What do you order in a good restaurant ?

When I go out to eat I want to choose something I won't make at home.

I can not buy steaks as good as better restaurants can. Not money wise, nor quality wise. Plus I may screw up the cooking while sipping a Manhattan soooooooo I don't grill or any-other-wise cook steaks at home. Ordering a perfectly cooked T'Bone is a delight I look forward to when some good-looking babe asks me out. There are many excellent Steak Houses where I can feel like a king---------sooooo no steaks at home. But--------

I can make Shrimp Scampi at home as well as any restaurant, and a heck of a lot cheaper, so why order Shrimp Scampi, etc, etc. Comonna my house I'm gonna make you whatever you want-----

So when you go out to eat, on a special occasion, what do you order ????

My friend has an excellent strategy for ordering when out of town.

He asks the waiter, "If your best friend was coming from out of town, and you wanted him to get the best of what this restaurant has to offer, what would you recommend?"

He has always followed the recommendation, and, at last count, had not ever been disappointed.

My son, on the other hand, and I were out to breakfast a couple of months ago, and I asked what he was going to order. Eggs Benedict was the answer, and I asked why. "Because I can't make it at home." My response was that hollandaise sauce is simple. "Nope, not hollandaise sauce, but poached eggs are impossible."

I went home and made him a video of how to poach eggs, and, as a bonus, showed how to make a hollandaise sauce.

Now he has to find something else to order for breakfast.

Great question. I order foods that I don't have the expertise or nerve to prepare at home. Châteaubriand, for example. Or prime rib. Lobster is another one. Longhorn Steak House has a superb marinated salmon that I can't duplicate, because I don't have the marinade formula (bourbon, brown sugar, soy sauce). Anyone have the proportions? ~(;-D)

ive been to Longhorns and had salmon there which was to die for.

When out, I oftentimes will order salmon. No one at home will eat it. Even though I make shrimp scampi at home, it still doesn't prevent me from ordering it when I'm out. I LOVE shrimp scampi!

I first tried eggs benedict about a month ago when I went out. It came with crab cakes. It really hit the spot.

I'll at least "try" and pick something on the menu that I don't necessarily get at home. I like that method of food selection

quote:

Originally posted by the ancient mariner

When I go out to eat I want to choose something I won't make at home.

I can not buy steaks as good as better restaurants can. Not money wise, nor quality wise. Plus I may screw up the cooking while sipping a Manhattan soooooooo I don't grill or any-other-wise cook steaks at home. Ordering a perfectly cooked T'Bone is a delight I look forward to when some good-looking babe asks me out. There are many excellent Steak Houses where I can feel like a king---------sooooo no steaks at home. But--------

I can make Shrimp Scampi at home as well as any restaurant, and a heck of a lot cheaper, so why order Shrimp Scampi, etc, etc. Comonna my house I'm gonna make you whatever you want-----

So when you go out to eat, on a special occasion, what do you order ????

I'll eat about the same stuff I'll eat at home,if I'm at Ryan's or Golden Corral otherwise I shoot for something different.

I always order something I cant make at home -EXCEPT when we go to the 5 oclock club-best steaks in town

With me it depends on the restaurant in question and my mood. Generally, I'll order something I won't make at home very often mainly because it can be such a pain. Although, there are things that are a pain that can only be made the way they're supposed to be made when I do it myself in my own kitchen. Daufuskie Island Deviled Crabs and Shrimp Creole are my main examples. Lowcountry boil tops the list, too; even though it's a no-brainer and requires little effort, it's hard to get it made decently at a restaurant. Truth be known, I don't even bother to order those things at all in restaurants. So, long story longer, I probably will order fried chicken or fried seafood, or Rockefeller or something like that when out. The making is straightforward but the prep can be a bit bothersome.

Depends on the restaurant.

I will order something that is the place signature dish and something I won't make at home.

