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Canada- Why can’t you have a decent meal out?

Yes I could. But ca$ 46 for a bit of meat and 2 veg is over the top.

What do you pay?
About that in a fairly upscale restaurant or a specialist chain, Ruth's Chris etc. Mid $30s in a Keg etc. Mrs Gouty and I eat out a bit and $140 - $150 or so for two with wine for a mid wheeler. Not difficult to crack $300 plus with good wine, somewhere nice though.
 
Local harvesters get paid about ca$ 5-6 per pound for lobster so when they charge 4 times that it becomes a bit OTT.
At the moment the price farmers are getting for the hanging weight of beef cattle is pretty low compared to a few years ago. The price hike starts at the abattoir and carries on through the restaurant or grocery store, it is price gouging at its finest at this point in time.
 
About that in a fairly upscale restaurant or a specialist chain, Ruth's Chris etc. Mid $30s in a Keg etc. Mrs Gouty and I eat out a bit and $140 - $150 or so for two with wine for a mid wheeler. Not difficult to crack $300 plus with good wine, somewhere nice though.
Ruth's Chris is nice we ate there last month, Friday I ate at a curry house (NE Calgary) it cost $50 for the two of us and it was the best curry I've eaten in North America. I avoid chain restaurants as they are all shit, if I sit down to eat and the menu covers everything I walk, as a rule of thumb the best places generally do one or two things really well.
As for fast food? I would rather starve and I have never eaten at McDonald's.
I live in central Alberta in a village of 850 people our local restaurant even cooks egg and chips for me, I suspect that the complainers eat in crappy chain eateries
 
Despite its reputation Ottawa has some really good eating places, varying from proper posh to fat boy breakfast.

My favourites are Cheshire Cat, Next, Quitters coffee shop, Carp Creamery Ice Cream, Vittoria Trattoria and further out, say in Perth Mex and Co.

There are good places and even some of the chains are not too bad.
 
Been going out to Newfoundland for nearly 12 years and have now decided that there is no point in going out for a “posh” meal. Not there there is a lot of choice mind! The 2 local so called “decent” restaurants have consistently failed to deliver. Food served barely warm and lighting that I think is deliberately obscuring the look of the sub-standard victuals that they have the audacity to charge a fecking fortune for. Menus that are too fussy and elaborate and are obviously beyond the skills of the so called “chef”

I have had better from Army chefs cooking on field equipment. At least @Joker62 wouldn’t try to charge you ca$46 for a piece of beef and a few “seasonal” veggies.
Newfoundland is not exactly known for its food. You're lucky you didn't get salt beef (considered a delicacy there) and seal flipper pie (Newfoundland's most famous culinary achievement).

St John's supposedly has some reasonable restaurants, although I couldn't tell you which ones. Outside of there you're probably down to bits of seal fried in lard.

 
Despite its reputation Ottawa has some really good eating places, varying from proper posh to fat boy breakfast.

My favourites are Cheshire Cat, Next, Quitters coffee shop, Carp Creamery Ice Cream, Vittoria Trattoria and further out, say in Perth Mex and Co.

There are good places and even some of the chains are not too bad.
My favourite in Ottawa is Nate's Delicatessen. . . And If I'm pissed, Fat Albert's.

But then again, I am a pleb.
 
Yes I could. But ca$ 46 for a bit of meat and 2 veg is over the top.

What do you pay?
How big of a steak? What kine of steak? Are you including alcohol? Is that with a tip and taxes? How fancy is the decor?

For reference, I just looked up the cost of a meal at The Keg in St. John's. An 8 oz Top Sirloin is $29 (that will come with vegetable and potato). Now add a few drinks to that and the bill will jump up a fair bit. I picked that as an example because they are pretty standard across the country. I've never eaten the one in St. John's, but I've never had a bad meal at one in Ontario. I'm not holding them out as the best place to go for fine dining on a budget (they're mid price), but they provide a viable standard of comparison.

That falls under regional pricing, Newfoundland isn’t exactly known for its beef production.....
Out of interest, I just checked and a steak the Keg in St. John's is only about 10% more than in Ontario.


When you eat at a posh restaurant you are to a large extent paying for the image and decor. You can often get better food at a cheaper restaurant if you know where to eat, when to go there, and what to order. Ask other people where they can recommend, and keep in mind that not everybody likes the same sort of food that you do. Many good restaurants do a few things well and the rest so-so.
 
My favourite in Ottawa is Nate's Delicatessen. . . And If I'm pissed, Fat Albert's.

But then again, I am a pleb.


Which one?

fatalberts.png
 
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