Dining out is one of life’s biggest joys, but sometimes certain dishes just aren't worth the price tag (or risk to your health). From ingredients that are unlikely to be fresh to meals that could land you with a stomach bug, these are the dishes you should never order at a restaurant – a few may seriously surprise you.
Click or scroll through our gallery as we rank the foods you should avoid when eating out, counting down to the worst offender of all.
We've based our ranking on the quality of ingredients and food risks involved, and on the opinions of our well-travelled (and well-fed) team. The list is unavoidably subjective.
People often plump for edamame as a healthy starter, but the slightly sweet soybeans just aren't worth the price tag. Steaming and salting a bag of edamame costs very little, and the dish doesn't fill you up – plus, it’s incredibly easy to prepare. Save edamame for eating at home and order the deep-fried tofu or miso-glazed aubergine instead.
At some restaurants, the ice cream will be a supermarket variety that you’re charged outrageously marked-up prices to enjoy. What’s the point in paying more, when you can pick up a tub for a fraction of the cost on the drive home? Unless a restaurant makes its ice cream in-house or offers a really unusual flavour, opt for something else.
Think freshly squeezed juice is healthier than pasteurised? Think again. Bacteria from the skin of the fruit can end up in the juice and multiply. Full of sugar, fresh juice is a breeding ground for bacteria when left out at warm temperatures – so unless you’re convinced it was prepared to order, you’re safer opting for something else. If fresh juice tastes at all fizzy, never drink it.
Tempted to order the only barbecued item on the menu? You might want to rethink your dining options. Many chefs agree that if you’re after American-style barbecue, you need to head to a spot with a smoker for an authentic atmosphere and tasting experience. Restaurants without one will likely just be serving up a commercially produced meal that’s disguised with excess barbecue sauce.
White truffles and caviar are deliciously extravagant foods which, if you have a taste for them, you’re better off enjoying at home. Compared to wholesale, the mark-up on these ingredients in a restaurant is astronomical – and neither ingredient requires much skill on the part of the chef.
A house-made veggie burger might seem like a smart order, but keep in mind that some pubs, diners and meat-focused restaurants order their veggie dishes wholesale, rather than preparing them from scratch. A farm-to-table or vegetarian restaurant is your best bet if you're in the market for a stellar veggie burger.
Heading out for brunch? You may want to steer clear of any items loaded with scrambled eggs. Many chefs say that they would never order scrambled eggs in a restaurant, as they so often end up dry and overcooked – especially those laid out in giant buffet trays. Unless you’re in a fine dining establishment or you can see the chefs making them in front of you, you’re better off choosing something else.
Sorry to disappoint, but most truffle oils aren't made with any truffle at all. These products are either created to taste like truffle (which its why the flavour can often be very overpowering) or only contain a tiny quantity of the real thing. Order a dish topped with either of these concoctions, and you'll end up paying more for something that doesn't taste anything like fresh truffle.
Restaurant specials are one-off dishes a chef has created for that day only – and they're usually a way for the kitchen to use up leftover ingredients or produce that’s on the turn. While they can be a great (and delicious) way to avoid food waste, consider the offering. If it seems too eclectic or a random combination of flavours, avoiding it could be your safest bet (both for your taste buds and your health).
If there’s one thing that’s going to annoy the kitchen staff, it’s diners ordering off menu. Small requests like swapping French fries for chunky chips are usually fine, but if you make up a completely new meal on a whim, it’s better to prepare for disappointment. Remember the waiting staff will likely feel the brunt of the frustration, too. That said, these days, chefs are happy to help when it comes to adapting meals to cater to different dietary requirements, especially if given notice in advance.
We get it. You’re after something hearty, and the 'home-style' meatloaf on the menu is calling your name. The problem with restaurant meatloaf is that it's often packed with filler, scrimping on the meat. The dish is then covered in rich, sugary tomato sauce so you don’t notice. If you really want it, check with the staff whether it’s actually house made.
Cooking a steak to well done can often make the meat tough, sacrificing both its taste and its texture. Plus, a little-known industry secret is that some restaurants save the worst or oldest cuts for cooking well-done; after they’re grilled to a crisp, customers are none the wiser.
Even in top restaurants, it’s unlikely that the Hollandaise sauce is being made to order. More likely it’s batch-made in the morning, or even the day before, then reheated. What’s worse, bacteria love the dish – so remember this next time you’re eyeing up eggs Benedict at brunch.
Wedge salad is made by smothering cheap iceberg lettuce with a basic salad dressing. It takes minimal effort to prepare, making the price you’ll pay for it highly disproportionate to the cost of the ingredients and skills required to prepare it. Plus, germs can hide in the crinkly leaf cracks, even after the lettuce is washed.
No matter how tempting saucy chicken Parmesan sounds, hold off on ordering it unless you want to be disappointed. This dish is often cooked from frozen, rather than prepared fresh. At reputable Italian restaurants, this may not be the case; a good guide is to look at how many items are on the menu. Too many to cook from scratch? If the answer is yes, order something else.
Unless you’re at a fine dining restaurant or old-school Italian joint, it’s worth steering clear of that lone risotto on the menu. This rice-based dish needs time, care and attention to be preparedly brilliantly, and in a bustling kitchen with a string of other meals being cooked to order, that’s not always possible. Instead, you’ll likely find it’s been microwaved from frozen.
Eating out is an opportunity to try something new and be impressed. As more restaurants expand their horizons, conjuring up new dishes and recreating old ones, it’s fun and exciting to get involved. Step away from the chicken salad and opt for something completely different. There’s all to gain and nothing to lose.
No restaurant is really able to monitor how many wandering fingers have been poking around in the salad bar or whether people use the right tongs for each bowl – so there are plenty of opportunities for contamination. If you’re still tempted by the salad selection, make sure all the elements are served chilled.
