31 foods you should AVOID at restaurants

Approach with caution

Dining out is one of life’s biggest joys but, sometimes, certain dishes just aren't worth the price tag. While there are plenty of reputable restaurants that don't cut corners, some will leave you short-changed. From the ingredients that are less likely to be fresh to meals that could land you with a stomach bug, these are the dishes you should never order at a restaurant – some may seriously surprise you.

Read on 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.

31. Edamame

People choose edamame as it’s a cheap and healthy starter, but it’s not worth what it costs. Steaming and salting a bag of edamame costs very little, doesn't fill you up, plus it’s incredibly easy to do at home. Save the edamame for later and order the deep-fried tofu or the miso-glazed aubergine instead.

30. Ice cream

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 price on the drive home? Unless a restaurant makes its ice cream in-house or offers a really unusual flavour, opt for something else.

29. Freshly squeezed orange juice

Think freshly squeezed juice is healthier than pasteurised juice? 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. Unless you’re convinced it was prepared to order, you’re safer opting for something else. If fresh juice tastes fizzy, leave it.

28. Expensive ingredients

White truffle and caviar are deliciously extravagant foods which, if you have a taste for them, you’re better off enjoying at home. The mark-up on these ingredients in a restaurant, compared to wholesale, is astronomical, and neither requires much skill on the part of the chef.

27. Veggie burgers and sausages

A house-made veggie burger would be a cracking order, but some pubs, diners and meat-focused restaurants order their veggie dishes – often frozen – from 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 one of these.

26. Truffle oil

Sorry to disappoint, but most truffle oils aren't made with any truffle at all. These products are created to taste like the truffle, or only have a tiny quantity of the real thing; it's why the flavour can often be very overpowering. Order a dish topped with this and you'll end up paying more for something that doesn't taste anything like fresh truffle.

25. The specials

Restaurant specials are one-off dishes a chef has created just for an evening. They're usually a way of using up leftover ingredients or produce 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 could be your safest bet. Saucy dishes are a classic trick to hide bad food.

24. Meatloaf

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 waiter whether it’s actually house-made.

23. Well-done meat

Cooking a steak to well done can often make the meat tough, sacrificing both the taste and quality. Plus, a little-known industry secret is that some restaurants save the worst and oldest cuts for cooking well-done because after they’re grilled to a crisp, customers are none the wiser.

22. Hollandaise sauce

Even in top restaurants it’s unlikely they’re making hollandaise sauce to order. More likely it’s batch-made in the morning, or even the day before and reheated. What’s worse, bacteria love the dish – so remember this next time you’re eyeing up eggs Benedict at brunch.

21. Wedge salad

A dish you could have easily prepared at home, wedge salad is made with cheap iceberg lettuce, which can be marked up 20 times over, and smothered with salad dressing – it's just not worth it. Plus, germs can hide in the crinkly leaf cracks, even after it’s washed.

20. Chicken Parmesan

No matter how tempting saucy, gooey, crispy chicken Parmesan sounds, hold off on ordering it unless you want to be disappointed. It’s one dish that’s more often cooked from frozen than it is fresh. At reputable Italian restaurants, this may not be the case; a good guide is how many items are on the menu. Too many to cook from scratch? If the answer is yes, order something else.

19. Something you could have made at home

Eating out is an opportunity to try something new and be surprised. 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.

18. The salad bar

No restaurant monitors how many children's 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, make sure the salad is served chilled and not warm.

17. Bottled ketchup on the table

When the bottled ketchup that lives on the table at your local burger joint runs out, don’t think the dregs go to waste. At the end of shifts, staff often combine leftover sauce to make full bottles. Although it’s good to be thrifty, there’s no way of telling how long it's really been out. Stay safe and avoid communal ketchup, particularly if it tastes sour.

16. The second cheapest wine

If you order the second cheapest wine in a bid to not look miserly, restaurants are wise to your tricks. This is often the bottle restaurants pay the least for. They put the cheapest wholesale wine second on the menu to make more profit from it because people are more likely to order it. Stick with the house wine – it’s usually the best value.

15. Soup of the day

Just like the 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.

14. Kobe beef

Real Kobe beef may be delicious, but it's a delicacy and usually comes at eye-watering prices. 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 chop, you might be better off ordering rib-eye.

13. Pizza at a restaurant that doesn’t specialise in it

Pizza is a big money maker for restaurants as the ingredients cost very little and can be sold on 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 an eye-watering price tag for something frozen and of supermarket quality, don’t do it.

12. Fish on a Monday

Ordering fish is always a gamble. A fresh catch is lovely, but old fish is thoroughly uninspiring. If you're ordering fish on Mondays, 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’s been hanging around in the fridge. Ask the waiter when it was sourced so you don’t end up with a dish that’s fishy (in a bad way).

11. Ice

Next time you’re ordering a drink at a restaurant, hold the ice. Many popular places, both low-end 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 thought any more appetising.

10. Gourmet burgers

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 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 ribs, 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’re led to believe.

9. Buffet food

While they can be hard to avoid at hotels, buffets are notoriously bad news. Over the course of a breakfast seating or evening, 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 even 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.

8. Tap water left out in jugs

True, it’s more expensive to order bottled water, but do you want to consume tap water from a jug that’s been sitting out all day? Add to that unwashed lemon wedges and dirty ice cubes, and the fact they're topped up rather than rinsed and replaced throughout the day. It's not looking like such an appealing choice now.

7. The bread basket

If you thought that the bread basket delivered to your table was prepared just for you, you're likely wrong. 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.

6. Raw sprouts

This unsuspecting 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, which 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.

5. Bar snacks

However hungry you're feeling, you might want to think again before rummaging your hand in 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. One bite will usually tell you that they're old and stale, so you may as well save your appetite for the main course.

4. Chicken

Top chefs know to avoid ordering chicken when they’re out, as it's often overcooked and 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 overcook it. Branch out and try something new instead.

3. Dishes described as 'famous' or 'world's best'

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 alone.

2. Mussels

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, there's no guarantee 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, the late, great food writer Anthony Bourdain famously said that he only ordered mussels if he knew the chef personally.

1. Raw oysters

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.

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Last updated by Lottie Woodrow.