For me it's usually anything but steaks, because we get excellent cuts from out local butcher shop. If it's seafood, I go for lobster, scallops or oysters. I like to try signature dishes (depending upon what they are) and basically anything that's not something I usually eat at home. I'm not a big fan of ordering chicken dishes unless it's fried chicken or pad thai or something very spicy, because I sometimes feel very "chickened" out!

Andrea

CK, one more time, great minds think alike!

Andrea, yes... something diff from what you eat at home. "chickened out" lol, me tooo sometimes.
Joe

quote:

Originally posted by CajunKing

Depends on the restaurant.

I will order something that is the place signature dish and something I won't make at home.

me too cajunking,i find if you go with the house specialties[hopefully made from scratch] you usually won't be disapointed.
i live in chicago where we have so many great resturants to choose from.i enjoy comfort food,love to eat and don't really cook at home so if anyplace is doing an upscale mac n cheese,gourmet chicken pot pie,homemade pasta or a top grade meatloaf perhaps with creamy rich buttery mashed potaoes and gravy made from a rich veal stock then i'm right there with it and ready to commit.
no foie gras thank you however a simply prepared medium rare filet mignon is always enjoyable and i will occasionally treat myself to one.

Porterhouse, a good red wine, salad with blue cheese and a baked potato with sour cream and lotsa butter.

Paul E. Smith'
Knoxville, TN

Foie gras, anything with black truffles, duck confit, sweetbreads, grilled veal kidneys, any fresh fish.

It's getting tougher for me to go to a restaurant to eat what I do not have at home. In my freezer is escargot, sweetbreads, calf liver, eel, soft shell crabs and more. Last night I defrosted and cooked my chicken enchiladas in mole sauce. I have dried porcini and ****ake mushrooms for rissoto.

I can make my own sushi and I am getting better at Thai food as I have many of the ingredients neccesary. That said, I still will go out for that food, especially sushi as I will order a variety of pieces and rolls.

I will never order a steak, but a good prime rib does trip my trigger. I will cook rib-eye steaks, but a prime rib has a different mouth feel, taste and texture. I love the au jus....

Even though I can make it at home, I love going out for a good corned beef hash.

mark

I live with two who are not shellfish eaters. So, when I go out, it is pan seared scallops for me. I could make them at home, but I would be the only one eating. (Of course, now that I think about it, that may not be so bad after all.)

For me, it depends on the restaurant. I try to order what they are good at. Often times, I find myself preferring one place over another because they have a particular dish that I have a taste for. At many restaurants, I narrow their selections to one or two things and then repeat those selections whenever I visit.

My first goal in restaurants is to try things I've never had before anywhere else.... other times I'll go to several restaurants (over a couple of weeks)and order the same item to see who makes the best in town.. i.e. fried chicken, bbq, etc.... if I go to a familiar place, I'll just consistently order what I know they do well.. (unless they've added something new)

At a good restaurant I tend to pay a lot of attention to the specials of the day. That's where a chef's creativity frequently shines. I'll order something I might not have had (or particularly liked) before if the chef is know for it (at one fine Italian place a newsapaper review got me to try a risotto with bone marrow and red wine that was just incredible). I lean toward seafood and rich meat: scallops, swordfish, lamb and duck all draw me in. If a place does good veal I'll order that, if the menu (or I) seem boring at the time I'll find a gamier piece of beef.

Chicken and pork just seem too much like home food to me (and there's so much stale pre-cooked chicken used today that we won't even order chicken in Chinese takeout).

Used to be my other half would not eat any type of seafood- so usually when we went out to a really nice restaurant I would order fresh seafood- like a swordfish or halibut or mabe a shrimp scampi and he would order a filet mignon or prime rib. That all changed when we made a trip to Louisiana a few years ago and he fell in love with skewered fried shrimp. That week he ate every type of seafood you can imagine- from shrimp to oysters to gumbo, and everything in between. Now when we go out, he may even order shrimp. Of course, at home I make my portion into a scampi and serve with spaghetti tossed with garlic and olive oil and his portion is lightly battered and panfried. But sometimes when we go out he will at least try something new. Once he really surprised me, and ordered a grilled salmon with a raspberry comfit- I didn't think he would even eat it- but he loved it! I guess it's true, as you get older your likes and dislikes for certain foods change.

