Eating in Philippine restaurants vs dining at home

[Tukaram (Tim)]

20 hours ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

Sounds good but I know if we mean a drumstick then I would need two otherwise in my case I would have to bloat up on rice. 

That is what is so good about Mang Inasal - the portions.  You get either the drumstick & thigh, or the wing & breast.  Shoved on a stick and grilled. Big piece of chicken :)

[Mike S]

1 minute ago, Sander Martin said:

The first thing you do when you move together with a Filipina is hide the sugar jar. Most Filipino food are way to sweet. ???

The only sugar we have in the house is brown sugar .... we do however use Splenda which we buy in huge bags from a store in Cebu and have them shipped here ... in fact we just ordered 3 of these bags last week and they will last us almost 2 years .... I'm a diabetic ..... 

[mogo51]

Yes, I have only just realised I am hooked up with a centipede

[DavidK]

Given the quality of my wife's cooking (improved immeasurably thanks to the internet) eating at home is definitely the popular choice. Cheaper as well especially if she's been to the night market that week. However there are some meals out not to miss, expat dinner at the Marco Polo springs to mind - unlimited food of just about every variety. I usually manage three starters (Sashimi, soup and then pate and bread), one main and two deserts plus a bottle of red to share. All at a very good price considering the quality.

[expatuk2014]

The main reason we eat out is I dont like my princess to spend most of the day preparing food ! we often eat out but we do tend to stay away from places like Shakeys ( expensive ) Kenny rogers ( very slow ) we use Maxs quite a lot and also Mer-Nels. and we even eat at the local college canteen ! a meal each and a shake for 4 comes to 130pesos . and yes its often cheaper to eat out if you take into acct the fares and cooking oils spices etc etc oh for a plate of cod and chips !

[mogo51]

Cod  and chips, I am in!  Happy birthday by the way, yesterday if I remember correctly?

[sonjack2847]

On 4/13/2016 at 9:55 AM, Dave Hounddriver said:

Another member mentioned that expats are considered wealthy because they can eat in restaurants at least once a day.  Do you?

I find that restaurant dining, in Dumaguete, can be just as cheap as dining at home. I do not mean dining at the high end restaurants, but lets take Mang Inasal for example.  If you go there for a leg of bbq chicken with unlimited rice and a coke, it will cost you just over 100 pesos (maybe 120).  So what would it cost to buy the meat, condiments, uling (local charcoal), rice and a bottle of coke?  While I have not done an exact cost comparison, it seems just as cheap to me to eat out in many cases.

My break even point seems to be just over 300 pesos for a meal for 2.  So dining out with the wife, 3 times a week, for under 1,000 pesos, seems to knock about that much off the grocery budget.  Comments?

I agree we go out a couple of times a week for food and it is not just the cost but also no dishes to wash after.

[expatuk2014]

4 hours ago, mogo51 said:

Cod  and chips, I am in!  Happy birthday by the way, yesterday if I remember correctly?

The main reason we eat out is I dont like my princess to spend most of the day preparing food ! we often eat out but we do tend to stay away from places like Shakeys ( expensive ) Kenny rogers ( very slow ) we use Maxs quite a lot and also Mer-Nels. and we even eat at the local college canteen ! a meal each and a shake for 4 comes to 130pesos . and yes its often cheaper to eat out if you take into acct the fares and cooking oils spices etc etc oh for a plate of cod and chips !  3 more days to go ! but have my 2 bday presents already inc a new car !!

[RBM]

18 hours ago, Mike S said:

The only sugar we have in the house is brown sugar .... we do however use Splenda which we buy in huge bags from a store in Cebu and have them shipped here ... in fact we just ordered 3 of these bags last week and they will last us almost 2 years .... I'm a diabetic ..... 

Mike slightly off topic how ever you may wish to google splenda, I am not a health nut how ever my doc a while ago whom I respect advised me not to use it.

[RBM]

Dave in Dumaguete one is spoilt for cheap eating. One could afford to eat out every night.

 

Straight to mind comes the Korean resto and True Love both top quality and ridiculously cheap. Also many others, trick is stay away from the boulevard.