The perils of social eating

I am in a bit of a quandary today. For the first time since my diet began I will be going to a restaurant and eating out. Ordinarily I'd try to avoid doing so when I'm focused on losing weight, as you have less control on what you consume and are more likely to deviate from healthy food. However, this gathering of friends was organised some time ago and I'm not going to pull the plug now for the sake of a few calories.

Having browsed the online menu of our venue, I have to say it could be quite challenging to show restraint. The lighter options menu isn't particularly inspiring, and as someone who looks for value in their food, I take exception to being charged more for a little bit of crab and lettuce than it would be for a freshly prepared meaty pizza.

I'm expecting to be hit from all angles by the smelled of griddled steak, burgers, bacon, cheese, ribs and all sorts of wonderful things that I know should not be on my plate at the moment. It could make for an interesting couple of hours, particularly when I'll be surrounded by a group of people who won't necessarily be watching what they eat.

I'll update this article later on today to let you know how things go.

Frankie & Benny's Logo. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So, a few hours after the event, I have to say I've come through relatively unscathed. We went to Frankie and Benny's, a party of 12 comprising 8 adults and 4 children. I'd been studying the menu throughout the week trying to decide what to go for and was leaning towards a hot baked wrap. However, while walking to our table I saw one of these being delivered by one of the waitresses and was instantly put off. A wrap, filled with goodness knows what covered in what looked like a cheesy creamy sauce. No that was not for me.

As our order was taken I knew there would be platefuls of luscious stuff all around me but I wasn't deterred. Whereas others in the group had a rack of ribs, calzone, lamb shank or all-day breakfast, I plumped for the Sticky Pasta dish with chicken. I figured there was only so much damage this could do. Bit of pasta. Some mushrooms, roasted peppers and chicken. Obviously the sweet sticky hoi-sin sauce that made the meal wouldn't have been ideal, but I figured this was better option than something creamy like a carbonara or alfredo.

To be honest, I wasn't disappointed. A decent plate of food, and though I did look around the table with somewhat envious eyes, I didn't feel like I had missed out. Here is a photo of my meal.

Sticky Pasta Chicken at Frankie & Benny's

By contrast, some of the comments from my fellow diners were not so complimentary. My partner felt that her meal was quite salty, while the person who ordered this burger described it as 'ok'.

A burger. The side of chips, cheese and bacon looked pretty grim

 After dinner was finished the inevitable question was asked about dessert. I did briefly skim through the menu and was greeted with words like waffle, cheesecake and sundae. My eyes diverted to the lighter options section which was made up of a couple of varieties of sorbet and pancake. Feeling pretty content with the pasta dish, I skipped dessert and watched my friends struggle to finish theirs. My wife wasn't terribly impressed with her Eton Mess, complaining about a lack of meringue content, and then proceeded to tell me on the drive home that she felt sick.

Eton Mess, more cream then meringue

So there we go. My first restaurant outing in 2013 and despite having the opportunity to stuff my face I declined the invitation. A brownie point for me and a small moral victory.

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