quote:

Originally posted by Ashphalt

At a good restaurant I tend to pay a lot of attention to the specials of the day. That's where a chef's creativity frequently shines. I'll order something I might not have had (or particularly liked) before if the chef is know for it (at one fine Italian place a newsapaper review got me to try a risotto with bone marrow and red wine that was just incredible). I lean toward seafood and rich meat: scallops, swordfish, lamb and duck all draw me in. If a place does good veal I'll order that, if the menu (or I) seem boring at the time I'll find a gamier piece of beef.

Chicken and pork just seem too much like home food to me (and there's so much stale pre-cooked chicken used today that we won't even order chicken in Chinese takeout).

I don't usually order chicken, unless it's fried and that's my intention anyway, or fish, unless it's part of a platter. I do have an affinity for Cracker Barrel chicken 'n' dumplings, though. But I don't go there much. The closest one was on Hilton Head and it closed. I never order pork, unless it's "Q." And I prefer beef "Q." Especially ribs. But I do those at home. LOL. MacPhearson's near here makes killer chicken "Q." And all the other "Q's," too. LOL.

P.S. Bacon doesn't count as pork...I eat bacon any chance I get!

Depending on the restaurant.........Steak, duck, veal, fish, (depending on the type of fish on the menu). I Also will order the restaurants specialty items. I go to cetain restaurants for certain items.
I always go out for lobster, clams and oysters.
The type of foods I will eat out and never cook at home: Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Thai, etc, etc.

I've got to parrot other answers and say I go for things i can't do on my own or not as well. Sadly, that doesn't narrow down a lot of things on most menus, but if I'm going to splurge I tend to head towards places that do it up with layers and sauces and foams that I wouldn't do.

Also, cuts of meat get me and if lobster is grilled, I'm all over it.

I on the other hand will order something that I would like to replicate at home.
Duck being one item that I was always leery of trying at home, after finding out there was no mistery to it I gave it a shot. Came out fair to good {over cooked a bit} but still enjoyed it. I will order it in a retaurant just to see their presentation of it.
Chicken, thought I would never order roast chicken in a high end restaurant but we have a place here in Boston that the owner/chef Cris Slessinger has nailed it. Probably the finest chicken I've ever eaten.
I have a resorce for Prime beef so I cook that home often and also will order it when dinnig out, depends on my mood. Chow Jim

Of course it depends on the restaurant.
but when I can get it this is what I order:
coca cola
crab meat stuffed mushrooms or oysters rockefeller
coca cola
french onion soup
coca cola
filet mignon and lobster tail
au gratin potatoes
glazed carrots
for some reason, I can't drink coke quick enough when I'm eating at a restaurant but at home a coke lasts me for a cpl hours
I wanted to add that part of how high I tip is how good the waitress or waiter stays on top of my refills

Often some kind of dish with shellfish, like scallops, shrimp, lobster, etc. Duck is another thing I get a lot when I go to a nice restaurant.

I like cooking duck.
Also, in Greenville, I'd order Peking Duck from a restaurant that delivered. I only had to order it a couple of days in advance and they'd bring it to me when I wanted to eat! They used to deliver all kinds of stuff. All the seafoods, etc. I loved it.

Cerviche
Steak Tartare
Tableside prepared Caesar salad
Highly recomended French onion soup
Veal Parmesean

We usually select a retaurant based on their specialty....having said that it never amazes me how many times we're in a restaurnat and Kathy & I say to each other...."what looks good to you?" But here are a few guidlines: whole crabs and lobsters are meant for backyard family picnics so no need to eat out, prime rib is good out; steaks for our grill, sushi out, pizzas out and french food out.

