It’s Saturday, which probably means your day will be filled with chores or DIY. So have you thought about what you’re having for dinner? Will you be cooking, eating out or getting a takeaway?
Despite the forecast, I’ve set aside today to spend working on my garden – it’s a race against the clock now to try to finish my landscaping project before autumn sets in.
I’ve actually been organised and prepared a butter chicken curry to simmer away in the slow cooker for tonight. This is a money-saving move as gardens are expensive projects, and the rest of my home-renovation project has meant I’ve totted up a fair few takeaways in the past year.
In fact, if there was such a thing as a Deliveroo loyalty scheme, I’d be winning.
Saturday night takeaway
It would seem that I’m not alone in my recent over-reliance on takeaways – and restaurant delivery apps, in particular.
According to a survey carried out by the loyalty scheme Nectar, around 43% of us are eating out less as a result of apps such as the aforementioned Deliveroo, plus Just Eat and UberEATs. And nearly half of those surveyed said they’d rather order takeout from a restaurant via an app than visit it in person.
Having moved to a small commuter town last year, I’ve witnessed the explosion of these restaurant delivery services in my local area first-hand.
If I fancy a takeaway, I no longer just have the option of pizza, Chinese or Indian. Now, thanks to these apps, I can order from multiple places and have a restaurant-style meal from a local gastro pub, restaurant or favourite chain. I can even pair it with a delivery from my favourite wine bar… how fancy!
And when I’m covered in splatters of blue fence paint and not exactly in the mood to get ready to go out, these hybridised restaurant-style nights in the comfort of my own home are most appealing.
Dining out
When it comes to dining out, though, it isn’t necessarily the food that draws me to an eatery, but the experience of good service and nice food. That sentiment also rings true for 65% of those surveyed in the Nectar study.
And when you consider that, for some people, eating out isn’t always a pleasurable experience, and the fact that it all starts to tot up once you’ve paid for drinks and service, it’s not wonder that 42% of those polled said they prefer to entertain at home.
So are restaurant delivery services more appealing to you than dining out? Or do you still prefer to go out for dinner? Will you be ordering a takeaway tonight? Will that be directly from the restaurant or via an app such as Deliveroo, Just Eat or UberEATs?