Uk restaurant options

riaward1990

Hi all

I've been low carb now for two months and one thing I still struggle with is eating out. As part of my job I eat out very frequently. For example:

Monday: dinner with client
Tuesday: lunch with client
Wednesday: home cooked food
Thursday: celebration meal with family
Friday: Lunch out with collegues
Saturday: lunch out while out and about with my son. I just had a drink.
Sunday: home cooked food

That's a pretty normal week, collegues actually went out in the evening for drinks and I declined. I'm pretty sick of constantly having a bland basic salad (as I don't trust salad dressings for added sugar) with either plain chicken or steak.

What's everyone's top tips for eating out?

Does anyone in the UK have some good options for restaurants and/or menu options?

LowCarbInScotland

I'm afraid I'm pretty boring too when I eat out. I'm often stuck at work lunches, but we're just in a conference room and we work through lunch, so I don't feel too weird if I just don't eat, it's not like being at a restaurant where everyone is ordering something.

Like you, I have my salads with no dressing for fear of sugar. In the US you can usually get a bottle of olive oil and vinegar at your table, but that's not really a thing here. Everyone seems to like mayo, but the idea of eating it on my salad, makes me gag.

Dinner I'm fine with though. I usually order a steak with no chips and add a side of sauteed mushrooms and whatever veg they offer (as long as it's not just peas). And I'll get a side of clarified butter with it all, which makes everything very yummy.

A couple of times I've grabbed something out with my husband. I got some chicken from Nandos, it's full of flavour and is low carb. Depending on your macros, you may be able to have coleslaw or their grilled veg. Their nutritional info is here: https://www.nandos.co.uk/eat/menu

We've ordered from our local kebab shop a couple of times and that works for me. We get a king size chicken tikka kebab and split the chicken and I have the salad, my husband has the naan bread.

Most chain restaurants have their nutritional info online, which helps with planning. I find it's sometimes easier to google the name of the restaurant w/ "nutrition information" i.e. Nandos Nutritional Information as it's often hard to find on their sites. Just look for the results that's directly from the restaurant instead of a third party site.

Wagamamas has a nice looking Sirloin & Shitake salad that's only 7.3 carbs, including the dressing.

totaloblivia

Caesar salads are often good. I have that at pizza express, for example xx

riaward1990

Thanks for the ideas.
Yep, nandos has been a good option for lunches with staff previously. I'll order the chicken thighs with side salad. Easy to track, plenty of flabout ams fits in with my macros.

Unfortunately nandos isn't seen as upmarket enough for entertaining our clients so it's mainly restaurants where I'll order a steak with salad/green beans/spinach and add a bit of butter. I'll always decline a starter or dessert and stick to table water. At most if we take people or for drinks I'll have a diet coke.

riaward1990

Flabout? ??? I mean flavour!

LowCarbInScotland

LOL autocorrect sucks

If I'm out with people from work who are drinking, I'll order a bottle of sparkling water with lime so that I don't feel weird sitting there drinking tap water.

Ooh, and if everyone is ordering dessert, just get the cheese plate and skip the oatcakes/crackers and chutney.

ladipoet

Yes, carefully chosen salads (without added fruit, candied nuts or dressings high in sugar) are a good choice. So are basic plain meat and veggie dishes: burger without the bun, veggies on the side topped with lots of butter. Fish / Seafood, chicken, pork or beef with veggies and butter. Eating out can be VERY boring and restrictive unfortunately unless you know the nutritional data info for the meal you plan on eating out (some are available online). This is why I prefer to cook and eat at home. I used to eat out 2-3 times a week. Now it seems like I do it maybe 1-2 times per MONTH! lol

riaward1990

I really miss cooking my own meals every night but don't get much chance during the week.

I have ordered a ceaser salad once before but then felt like a weirdo picking out all the croutons in front of our guests. I'm sure part of the problem is my self consciousness. I don't want to be awkward asking our waiter for something off menu or for people to think I'm eating weirdly.

We went to miller and carter the other day. I would have happily eaten a pile of wings as a starter but I get embarrassed eating something like that in front of others.

LowCarbInScotland

I totally understand, it can feel weird and awkward in the workplace, especially when dining with clients, having specific dietary restrictions. Lately though, I've found I'm not the only one, in my circles everyone seems to be on some type of restricted or specific diet, so I'm not the only one who seems picky, thank goodness. Though I still wonder if people think I'm an alcoholic or something when I'm the only one not drinking, but whatever, I'm not succumbing to the peer pressure lol.

mormas

A bit low class for work lunch, but my kids love eating out. I normally try and go places I can see the menu beforehand, but my staples for when it is unexpected are;-

McDonalds, the lowest Carb meal I could find on their menu, is the grilled Chicken and Bacon salad (4.8g) with Balsmatic dressing (4.4g). You could always opt for the plain grilled chicken salad if you want to be real low.

At Wetherspoons, I normally have a chicken ceasar salad (15.8g with the croutons) or Skinny steak with salad (4.7g)

If anyone has any others please share