I think it depends on the nature of the dish. Many simple dishes, involving mostly steaming or water based cooking, with vegetables, can be the same in terms of their health value, whether it is from home kitchen or a restaurant kitchen, even street side. Fried or heavily sautéed items can be problematic for frequent eating in restaurants, a little more safe if home made because of the use of fresh oil mostly and a little less of it. From my experience with Indian dishes and Indian restaurants, quite a few of them try to keep to home cooking levels and not making them unduly rich. Even expensive restaurants. It is not simple binary - home made dishes versus restaurant food. There are nuances and variables. With experience, one should recognise them and exercise the options. All restaurent eating is not unhealthy.
Hi Moro, thanks as ever for your thoughtful reflections.
You’re absolutely right that not all restaurant food is inherently unhealthy. Steamed, vegetable-rich, minimally processed dishes can certainly match home cooking in nutritional value, especially in cultures where tradition favours those methods. And as you point out, an experienced eater can spot and choose wisely.
But population-level evidence tells us a clear story: the more people eat out, the worse their long-term health outcomes tend to be. It’s not about individual dishes, it’s about the cumulative effect of portion size, energy density, hidden salt and sugar, and reduced fibre and micronutrient intake over time.
Out of interest, when you’ve dined out in the US (as I know you've visited), did you come across many steamed dishes, or even many vegetables, on the average plate? (Fried potatoes don’t count!) That’s where the gap often lies between theory and what's commonly available or chosen.
My aim here isn’t to demonise meals out, but to help readers navigate them with a little more insight. For those eating out 2+ times a week (often for convenience, not culinary adventure) it’s easy to overlook how the effects of that habit add up over time.
Appreciate you adding another layer of nuance to the conversation, as always.
In my two stays in the USA in the last few years, my experience in eating out is only in cafeterias in tourist spots. Pastas, baked vegetables, fries and pizzas… I have seen both moderately rich food and extremely rich food even in these options, mostly presence of excessive molten cheese. Eventually it is the responsibility of the individual to stay within his limits. Like asking for less heavy toppings, small portion size menu or sharing a plate with someone with him etc. To that extent, your pointers in your writings are quite appropriate. The American cuisine is young, only about 200 years old and today it is an amalgam from European, Mexican and native cuisines. Unlike a few old cuisines of the world, it is susceptible to over enrichment. Doubly so in restaurants.
I raised the point of nature of the dish in the two settings - home and restaurants - because you are writing in an international platform and must address the contexts of other cuisines also in these two settings. I don’t know of many others, but generally Japanese and South Indian vegetarian cuisine cannot be corrupted very much in restaurants. Is it because the first is seafood based and the second one is vegetables based, with rice as the staple in both ?
Ah yes! Molten cheese and fried potatoes are the two American national vegetables!
You're right; getting a perspective from all corners of the world is important, and I'm grateful that we can always rely on you for a South Asian viewpoints.
You may be right that Japanese and South Indian vegetarian cuisine can't be corrupted very much in restaurants. On the other hand, you should see what we do to Chinese food!
I agree. Standard Chinese cuisine is prone to high level of manipulation in many restaurants and street eateries, even in India. I am not sure if it is only about oil. But then there are restaurants that serve very good, balanced Chinese dishes.
Thank you, if you really want a glimpse into world of eateries, watch the Food Network. No shying away from butter and sugar and fats and salt. I do think that seed oil is not quite the bad part. It's the portion and how often. Even in tallow, it doesn't make it healthy. Why the promotion about fries and tallow being healthier is in error.
Not all places serve supersize plate, the fancier the place, the smaller the portions. At least in my experience. Anyway, not eating out or deliveries got my weight down. Still once in a blue moon.
