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Restaurant Meals Chefs Say Are Worth the Money
From duck to steak, here is what to order when you’re out
5-minute read
Family sharing pizza at a casual dining table. Hands of friends members reaching for pizza slices at a casual lunch setting
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Expert chefs say that when you’re out to eat, skip the dishes that are easy to make at home and let the chefs cook the hard recipes. “When we go out to eat, we should really let [chefs] showcase their talents,” says Stephen Marcaurelle, executive chef and partner at The Nautilus Pier 4. “Let us indulge and have a good time and be taken care of.” So what dishes do chefs likely do better? We asked them, and they were happy to spill the beans.
Here are eight dishes chefs say are worth ordering at restaurants.
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Artisanal pizza
For pizza lovers, making your own dough and baking it in your home oven doesn’t quite compare with eating an artisanal pizza cooked in a pizza oven. “I like slow-fermented pizza dough because it helps develop the flavor [and] you get better gluten structure,” says chef Austin Blake of Oystercatcher Restaurant & Bar. When he’s in the mood for pizza, he’ll go to his local spot; you can’t get the same results in a home oven. “Some of these pizza ovens run 600 to 700 degrees, and they have an open fire where they cook in a matter of minutes rather than 15 to 20 minutes.” When cooked at a high temperature in a wood-fired oven, the crust develops leoparding, which are burnt, charcoal-like spots you can’t get in your home oven, he adds.
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Barbecue
When you have a craving for ribs or brisket, head to your favorite BBQ spot. Making it at home requires a lot of time, effort and ingredients. It’s easier to go to a BBQ restaurant, “unless you’re really passionate about cooking and you’ve invested a lot in equipment — you need a [ceramic kamado grill], meat thermometers and all of your spices,” says Blake.
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Making brisket takes a lot of time, and many places cook the meat for at least 12 hours, he says. At an authentic Texas-style barbecue, they’re smoking their brisket overnight and have all the sides. “One of the best things about going to barbecue places is that you can get your sausage, your toast, your mac and cheese, your collard greens — all your fixin’s,” Blake says. If you want to make that at home, it’s kind of a big mess, he says.
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Curry
Some cuisines require many ingredients and spices to make a specific dish, such as curry, which makes dining at a restaurant easier and more cost-effective. “A good curry is extremely complicated to make,” says Michael Erickson, executive chef at Hotel Boulderado. “It’s not very financially feasible in your own home because of the ingredients that go into it, and it’s a very intense process to make.” When Erickson is craving a curry, he dines at his favorite Indian spot instead of attempting to make it at home.
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Duck
Duck isn’t an easy type of meat to cook at home because it has a lot of fat on it. Cooking duck requires practice and a combination of patience and technique, says Blake. It’s not as simple as watching a video and learning how to sear it and then put it in the oven, he adds. The fat needs to be rendered slowly, and the duck needs plenty of rest time. “It’s an expensive protein, so if you mess it up, you can still eat it, but I’d rather let someone else do it,” he says.
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New York strip steak
The key to enjoying a good steak when going out to eat is knowing the cut you like, whether it’s rib eye or New York strip, and the restaurant. You don’t necessarily need to go to a steakhouse for a quality cut of meat, but also know that your local bar isn’t likely to pay for quality cuts, says Erickson. “Meat that you’re getting in a restaurant is of a different quality level” than what you’ll find at the grocery store, says Erickson. “If you’re seeing a higher-end cut listed on their menu, then it’s probably going to be good. If they’re going to spend the time and money on a higher-end product, they’re putting the kind of care into what they’re doing.”
For example, Erickson doesn’t order a sirloin because the grains of the meat aren’t uniform. His preferred cut of steak to order at a restaurant is a New York strip. “I like a good marble, but I like the nice layer of fat that it has on the outside of it, and getting that nice and crispy and melty,” he says.
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Shellfish tower
If you love oysters, clams, shrimp and more, ordering a shellfish tower is worthwhile when dining at restaurants. “They’re totally worth it. You can’t do those at home,” says Marcaurelle. “It would not be cost-effective or a good utilization of your time.” For example, you’d have to assemble oysters or clams on the half shell, shrimp cocktail, maybe some lobster, some caviar and maybe raw fish, he says. Marcaurelle orders a shellfish tower when he’s out with his family. “The ocean just brings you back to some sort of primal state,” he says. “It’s just so delicious and pristine and really good for you.”
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Stuffed pasta
Pasta is a staple on restaurant menus, but making it at home is easy. So if you’re ordering pasta out, make it stuffed pasta, such as ravioli, agnolotti or tortellini, says Marcaurelle. “Nobody’s making stuffed pasta at home,” he says. “It’s worth it if you’re gonna spend 30-something dollars on a pasta dish.” There’s a lot of love that went into rolling out the dough and making house-made stuffed pasta, he adds.
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Whole fish
The option of ordering a whole fish isn’t always common on menus, but it’s a dish Blake chooses when it’s available. Cooking a whole fish at home isn’t always easy; people may not have the tools. “You probably don’t have a pan big enough to cook a whole branzino or a whole flounder or a whole snapper,” says Blake. A whole fish plate often comes with sides and can be pricier, though it can be a good value if you share with others, he notes: “It’s meant to be eaten with more people.”
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