When the bottled ketchup that lives on the table at your local burger joint runs out, don’t think the dregs go to waste. Come closing time, staff often combine leftover sauce to make full bottles. Although it’s good to be thrifty, there’s no way of telling how long that sauce has been around. Stay safe and avoid communal ketchup, particularly if it tastes sour.
Just like the daily specials, the soup of the day is a nifty way for chefs to whizz up a profit from leftover ingredients before they go off. Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay even recommends checking whether yesterday's soup de jour was the same as today's; if yesterday’s special is identical, it might be the case that you’re ordering soup of the month...
Whether we’re talking trout, salmon, pollock or halibut, fish is a delicate protein that needs to be paired with light, uplifting ingredients like lemon or fresh herbs. What it doesn’t need is overbearing components such as smoky bacon. If you see any dishes on the specials board coupling fish with strong flavours, it’s worth avoiding them – it could mean the chefs are trying to mask the smell of old seafood.
Real Kobe beef may be delicious, but it's a delicacy and usually comes at an eye-watering cost. If the price tag is too good to be true, you might not be getting the real deal – some restaurants even try labelling wagyu beef as Kobe to fool guests. Kobe is also extremely fatty, so if you do get your hands on the real stuff, you'll likely only receive a very small portion. If what you want is a good quality, tender and juicy steak, you might be better off ordering a rib-eye.
Pizza is a big money maker for restaurants as the ingredients cost very little and can be sold at a high mark-up. If you’re at a speciality pizza restaurant that makes its own dough and offers artisan meats and cheeses, then great. However, if you’re at a pub and they've attached a high price tag to a basic pie, order something else.
Ordering fish is always a bit of a gamble. A fresh catch is lovely, but old fish is thoroughly uninspiring. If you're ordering fish on a Monday, be particularly cautious as seafood markets aren’t open at the weekend. Monday’s fish special may be fresh from the freezer – or worse, it may have been hanging around in the fridge since Friday. Ask the staff when it was sourced so you don’t end up with a dish that’s fishy (in a bad way).
Next time you’re ordering a drink at a restaurant, hold the ice. Many popular places, both casual and high end, have been found to clean their ice machines scarily infrequently; in fact, waiters and kitchen staff have even admitted to seeing mould in machines. Getting sick from ice is rare, but that doesn’t make the idea of consuming unclean ice any more appetising.
Of course you’re tempted to order a wagyu beef and venison burger with a truffle centre, topped with caviar and a duck egg – a fancy meal at a relatively low price tag seems like a steal. In reality, however, there's little need to pay a lot for a good burger. The best ones are made with chuck, brisket or boneless short rib, and top chefs know it's wasteful to grind up expensive cuts just for a burger. Plus, all those luxury toppings may come in very small quantities and not be of the quality you'd expected.
While they can be hard to avoid at hotels, buffets are notoriously bad news. Over the course of a breakfast seating or evening meal, just think how many people have lifted the lid off dishes to have a peek – that's a lot of opportunity for pesky hairs, dust and bacteria to get inside. Plus, you'll usually find the food has gone cold or dried out. What’s worse, anything that’s not finished may be combined with a fresh batch and wheeled out again the next day.
True, it’s more expensive to order bottled water, but do you really want to consume tap water from a jug that’s been sitting out all day? Add to that the fact that there might well be unwashed lemon wedges and dirty ice cubes in there, and it’s not looking like such an appealing choice now.
If you thought that the bread basket delivered to your table was prepared just for you, you're likely wrong. The late, great food writer Anthony Bourdain once let slip that the practice of recycling – where bread baskets are circulated from table to table – does happen, potentially even in the classiest establishments. What you’re served could be your neighbour's leftovers; at best, it’s stale – and at its worst, it’s covered in germs.
This health food, often found in salads, is an extremely risky ingredient. While they're packed with nutrients, the beans are sprouted in warm, humid conditions that encourage bacteria to flourish. Several reports of sprouts contaminated with E. coli causing people to become sick have been confirmed in recent years. Enjoy them in your own home so you know you’re consuming the ready-to-eat kind, or make sure they’re cooked thoroughly.
However hungry you're feeling, you might want to think again before digging into the free snack bowls lining the bar counter. Bowls of peanuts and popcorn aren't replaced between customers, so you can only imagine how many people's hands have been in there. Save your appetite for the main course instead.
Top chefs know to avoid ordering chicken when they’re eating out, as it's often overcooked and considered the most boring dish on the menu. In an effort to make sure guests don’t get food poisoning, restaurants err too far on the safe side – and end up overcooking it. Branch out and try something new and exciting instead
If dish names include adjectives such as 'famous' or 'world's best', run a mile. It'll come as no surprise that it probably isn't the world's best pizza or bruschetta – and that lasagne is famous according to who? If a restaurant has to get overly creative with a dish’s name to sell it, leave it well alone.
Moules frites (mussels and fries) is an incredibly popular dish, but reconsider your order if you’re not at a dedicated seafood restaurant. Not only do mussels require meticulous care and storage, but there's no guarantee that a restaurant has checked the mussels to make sure only the healthy ones are cooked. A single bad mussel is enough to make you sick; in fact, Anthony Bourdain famously said that he only ordered mussels if he knew the chef personally.
Ordering oysters can be a risky business, especially in the warmer months. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 80,000 people suffer from infection caused by vibrio bacteria from the seafood every year in the US. The safest bet is to avoid them altogether, unless you’re at a coastal restaurant or somewhere highly reputable.
Now discover 29 'healthy' foods experts say are actually bad for you
Last updated by Lottie Woodrow.