Feature:

Dining with ease

Six helpful tips in ordering food during dine outs

By Pepin

It’s nice to dine out once in a while, especially during birthdays or any other special occasions, or even just hanging out with friends. It is always a special moment sitting around the table with delectable dishes on it; and added are the giggling and exaggerated expressions during chitchats.

But it is always a big problem on who will be the one to decide for the meal. You may not be aware of it, but your group will more likely to do a lot of pushing and pressuring on who will order the food.

If you are tasked to do the “food-picking” thing, here are some helpful tips on how you can do it successfully without compromising the taste buds of your dinner mates.

TIP 1: Never do it if you are not a food-lover

Just say “No!” if you think you can’t decide for the group, or else you will pick the wrong choices. If your mind is always crammed with computer games, shoes, or selling house and lots, then you are not qualified to order the food, because you might do it hurriedly and shift to discussing the topics you are more interested at. Furthermore, if you are fond of fasting to control your waistline, then skip this task, because there might be other extreme food-cravers who can do the job better than you.

TIP 2: Expand your flavours

Do not just opt for food that you like, but think of others as well. Ask yourself some helpful questions, like “I love kare-kare, will they like it too?” or “I hate dinuguan a lot, but I think some of us here like it a lot!” Do not only go for foods that you usually eat at home. If you are a vegetarian, try putting your shoes on meat-lovers’ and try to select dishes that most people will eat. If you are only deciding with what you like, you will end up eating everything that will be served in your table.

TIP 3: Ask others of what they are craving for

Some of your group mates are shy to tell you of what they want to eat, so the best thing for you to do is to allow them to select their own food. If they are too withdrawn to tell you of what they desire, go ahead and ask them, “Do you like pochero or sinigang?” or “What do you prefer to drink, mango shake or orange juice?” Giving them two options is already good enough to let them participate in the food discussion.

TIP 4: Be reminded of the budget

If you will go out for diner with your family, always remind them beforehand of the budget that was reserved for the meal. If you will be the one to pay, this tip is very crucial because you may end up bankrupt before your grandmother finishes her meal. Tell them that only the important courses will be ordered, and keep them away from other extra dishes. If you already ordered a hototai soup, tell them to rub out the chopseuy order. You already have too much of the vegetable garden in hototai and you do not need the other one.

TIP 5: Do try bizarre dishes

To make the dinning experience a lot more fun, convene with your friends and decide to try other dishes as well. Don’t just opt for adobong manok or fried pork chop, because everyone usually eats these stuffs at home, unless the restaurant has a really mouth-watering taste of their adobo and pork chop. But try something that you think you can only eat for once a year. So if there are items in the menu that says Coconut crab in coco milk, fried ice cream, or adobong palaka, then sign these up in your order.

TIP 6: Eat healthy

If you are with a large group, expect that there are some people who are suffering from certain disease conditions, like diabetes, heart diseases, food allergies, or even weight problems. So always keep in mind to order food that they are capable of eating, and are not contraindicated with their conditions. Some of you might be enjoying a lot of lechon kawali, pork chop, binagoonang baboy, and aligue rice, and they are just staring at all of you with a thought, “feed me?” so please, have mercy on them also.

These five helpful tips will allow you to get the best dishes for the people you love, and these will enable you to show your care and concern to them in a simple way.