Do You Try To Recreate Restaurant Dishes At Home To Save Money?

Discussion in Food & Drink started by Ke Gordon • Sep 9, 2017.

  1. Ke Gordon

    Ke GordonWell-Known Member

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    Most of us enjoy eating out, and sometimes dishes we find in restaurants we would like to try recreating at home? It can be cost saving to make dishes at home rather than eating out. Have you been able to do this successfully? I am currently working on recreating fish tacos which I have had in many restaurants. I can make a ten dollar dish for half the price.
     
  2. morgoodie

    morgoodieActive Member

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    I have never really tried this because there isn't one that I want badly enough to do. I do see lots of recipes that are restaurant copycat recipes on Pinterest but haven't tried them. I guess if I was going to try any copycat recipe it would be Chinese food. I don't go out to eat often enough to have a favorite meal from a restaurant. Good luck with your fish tacos.
     
  3. Ke Gordon

    Ke GordonWell-Known Member

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    Thanks! They were quite good. Another one, that I have always wanted to try was a copycat Wendy's frosty. You use powdered milk and cocoa I think. It is supposed to taste exactly like a Frosty. I think that making this would also save calories so that would be another good reason to buy it.
     
  4. PAYAKNAPAGIISIP

    PAYAKNAPAGIISIPActive Member

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    Yes, we actually do that every now and then. We try to imitate restaurant menus because we like how it tastes and we are curious on how it was cooked. Saving money is one way to look at it but my wife and my sister love eating and when they have a liking for a menu that they had recently tasted, they would immediately try to do at home. They are frustrated chef wanna be, but I don't say it out loud of course.
     
  5. nanachan7

    nanachan7New Member

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    Yes I did! At first I thought I could easily copy the dish but I was wrong. I tried to do this when I was in high school. It was an eggplant dish. I really liked it, so while I was eating it I was trying to figure out what ingredients were used. I thought I was a super chef that I would know how to cook something just by tasting it. I did not even know what the dish is called because I could not understand the menu (it's a restaurant in Singapore) so I ordered just by looking at the pictures. :p

    Of course I did this so I could eat the dish whenever I want aside from being able to save money. I can't go to another country just because of my cravings! I also tried looking for the dish in different Chinese restaurants but I failed. I guess it was a special dish in that restaurant. :)
     
    #5Sep 10, 2017
    Last edited: Sep 10, 2017
  6. Kimika

    KimikaActive Member

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    We used to eat out a lot, but ever since I learned and enjoyed cooking, we just eat out if we need to go somewhere as soon as possible and we would just grab something we can eat when we arrive there. It does save us a lot of money. If we eat out and for example we would eat barbecued chicken quarters, that would cost us around $8 for 3 people. But if I cook that same meal at home, it would just cost us around 4 to 5 dollars and we can have as much chicken as we want.
     
  7. Shine_Spirit

    Shine_SpiritActive Member

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    I have tried to do this many times and, being lucky or not :p, I have achieved good results. But unfortunately, with the more expensive dishes it is very complicated to make a faithful replica. :(
     
  8. mildredtabitha

    mildredtabithaActive Member

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    I mostly eat French fries when I go out. Most of the dishes I can make at home including french fries but we never make them at home. It is my favorite fast food since I am still in college. I don't think I would be going to restaurant often after school because I like homemade food. :p
     
  9. Beast_Titan

    Beast_TitanActive Member

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    The YouTube channel Nicko's Kitchen is able to copycat the recipes of many fast food restaurants. They tasted the same minus the mass produced chemicals.

    Ballistic Barbecue is also able to copycat recipes from popular high end restaurants.
     
  10. sommax

    sommaxMember

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    I have tried this so many times, but it is always not good as those sold on restaurant. Nevertheless, it is still OK and cost effective.
     
  11. Ke Gordon

    Ke GordonWell-Known Member

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    I am going to have to look at the YouTube Channels that feature the recipe creations you can make at home. Of course our oven temps aren't as high as some of the restaurant chains we should still be able to get a fairly faithful re creation at home. The Japanese restaurant near me has a fantastic dipping sauce I looked up how to make one time.
     
