, and impractical to make so many dishes in home quantities. Sushi - even more ditto.

For other cuisines, l use restaurants to get ideas. What dishes should I learn to make, how do they do a particular dish, what pairings and tricks can I steal?

Otherwise, when it is food that I already know how to make, I don't eat it in restaurants. I prefer cooking at home. Making the dish is most of the fun and in the end, I usually like my own food more - maybe others wouldn't, but I can prepare it to my exact tastes. Nothing like dropping $50 and wishing you'd stayed at home.

Now, if I frequented really good restaurants, I would probably feel differently, but I'm too cheap for that.

anything with gravy

bigfred that response is beyond brilliant! Have never had a meal in a restaurant involving gravy that matched home cooked.

Welcome to the forum. Sure do hope to hear from you often! I just know that you are a person that loves to cook and from your moniker. loves to eat too!

I like my omeletts better because most places do not cook their veggies before adding to the eggs. Raw peppers and onions are not good in an omelett.

Pizza too is far better made at home. The sauce, cheese, meats, everything is better at home. My meatballs are better, lasagna, my soups, my Thai food, my Chinese food. I like very little food that I get out. Sometimes the salads are better than mine. Sometimes I will find a place that makes better chicken salad too.

There is only one really good restaurant around here and everything they have isn't good. They have a chicken club sandwich that is to die for. That's partially because the chicken is cooked in a wood fired oven which I can't do and also the bread is homemade which I have no intention of doing.

Well, I haven't mastered good homemade bread yet, so I'll eat that out.

And I have never eaten a potato salad from a restaurant, deli, cafeteria or anywhere else that I like. Don't know what they put in their potato salads, but they're always sweet. Yuck!

Any Thai food. I like it but have never made it.

There are probably other things, but those are the first I thought of.

I like to go out, so depending on my mood I'll eat most anything at a decent restaurant.

Linda

"Posted by sushipup ---------- dcarch, aren't there things you won't order because you prefer your own better?"

You got me thinking.

Well, it occurred to me that I have a habit of going to restaurants which offer unique menus; dishes which I donÂt normally make or dishes too difficult to make. Also when I go to a restaurant I like to ask to be seated way back. As I walk toward the back of the restaurant, I will pass all the tables and I will look at what everyone else is eating. If I see something interesting, I will stop and ask the patron what is that he/she is eating and if he/she likes it and I will order the same thing.

I posted a thread about José Ramón Andrés who was featured on 60 Minutes last Sunday. I would love to tryout his restaurant, except there is a three months wait to get a reservation. I donÂt think I can make any dish on his menu. I will try every single one.

dcarch

Trouble with most restaurants is no matter what you order it all came out the back of a SYSCO truck. I said "most" didn't I?

The trick, like finding a good mechanic, is to find that singular restaurant that is run by a person who, when they sell a dish, are happy because now they get to make yet another one, striving for perfection.

I'm lucky in my little community in that we have two like that. A pho place and a "local" place that uses whatever is local and in season. Fairly high end. I'll order anything, anytime from either.

Don't even bother with the others anymore.

How could I forget Sam and his sushi on Comox Ave.?

So...we have three.

I'd put any of the three up against their big city competition anytime.

I've had plenty of restaurant meals where I've thought I can do much better, but even after reading all the responses here I can't think of much that, as a rule, is better at home.

Many have mentioned eggs, and while I generally agree, no eggs have ever beaten that lobster omlette I had so many years ago at Newcomb Farms in Milton, MA. So does that count? Not to mention that for me, breakfast is probably the meal where I'm most interested in the ambiance. While a scrambled egg with bacon is pretty much going to be the same anywhere, the place I'll go back to again is one where I particularly enjoy the atmosphere. It just makes breakfast "taste" better.

There is one thing that is always better at home: Sauerbraten. Not just at any old home, but at my mom's. Unfortunately there's no recipe to post, she just kind of wings it, but it turns out awesome 95% of the time. More awesome than I've ever tasted anywhere else, including my own kitchen.

Let's see I prefer my own mac & cheese, deep dish chicken pot pie, fruit pies and seafood at home. Seafood because we can get it fresh from the dock and better prices then paying for it at a restaurant. I no longer order steaks at restaurants. The chef always cooks it the way he wants rather then the way I ordered it. I don't like raw with it dripping in blood. Pink in the middle is fine not red. One thing I like ordering at restaurants is veal. We don't have that meat a lot at home so it is a treat when we go out. NancyLouise

I used to be that way about seafood but over the years I have learned to cook it as well at home as the specialty seafood restaurants do. I think I was scared of it at first. Or scared of making a mistake with expensive seafood. At the moment Chinese food is better at a restaurant than I can do at home. I never order pasta or almost anything Italian (pizza is an exception) at a restaurant. I'm not that big a fan. No offense intended to anyone Italian or anyone who likes Italian food, but I kind of agree with Julia's take on Italian food: it's so easy it's not really cooking. I will make it at home ocasionally but I can do as well as any restaurant. I agree with LindaC that I can do almost anything better at home, but I like eandhl's sentiment that I enjoy having someone else do it sometimes!

"I agree with LindaC that I can do almost anything better at home, but I like eandhl's sentiment that I enjoy having someone else do it sometimes!

I completely agree with this! However, there are a few things that I do prefer to make at home. There is a restaurant in Philly called Parc that has been featured on the FN show The Best Thing I Ever Ate talking about their Roast Chicken and Mashed Potatoes. I cannot fathom ordering Roast Chicken and Mashed Potatoes at a restaurant... They are so simple for me, consistently turn out very well and I get the leftovers to make something creative with them the next day. Several people have mentioned others that I would prefer to eat at home... but given the right company I would never turn down a meal out, I just wouldn't order crab/lobster in the shell, pork chops, lasagna, eggplant parm, and there may be a few more but they are not coming to mind.

Alexa

Chil and meatloaf and macaroni and cheese. Wayyy better at home.