DS Forums

 
 

Why is there just crap to eat in town centres?


Reply
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 25-08-2009, 14:40
dsdjm
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 1,650

I'm currently in what could be any UK town centre; and all I wanted was something tasty and healthy for lunch but there was nothing.

Something like a sensible portion of rice and meat stir fried in a sauce with vegetables, that will leave me satisfied but with not a hint of feeling bloated or having over eaten.

The perfect amount of nutrients and calories to carry me over until something else sensible to eat later this evening.

There is one fusion Thai / Chinese restaurant open; but they have no "bento box" size portions available; just take-away price mega-portions.

If I was at home; I could prepare this in 10 minutes.

But i'm not; and all I have available to me are huge portions of saturated fat, refined carbs or baked potatoes (too many carbs in one go). Even the sandwiches on offer form the numerous pubs are "foot long" baguettes served with crisps (if not chips!) and loaded with processed meat.

Why not buy a sandwich then? Because they're either "diet friendly" nonsense; or loaded with mayonnaise and processed meat. There's nothing inbetween.

dsdjm is offline   Reply With Quote
Please sign in or register to remove this advertisement.
Old 25-08-2009, 14:49
indianwells
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 12,236
The nearest Chinese restaurant?

Edit; Just seen you explained that. Any Sushi bars?
indianwells is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 25-08-2009, 15:02
dsdjm
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 1,650
The nearest Chinese restaurant?

Edit; Just seen you explained that. Any Sushi bars?
Thanks - a friend just returned from an IT training trip to India - and he said for lunch you could walk down street after street and take your pick from small stalls selling delicious meats and vegetables, with potatoes, rice or rice noodles in small boxes for next to nothing.

Why is there nothing even remotely along those lines here.

No wonder there's an obesity problem.
dsdjm is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 25-08-2009, 15:47
maimou
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Athens - GR
Posts: 8,332
Don't most supermarkets have salad bars? You could try that with a wholemeal roll to go alongside it.
Gregg's do quite good ready sandwiches as well and although they over-use the mayo it's usually spread rather than mixed in so you can scrape it out.
In Subway you can make sure you get a healthy filling sandwich by making your own also.
maimou is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 25-08-2009, 15:55
saladcream
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 712
thats why i make my own salads.
i work in manchester town centre, you can get some ok stuff from the little supermarkets and a salad bar has just opened which I will be checking out soon. I do also go to subway occasionally and pick the healthy options.
saladcream is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 25-08-2009, 16:00
Abriel
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 7,170
M&S do sushi now, don't they? Or could you have some kind of wrap? M&S and Boots sell them (don't know the nutritional breakdown though).
Abriel is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 25-08-2009, 16:04
RussellIan
Guest
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 11,503
Because that is what people want. Eating food is no longer meant to be the most basically fundamental thing you can do, but just another source of instant, hedonistic gratification to accompany all the others that a wonderful daily modern life that we've never had so good should consist of.
RussellIan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 25-08-2009, 17:12
Lucem Ferre
Inactive Member
 
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 7,997
Many town centre food outlets make their real money from the after pub crowd, and it doesn't take a genius to work out what types of food they're interested in.

Similarly, Greggs and Subway et al. are geared up for the daytime Wetherspoons type drinkers.

We don't have a single 'proper' restaurant in our town centre, despite having a population of almost 200,000.

Sad, really.
Lucem Ferre is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 25-08-2009, 17:30
stud u like
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: The Sunny Side Of The Street
Posts: 40,106
It depends on where you go. Not all towns are poorly prepared.

Street stalls are limited as they would not pass our rigid health and safety laws.

Try going to a buffet diner as they often have take out boxes and getting some singapore noodles with some sort of vegetable curry sauce?

Or you could get a small bag of salad from Sainsburys and a pouch of tuna or even better from Waitrose where they do lovely salad things including rice,quinoa,cous cous,pulses and beans.

I would have thought using your culinary imagination, it would be easy!
stud u like is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 25-08-2009, 17:52
TommyGavin76
Inactive Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 16,886
Yeah we don't 'get' street food in this country do we? In Mexico and Asia especially some of the best food can be bought for a pittance on the street. We get burger vans and the odd Jacket Potato van!
TommyGavin76 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 25-08-2009, 17:53
TommyGavin76
Inactive Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 16,886
Because that is what people want. Eating food is no longer meant to be the most basically fundamental thing you can do, but just another source of instant, hedonistic gratification to accompany all the others that a wonderful daily modern life that we've never had so good should consist of.
It's not what I want at all, I think most people would prefer a bit of choice rather than the same fast food options in every town. My town has nothing like a chinese noodle bar or nice cafe or anything, but it has 4 Greggs. Lovely.
TommyGavin76 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 25-08-2009, 17:54
Lucem Ferre
Inactive Member
 
