Eating in or eating out?

Until the second half of the twentieth century, eating out in many countries was very rare. More affluent people might go to restaurants on special occasions, but even these occasions were celebrated at home by a great many people.

The number of restaurants has proliferated over the last few decades. In many countries, there is now a wide range of types of cuisine available at a wide range of prices. It has thus become very common for people to eat out, whether or not they have something to celebrate.

We live in an age of speed and hurry, and many people eat out simply because it saves time. In many countries, a lot of workers work very long hours and some of them may rush out to have a quick meal of some kind before going back to work. Alternatively, they may go to a restaurant or snack bar before going home. They feel that they will be too tired to prepare a meal when they get home, although there are a great many ready meals available on the supermarket shelves. Often their main aim in eating out is simply to assuage their hunger and they often have something cheap and quick, such as a burger or pizza.

In the more affluent countries, some sections of society, particularly young people with no dependents, have more disposable income to spend than ever before. Many of these people like to eat out routinely because they enjoy doing so, can afford the cost and cannot be bothered to cook. Many of them regard eating out as a form of entertainment and regularly meet up with a group of friends to make a social occasion of the meal.

Most of us like to eat out from time to time. Our experience of having meals out is often restricted to celebratory meals organized in honour of some special occasion. We are all usually in a good mood on such occasions and, unless something has gone terribly wrong, we would have fond memories of an enjoyable experience.

In fact, as we are cooking night after night for our families, we might even think of how marvellous it would be if we could eat out every night, and so save ourselves the trouble of home cooking. We might think of how wonderful it would be if we could simply transport the family to a favourite restaurant and not have to cook meals for them. They could then have a choice of menu and not complain about what we have served them.

However, it is quite easy to get bored of eating out. Many people who travel a lot in the course of their business will tell you that, after a bit, they get very tired of restaurant meals. After a few nights, they begin to long for something simple and home-cooked.

In my view, it is much more preferable to eat at home on a day-to-day basis. Restaurants should be saved as a treat for special occasions. Apart from anything else, eating at home is a much more relaxing experience than eating out.

Then there is the fact that it is often a lot cheaper to prepare nourishing meals at home. It is also easier to ensure that the meals are healthier in content. Even if you use ready meals purchased from supermarkets, you will be able to establish, to some extent at least, the nature of the ingredients. In restaurants, you do not really know what you are eating. Play it safe and eat at home.