I think it depends on the nature of the dish. Many simple dishes, involving mostly steaming or water based cooking, with vegetables, can be the same in terms of their health value, whether it is from home kitchen or a restaurant kitchen, even street side. Fried or heavily sautéed items can be problematic for frequent eating in restaurants, a little more safe if home made because of the use of fresh oil mostly and a little less of it. From my experience with Indian dishes and Indian restaurants, quite a few of them try to keep to home cooking levels and not making them unduly rich. Even expensive restaurants. It is not simple binary - home made dishes versus restaurant food. There are nuances and variables. With experience, one should recognise them and exercise the options. All restaurent eating is not unhealthy.
Hi Moro, thanks as ever for your thoughtful reflections.
You’re absolutely right that not all restaurant food is inherently unhealthy. Steamed, vegetable-rich, minimally processed dishes can certainly match home cooking in nutritional value, especially in cultures where tradition favours those methods. And as you point out, an experienced eater can spot and choose wisely.
But population-level evidence tells us a clear story: the more people eat out, the worse their long-term health outcomes tend to be. It’s not about individual dishes, it’s about the cumulative effect of portion size, energy density, hidden salt and sugar, and reduced fibre and micronutrient intake over time.
Out of interest, when you’ve dined out in the US (as I know you've visited), did you come across many steamed dishes, or even many vegetables, on the average plate? (Fried potatoes don’t count!) That’s where the gap often lies between theory and what's commonly available or chosen.
My aim here isn’t to demonise meals out, but to help readers navigate them with a little more insight. For those eating out 2+ times a week (often for convenience, not culinary adventure) it’s easy to overlook how the effects of that habit add up over time.
Appreciate you adding another layer of nuance to the conversation, as always.
In my two stays in the USA in the last few years, my experience in eating out is only in cafeterias in tourist spots. Pastas, baked vegetables, fries and pizzas… I have seen both moderately rich food and extremely rich food even in these options, mostly presence of excessive molten cheese. Eventually it is the responsibility of the individual to stay within his limits. Like asking for less heavy toppings, small portion size menu or sharing a plate with someone with him etc. To that extent, your pointers in your writings are quite appropriate. The American cuisine is young, only about 200 years old and today it is an amalgam from European, Mexican and native cuisines. Unlike a few old cuisines of the world, it is susceptible to over enrichment. Doubly so in restaurants.
I raised the point of nature of the dish in the two settings - home and restaurants - because you are writing in an international platform and must address the contexts of other cuisines also in these two settings. I don’t know of many others, but generally Japanese and South Indian vegetarian cuisine cannot be corrupted very much in restaurants. Is it because the first is seafood based and the second one is vegetables based, with rice as the staple in both ?
Ah yes! Molten cheese and fried potatoes are the two American national vegetables!
You're right; getting a perspective from all corners of the world is important, and I'm grateful that we can always rely on you for a South Asian viewpoints.
You may be right that Japanese and South Indian vegetarian cuisine can't be corrupted very much in restaurants. On the other hand, you should see what we do to Chinese food!
I agree. Standard Chinese cuisine is prone to high level of manipulation in many restaurants and street eateries, even in India. I am not sure if it is only about oil. But then there are restaurants that serve very good, balanced Chinese dishes.
Ben, I've updated my Post about rehabilitating our sense of taste to include a prominent link to your article about dining out:
https://drmick.substack.com/p/taste-bud-rehabilitation
Thanks, Mick! I’m so happy you thought it worth referencing.
Coincidentally, you get a shout out in my newsletter this week, too!
Thank you, Ben.
Let's keep spreading the message that healthy eating begins, and ends, at home. Eating out means letting yourself be poisoned for profit.
“Eating out means letting yourself be poisoned for profit.“ Them’s fighting words, Mick!
Thank you, if you really want a glimpse into world of eateries, watch the Food Network. No shying away from butter and sugar and fats and salt. I do think that seed oil is not quite the bad part. It's the portion and how often. Even in tallow, it doesn't make it healthy. Why the promotion about fries and tallow being healthier is in error.
Not all places serve supersize plate, the fancier the place, the smaller the portions. At least in my experience. Anyway, not eating out or deliveries got my weight down. Still once in a blue moon.