Food 'n' Drink – Food and Drink news |

Research has found that people who enjoy eating out will continue to do so, regardless of the recession. In the survey, more than 1,000 UK diners were questioned about their eating out habits and the results showed that nearly two thirds of them (62%) still planned on eating out the same amount as they do already or perhaps even more than was usual, especially during special occasions or seasons, for example, at Christmas.

Again, nearly two-thirds (63%) confirmed that cost wasn’t the major issue when deciding whether or not to eat out, and a further 77% said that they would definitely consider paying more for their food if they knew that the meal had been made from high-quality ingredients.

The survey also showed that two-thirds (67%) of diners questioned said that their favourite way of celebrating a special occasion such as a birthday or anniversary was to go out for a meal at a restaurant. However; a further 42% of those asked said they felt frustrated with the lack of variety on offer whenever they went out for a meal.

If you’re someone who enjoys eating out at restaurants then it may be in your interest to visit moneysupermarket.com’s Voucher channel and see what offers are available to you.

On the comparison site you’ll find many options available to you and a variety of great restaurant vouchers on offer to choose from, so you’ll soon be enjoying a great meal out for less in no time.

A vouchers article brought to you by Gill Critchley, the Vouchers web author at moneysupermarket.com.

Heston Blumenthal’s iconic British restaurant The Fat Duck has been swept aside in the highly prestigious S.Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards, it is now moved down to the number three spot, and if that were not insult enough the new number one is a Danish eatery which specialises in such exotic delicacies as edible soil and radishes.

The Noma restaurant not surprisingly has a heavy emphasis on Nordic classical food and operates from the docks in Copenhagen inside a warehouse dating back to the 18 century, this means that after five years at the top of eating’s Premier league the Spanish restaurant El Bulli has been demoted to the number two position.

Although it does not exactly entice, the Noma proudly boasts that its food is a “homage to soil and sea”. This word is quite surprising as the two star Michelin establishment serves up dishes that are highly local and for the most part have never been heard of outside the Scandinavian countries.

The restaurant’s chef is a comparatively young 32-year-old by the name of Rene Redzepi who has become the Apple of many restaurant critics eyes over the last couple of years, a decent meal at this new hotspot will on average set you back around £150 per person.

According to the judges are restaurant has firmly placed Copenhagen on the gastronomic map and has brought the country in from restaurant critic Siberia.

This is however major shock to 47-year-old chef Ferran Adria, who managed to keep the El Bulli at the top of the gastronomic tree for half a decade, many feel that the only reason he may have slipped a notch is the fact that he announced earlier this year that he will close down his restaurant for two years in order to create a new venue.

Eating out is great, gives a fun relaxing time with good food, the chance to meet up with friends and family, and no mess to clean up afterwards. We all think of eating out as something we do as a treat, it costs more generally than cooking at home does, so when we’re in a recession as we are now, it’s often one of the many things that we take off our ‘to do’ lists assuming that we can’t afford it.

If you’re clever however, it can be possible to have good meals out with friends, enjoy that relaxing atmosphere and still not spend too much. One of the best ways to do this is to look for restaurant discounts and vouchers, and to remember that if you were eating at home you would still be spending something. If you start by saying that a cheap meal at home for 4 people might cost you £2-4 per head, then you can effectively knock that much off the cost of what you spend when you go out as you’d be spending it anyway. If you can then reduce the cost of the meal out by using a discount voucher then you can further reduce how much you’re spending and often the cost can work out very little more than you might have spent eating at home.

Restaurants at the moment are out to seduce you, they want you to spend your money with them instead of their competitors so many of them are offering some really excellent deals from two for the price of one meals, to free deserts when you eat a main course, or an amount off when you spend a specific amount. Obviously if a restaurant is offering more than one deal you’ll need to think hard before you decide which deal is going to save you the most too.

If you’re uncertain where to look for discount codes of this nature, try sites such as http://restaurantvouchers.org.uk/ where they list as many discount vouchers as possible to try and help you to save as much as possible.

It’s also worth thinking about when you go for your meal, it’s often more expensive to go in the evening, or at a weekend, and there are some excellent deals to be had midweek. A local well known carvery near me offers roast dinner meals at just £3.59 per person Monday to Saturday during the daytime for example, but the same meal cost increases to around £6 per person if you go in the evening and is even more on a Sunday.

Some current deals at the moment are:

40% off Wagamamma
£1 meals at Zizzi’s

The famous Chicago Rib Shack in Knightsbridge is the ideal venue in London to watch the climax of the American Football season, Superbowl XLIV on Sunday 7th February 2010.

The American themed venue will be showing the action on multiple screens, including a large projector, or you can even book one of their semi-private booths with room for up to 12 friends and your own television for the night.

As well as coverage of the big game, you can expect plenty of entertainment from the Chicago Rib Shack team as they raise the atmosphere with live music, great service, ribs, popcorn, hot dogs and of course plenty of beer, including special offers on Budweiser all night.

Tickets for the game are only £10 and include entrance and a bottle of Budweiser on arrival. Tickets are valid from 10pm, but it is also possible to book in for a pre-match meal.

For tickets and bookings please call 020 7591 4664 or e-mail bookings@thechicagoribshack.com