We have a great sushi/sashimi restaurant right down the road from us and we eat there a lot. Sure I could make it at home but it's more enjoyable at the Japanese restaurant. Plus we know the chef/owner so we never look at the menu, but ask him to make us whatever he feels like. We're always very very happy with his food and presentation.

Thank you one and all. I, like most of you, think that eating out is for special foods that I can not make at home for one reason or another.

Love prime ribs out, I have a great recipe from Craig Claiborne but seldom have the occasion.

As a kid on Long Island we had tons of seafood and great Long Island Duckling. One memorable duck dinner (actully after seeing "Singing In The Rain" at Radio City Music Hall with my wife) we had Duck Montmorency (sp)which was fantastic int a little romantic French Restaurant in Manhattan. The Blue Ribbon on E. 44th just off Times Square had a wonderful roast duck dinner that knocked me out.So I often choose duck when I see it on the menu.

I can not make Chinese at home that compares with good places like Sun Ming so that's another option.

And when I take my sons and grand sons out it is steak dinner exactly as Paul Smith described. I can't afford to do it too often cause those guys can really chow down.

Generally when I go out to eat, I will order some type of seafood, often non-farm raised salmon. This is because I rarely eat beef, and I get a lot of pork chops and chicken at home, so I tend to stay away from these items when I eat out. There are, however, a couple of exceptions to this general practice. First, as mentioned by other posters, if a place has a signature dish I will often order that. If I go to Stroud's in Kansas City, for example, I'm going to order fried chicken, even though I try mostly to avoid fried foods and even though I eat a lot of chicken at home. Second, if I'm trying a place because of a recommendation from a friend or a good newspaper review, I will often try a dish that is recommended by the friend or by the review.

When I eat out I generally go for the sandwich menu and my wife the salad menu. We skip the entrees if the restaurant is average with no creativity. Why? Rarely do I find service to justify the high cost of eating out. I think it is because almost all restaurants are casual affairs with people in shorts, Tevas and polo shirts now. The service is equivalent in most places. Maybe I was young and impressed 40 plus years ago. There were certainly fewer sit down restaurants then but it was a coat and ties and dress affair and the wait staff was professional with ceremonial manners and proper etiquette in bringing and presenting the food. That was part of the deal you were paying for. The experience. Now you can get an expensive meal and a waitron with spiked hair, nose rings, tattoos, dirty apron and gum chewing reaching over dropping plates on your table and delivering main courses almost before you begin eating your salad. So when I get great service I am generally more impressed than the food.

If I am inanethnic restaurant, I pretty much do what GB944 does. I ask the waitperson to ask the chef what the chef would fix for his favorite grandparent that was coming to visit from their country of origin.

Most times I get something that is not on the menu, and a visit from the chef, inquring as to how I liked what was presented. Haven't had a bad meal yet, have had some strange things. Howver, once I got a cheeseburger and fries at a Korean place we have frequented. The chef came out and said that is what his 85 yr.old Korean grandmother ate for almost every meal when she came to visit. We had a good laugh about that, as I got exactly what I asked for.When I went to pay the bill, I was presented with a huge container of Korean ribs, and kimchee - no charge.

For starters, we rarely have cocktails at a resturant, preferring to have them at home, or when traveling, in our hotel room- both because of the excessive price in most places and the poor quality of the vermouth and gin available in most places.

After that, we'll order the house specialty or I'll order something relatively unusual off the menu that I know I'll never get at home,and probably wont ever again find in another restaurant.

We usually share a desert with coffee,and rarely order after dinner drinks.

Cheers, John

Steak tartare is the dish that I would not dare make at home...just am wary about the meat that I could buy. I trust the higher end places to have good meat suppliers.

quote:

Originally posted by tacchino

Steak tartare is the dish that I would not dare make at home...just am wary about the meat that I could buy. I trust the higher end places to have good meat suppliers.

You can choose absolutely the best to have ground up, but, what was ground in the grinder before?

The biggest steak they offer. I can't stand small expensive portions. I went out because I wanted to eat, not be impressed by the way it looks but by the way it could fill me.

Tony