Dining Out this Christmas

Take the stress out of the festive season and consider dining out at your favourite restaurants for Christmas and New Year

While the Christmas period is considered the best and merriest time of year, it certainly doesn’t go without stress. Preparing Christmas dinner and Boxing Day or New Year feasts can, without doubt, be one of the most stressful parts of the festive period; so why not take away the unnecessary stress and consider an alternative to home cooking over the Christmas holidays?

Dining out on Christmas Day is like eating marmite, you’ll either love it or hate it. There are so many reasons why eating out over the festive period is worth considering.

Christmas should be all about spending quality time together as a family or with friends but often the stress, rush and hype of Christmas gets in the way of what it’s all about and therefore more of us are turning to alternatives such as dining out.

Some people argue that it’s not Christmas if you don’t have a home-cooked family Christmas dinner, but how many of us actually enjoy every aspect of the traditional Christmas dinner?

Getting together with friends and family is more common than ever over the holiday period, with most of us taking the time out to meet up with loved ones for dinner and drinks.

And whilst it’s the happiest time of year for most of us; cooking Christmas dinner always tends to cause tension in the family with one person usually slaving away in the kitchen for hours on end to serve up a feast for all and let’s face it, it isn’t always appreciated.

There’s always that one family member that doesn’t like turkey because it’s ‘too dry’ or isn’t the biggest fan of vegetables so more food goes to waste than is necessary. Or you didn’t make enough pigs in blankets for that greedy member of the family to have 10 on their plate. It’s an endless cycle of not being able to please everyone.

Nobody wants to get up at 5 am on Christmas morning to turn the oven on, prepare the turkey and the twelve other components that are served up with Christmas dinner and then set the table for the ten family members coming over.

And if you get past dinner without any family arguments then one part of the day that really will cause some family tension is the washing up after dinner. Nobody is keen to help because Nan and Grandad are too pre-occupied with the Queen’s speech, mum wants to watch the Eastenders Christmas special or the children are too focused on their brand new iPhone or PlayStation that must be set up right away.

The real downside to cooking at home for Christmas is the mess that’s caused in the kitchen with various pots, pans, plates, cutlery, baking trays and about every utensil in the kitchen needing to be cleaned up ready for the remaining holiday festivities. Take that stress away and make it a relaxing and washing up free experience by dining out.

Although the idea of dining out at Christmas might seem strange and very non-traditional to most of us, it can take the stress off all the family with an array of menu options to choose from and a merry atmosphere for all to enjoy.

Dining out doesn’t have to be dramatic, most restaurants can cater to every diet out there so dining out is becoming easier and more convenient than ever before.

We all want to enjoy Christmas dinner, but when you’re the host it can be hard to really take it all in, enjoy the day and make the most of the festive celebrations.

Dining out will allow you to sit back, relax and enjoy the entirety of the day without having to worry about if everyone is happy and enjoying the meal you spent hours preparing.

According to statistics from Bookatable, over the festive period in the UK, we spend on average £500 on Christmas food for the entire period and most of it goes to waste due to overbuying.

Depending on how many you’re dining with it may actually turn out to be cheaper to dine out than eat in at home. It might seem more expensive to dine out over Christmas but if you add up all you would normally spend on the Christmas dinner, Boxing Day feasts as well as the New Year buffet and drinks then it’ll work out a lot more wallet-friendly to dine out.

Staying home often sees us overspend on food items that we won’t necessarily need or even eat. Dining out means we are less likely to waste food and we get to enjoy exactly what we chose from the menu.

The great thing about dining out over the entire festive period is that everybody is catered for. From vegetarians, vegans, coeliacs, children, and those that hate to eat their greens! You could break away from the traditional Christmas dinner and head to your favourite Italian restaurant to enjoy some pizza, or you could even opt for more exotic and try Mexican cuisine.

The possibilities are endless when dining out over the festive period. If you prefer a family Christmas at home and enjoy the chaos that it involves then maybe dining out on Boxing Day or over New Year would be better suited to you. Boxing Day is usually a day for lounging around in pyjamas, cleaning up the copious amounts of wrapping paper and watching rubbish TV.

But why not break tradition this year and get out with your family and friends for an afternoon or evening of delicious food at your favourite restaurant?

If a traditional Christmas Day dinner isn’t your thing then why not head to Plymouth’s favourite Indian Restaurant – Shapla Balti Cuisine for their Christmas Day lunch! Whether you’re a korma lover or like to spice things up with a steaming hot Vindaloo Mr Ali and his wonderful team have got you covered with their wonderful menu to help you break tradition this Christmas!

You can make the festive grocery shop much cheaper but missing out the cheeseboard you think will get gobbled up on Boxing Day but never does as everyone is still full from the huge Christmas dinner!

Plymouth has a huge array of eateries to take advantage of and the festive period is without no doubt the best time of year to catch up with friends and family you’ve not seen throughout the year.

Make the most of what our amazing city has to offer over the festive period, take the unnecessary stress away and spend the much-needed quality time with family out of the home and into your local restaurants.