  12. Jamille

    JamilleActive Member

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    I love trying out restaurant dishes at home specially those that my son enjoyed. I make a game out of it by surprising him. My version may not always be as good as the restaurant dish, but it's often close and I feel that I just needed to put in a few secret herbs or seasonings. I also try to create a healthier and cheaper version of fast food meals like veggie burgers and potato/sweet potato fries. There was one special iced tea drink that I enjoyed and tried to make at home. I found a recipe on the internet and came up with a similar tasting iced tea. Trying to recreate a restaurant meal at home may not always be cheaper than eating them at restaurants as we normally don't enjoy the same bulk purchasing power that these businesses enjoy.
     
  13. kaka135

    kaka135Active Member

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    I do once in a while, though I am not a good cook. My mom always likes to try new dishes, and she would ask around and see if she can recreate those dishes at home. Sometimes I would ask her how to make those dishes when I feel like eating them, or I just wait until she comes here and makes for us. There are also many tutorials online that we can follow, so it is easier for us to recreate those dishes nowadays, though we might still need to trial-and-error to make the nice one. :)
     
  14. Alexandoy

    AlexandoyWell-Known Member

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    Some years back in Singapore, we had sampled the dish called French Beans. When we came home, we chanced upon the same dish in a classy restaurant. That got me thinking. Hmm, maybe I can cook the same. Scouring for the french beans in the market, I was lucky to find it and it was not expensive. I bought half a kilo of french beans and half a kilo of ground pork. It was fortunate that I was able to duplicate the taste of the french beans on my first try. Yes, we usually try to duplicate expensive dishes at home.
     
  15. Zero

    ZeroActive Member

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    I have tried to recreate restaurant dishes several times but not to save money but because i enjoyed the dish a lot that i wanted to learn it.
     
  16. tallulah

    tallulahActive Member

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    Yes I try do this sometimes. Especially of course for meals that I particularly enjoy. I am careful to only try the simple dishes though. I do not attempt elaborate dishes. A couple of dishes sometimes came out right, but I remember trying to make a particular desert and it was a disaster! It was the chocolate mouse cake. Like it was really bad, I couldn't even serve it:). So now, I know better to steer clear of deserts and just stick to simple recipes.
     
  17. littlewitch66

    littlewitch66Active Member

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    I'm a bit lazy when it comes to recreating dishes and I think it wouldn't be such a treat if I ate the same dish at home so I would rather leave it to the experts.

    Some of the food I have bought has been quite complex so I would rather not have to spend a fortune buying the ingredients. I will just stick to my tried and tested recipes at home that I know my granddaughter will eat.
     
  18. Ke Gordon

    Ke GordonWell-Known Member

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    One recipe I haven't wanted to try which made the rounds of the internet is Alice Chicken that they make at Outback Steakhouse. The recipe looks pretty easy to do and is something that I am sure would taste delicious. I just have to get all the ingredients. I am sure I could make it cheaper than the Outback!
     
  19. Winnie

    WinnieActive Member

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    I really like to cook, and have an aversion to eating out because I don't really like people touching my food, so I appreciate being able to create restaurant dishes at home. I don't do it all that often though, because usually I just cook what I have a taste for, and what I have a taste for is not usually a restaurant dish, necessarily. I do appreciate the many YouTube videos that are out these days that show you how to re-create certain dishes. I like how the cooks on YouTube do all the trial and error to get the recipe to taste just like it does in a certain restaurant, and all I have to do is follow their instructions. For instance, I really like Long John Silver's fish, but I don't live close to one. There are a few videos on-line that show how to create certain fish dishes that taste just like the ones you can buy at Long John's. I love that when you cook at home, besides saving money, you have more control over food quality.
     
  20. luri

    luriActive Member

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    I love Pizza. However, going to a resutrant or ordering from resturant every time I want to eat Pizza became too costly for me. Therefore, I learned how to make Pizza. I did not have time to join a cooking class, also did not want to spend money on learning pizza making skills. Therefore, I turned to YouTube. I found really great videos. My first pizzas did nt look like or tasted like pizza. However, gradually my skills imporved.