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 7,997
Yeah we don't 'get' street food in this country do we?
You can thank the H&S Executive for that. It's also hard to tax street food vendors, too.
Lucem Ferre is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 25-08-2009, 18:04
TommyGavin76
Inactive Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 16,886
You can thank the H&S Executive for that. It's also hard to tax street food vendors, too.
I would like to get all the H&S people in the country together and feed them meat that hasn't been refrigerated properly.
TommyGavin76 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 25-08-2009, 21:22
L'russe besuhof
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 550
It's actually because there's no demand. H&S doesn't stop all those vile burger vans. And the reason those Asian places are so cheap is because they're poor countries.
L'russe besuhof is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 25-08-2009, 22:12
maimou
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Athens - GR
Posts: 8,332
I'd feel lucky if we had M&S Foodhall out here to be honest - and most towns in the UK do have that; I don't think it's just the UK either - I think most of Europe outside of capital cities has limited options - if you leave Athens your lunch choices are kebab, toastie or cheesepie pretty much!
What I'd love is a modern falafel option - baked rather than fried, more salad options, low fat dressings and wholemeal wraps and pittas - someone should start a chain!
maimou is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 27-08-2009, 19:14
Abriel
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 7,170
I'd feel lucky if we had M&S Foodhall out here to be honest - and most towns in the UK do have that; I don't think it's just the UK either - I think most of Europe outside of capital cities has limited options - if you leave Athens your lunch choices are kebab, toastie or cheesepie pretty much!
What I'd love is a modern falafel option - baked rather than fried, more salad options, low fat dressings and wholemeal wraps and pittas - someone should start a chain!
Not having a go at you personally maimou, but your post just shows you can't please everyone, so it's not surprising suppliers go for the lowest common denominator. I was reading the start of your post thinking Mmmn, cheesepies
Abriel is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 27-08-2009, 21:22
madcapmonster
Inactive Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 1,255
I'm currently in what could be any UK town centre; and all I wanted was something tasty and healthy for lunch but there was nothing.

Something like a sensible portion of rice and meat stir fried in a sauce with vegetables, that will leave me satisfied but with not a hint of feeling bloated or having over eaten.

The perfect amount of nutrients and calories to carry me over until something else sensible to eat later this evening.

There is one fusion Thai / Chinese restaurant open; but they have no "bento box" size portions available; just take-away price mega-portions.

If I was at home; I could prepare this in 10 minutes.

But i'm not; and all I have available to me are huge portions of saturated fat, refined carbs or baked potatoes (too many carbs in one go). Even the sandwiches on offer form the numerous pubs are "foot long" baguettes served with crisps (if not chips!) and loaded with processed meat.

Why not buy a sandwich then? Because they're either "diet friendly" nonsense; or loaded with mayonnaise and processed meat. There's nothing inbetween.

I would suggest that you move, not all towns are the same, I work in london a lot and eat out for lunch every time and never fail to find something, I live in Sheffield and the same is true. I would also suggest that you tone down the arrogant nature you seem to have. The world does not revolve around you and your wims.
madcapmonster is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 28-08-2009, 14:28
summerain
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Wiltshire
Posts: 8,047
Many town centre food outlets make their real money from the after pub crowd, and it doesn't take a genius to work out what types of food they're interested in.

Similarly, Greggs and Subway et al. are geared up for the daytime Wetherspoons type drinkers.

We don't have a single 'proper' restaurant in our town centre, despite having a population of almost 200,000.

Sad, really.
Sounds just like my town centre. There's about 5 Greggs, a Subway, McDonalds, a couple of greasy spoon cafes, various other pasty/sandwich shops. Not one decent restaurant in the vicinity.
summerain is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 28-08-2009, 14:58
Simon1984
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Shenzhen, China
Posts: 5,265
Sounds just like my town centre. There's about 5 Greggs, a Subway, McDonalds, a couple of greasy spoon cafes, various other pasty/sandwich shops. Not one decent restaurant in the vicinity.
That sounds like heaven to me. There is only much street food you can take despite it being delicious. I would kill for a pasty, quality sandwich or a juicy fry up.
Simon1984 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 28-08-2009, 19:49
dearesthelpless
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 191
I agree actually. It's really annoying to be in an unfamiliar town centre, because you don't know the outskirt places that have decent food... your choices are fastfood or an over-priced sandwich in a coffee shop.
dearesthelpless is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 28-08-2009, 19:57
dsdjm
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 1,650
I would also suggest that you tone down the arrogant nature you seem to have.
Thanks for that.
dsdjm is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 29-08-2009, 16:46
summerain
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Wiltshire
Posts: 8,047
That sounds like heaven to me. There is only much street food you can take despite it being delicious. I would kill for a pasty, quality sandwich or a juicy fry up.
I do quite like McDonalds and Greggs but to avoid becoming the size of a house I would like some healthy options! Excluding processed, mass-produced rubbish that makes up the 'healthy' menu in these places.
summerain is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 30-08-2009, 16:53
bornfree
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 13,434
I would like to see some decent Italian restaurants in my area. There are far too many curry houses, especially Kebabishis. I like curries a lot, but also like other food. Sometime I wonder how they survive, especially when there are 5 within a hundred metres of each other.
bornfree is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 30-08-2009, 19:21
jojo01
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 9,215
I think there are 3 McDo's in Croydon town centre alone. Not that I'd eat that shite... I used to mind, I've just recognised the error of my ways!

Also in Croydon town centre, there's a KFC, Pizza Hut, BK, Chicken Cottage, Greggs, all you can stuff down your throat Chinese 'restaurants' with food that's been in the warming trays for a week or two, umpteen coffee shops etc etc. You can get 'proper' meals in Debenhams' and Allders' restaurants on the proviso that you're expected to pay a ridiculously high amount for something very average indeed.

In South Croydon however, there are loads of restaurants offering almost every type of food imaginable so I'm lucky in that regard. I also have a local chippy which is fantastic, but that's a very occasional treat for me.

But anyhoo, I agree with the OP that it's quite often only fast food that's offered in town centres.
jojo01 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 30-08-2009, 19:27
bean999
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 3,686
Thanks - a friend just returned from an IT training trip to India - and he said for lunch you could walk down street after street and take your pick from small stalls selling delicious meats and vegetables, with potatoes, rice or rice noodles in small boxes for next to nothing.

Why is there nothing even remotely along those lines here.

No wonder there's an obesity problem.
Is that tiffin?
bean999 is offline   Reply With Quote
 
Reply




 
Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 17:24.