Good food becomes great food when shared 🙂
But sometimes, you may be out and about on your own and want a bite, or just don’t have company for lunch or dinner and yet want to have a nice one. What do you do? Are you comfortable eating alone or do you prefer to just pack a takeaway and take it home to enjoy instead?
Some foods don’t translate well to a takeaway as they taste better made fresh for you. Like soupy noodles for instance. So, what do you do? 😀
I generally dislike eating alone. Its boring, to start, and if you are at a hawker stall or local coffee shop, you may have to end up sharing a table with strangers, which doesn’t quite make it better. It stresses me out more.
So on days when I don’t have company for lunch, I pack my lunches and eat at my desk. Helps me get some work done or I can spend a little time reading stuff online. However, although I used to be quite uncomfortable eating alone, I’ve learned to do it.
I’ve found that some places are more conducive to having solo meals. Sandwich bars or cafes are one, and Japanese restaurants are another, because you can sit at the sushi bar for a quick bite and not feel too uncomfortable about it. It is in fact quite common in Japan I believe, so the sushi bars are a great way to have a nice hot solo meal.
When I eat alone, I don’t gobble down my meal and run. Why should I? I should just enjoy it as I would if I were with a friend. So I have with me a newspaper or my iPad so I can read while I eat. I’ve learned to enjoy that little me time where you don’t have to contend with conversation or watching how quickly or slowly you eat. It also gives you time to people watch which is great fun 😀
Are you comfortable eating alone? Or would you rather just do a takeaway than eat alone?
Whilst I don’t eat solo very often, I can if I have to. Its quite relaxing sometimes, but don’t try it in a busy hawker place or coffee shop because then it can get stressful, especially if you have to share tables with a bunch of noisy strangers.
Paris B
I am either at work or at university, a lot of people there, lol, so I prefer to eat alone, maybe I will read something. I like eating alone actually but when I have some days off, I prefer to eat with friends. It all depends.
Oh i know what you mean! When there’s too many people about, I prefer solitude but otherwise, I prefer having a good meal with friends 🙂
i hate eating alone too!
I think it takes a lot of guts to be able to do it comfortably 😀
I’m having to dine alone at a wedding this week.
I hate it but have to get through it. Other times, dining alone is ok as I do not have to make small talk. It’s in fact relaxing.
Oh Lisa, having to be at a wedding table with 9 other strangers (Chinese banquet I’m assuming) is one of the worst things in the world to foist on anyone >.<
It is the worst. I hope it’s my first and last time having to do this.
It’s something that I’ve tried to master for a long period of time but still failed miserably at it. I’m not comfortable eating alone in the public at all. Having a drink, maybe, but not eating a full meal. Somehow, it just feels weird. I actually feel a little uneasy about having lunch alone at work too. Gosh, I’m terrible! ><
You’re not terrible MisSmall 🙂 Some of us just prefer being with others. I can’t eat a full meal at a restaurant by myself for example, but I don’t mind a quick bite at a cafe. It feels more comfortable than having people eye you up in a restaurant.
I am absolutely fine with it. In fact, I often go food hunting/checking out raved foods alone because I am the only one who is free (due to nature of my job). I enjoy eating a lot, enjoy looking at food as though it were an art, enjoy photo-taking, and then writing my thoughts in my food journal. So being alone doesn’t bothers me at all.
Moreover, I can’t shop with people. I like window shopping with friends, but I somehow will only stop, try, and spend when I am alone, so I always need to eat alone on my lone shopping trips.
That’s cool, documenting the food you eat 😀 I prefer shopping by myself too! I can usually decide by myself if something looks good or works for me, so I prefer to shop alone than have to wait around when shopping with others.
I learned to eat alone over the past 2 years as living solo in a foreign country will do that to you. 😉 The first few months took some getting used to, but now I’m perfectly comfortable with dining alone. (Thank God for the invention of the smartphone!)
I prefer restaurants/cafes over food courts as it’s a hassle to hold your food and wait for a seat and I also don’t like to share a table with strangers. My one pet peeve though is that waitstaff in the local food industry act either incredulous or condescending that you are eating alone. >.<
Glad to know its a skill you’ve managed to pick up while abroad! Sometimes, being forced into the situation is the only way for us to grab the bull by the horns, as it were 🙂 I’m with you on the funny looks given by waiters. The only place I don’t get funny looks is a basic cafe, or a Japanese restaurant with a sushi bar.
I love eating alone. It means Me Time without my 4yo. As much as I love him, I need some Me Time where I can actually eat what I want as I usually have to share his meal when eating out with him as most places don’t do kid portions.
I can imagine. Sis is quite glad to go back to work and probably to the company of other adults 😀
I’m okay eating alone. picked it up when I was seconded overseas to work. It’s just easier. If I get bored, I bring something to read. Stares don’t bother me.
I think most of us are now ok with it due to necessity 🙂 I have noticed many people eating alone these days. Guess more and more people are comfortable doing it.
To be honest, I’m not comfortable eating alone given how we Filipinos love to eat and chat with friends. But I’ve tried it and I know I can survive it! It’s not just the most comfortable thing in this world but I won’t die eating alone you know what I mean? 😀
Haha Indeed, we can do it but its not half as much fun eating alone as it is sharing food with friends right? 😀
i hate eating alone! if i have to eat alone, most probably i will just skip that meal. food doesn’t taste as good when you don’t have people to eat with you.
if i really have to, then i’ll go to some quiet cafe, whip out the phone, plug on the mp3 player and be anti social for a while or the next thing to do is, take away the food, but normally i’ll just skip my meal
Wow ok you’re more drastic than I am lol. I would pack a takeaway but I won’t skip a meal. Need my 3 square meals a day 😀
Yes, I eat alone, because I can! 🙂
There’s no choice sometimes, because of time constraints between appointments and I can really wait or travel to another place to dine with a friend. (That’s working life! 🙁 )
I can and am happily prepared to eat alone, also because I am single and am prepared to stay (self-entertained) single.
Love your confidence, PeiQing 😀
I love eating alone while im at work. Can play iphone, do some blog reading happily with my own sweet time. But i hate it if im outside, so i rather tapao and enjoy it at home ! Now eating alone is alot better with ipad and smartphone etc. Last time eat alone outside got nothing to do except to look at people…haha !
Well back in the day, there was always newspapers or books 🙂 I still go the books/newspapers route because I rarely carry my ipad with me and there’s only so much digital time I need or want 😉 But it does make life easier having something to do while dining.
food is great with company, but eating alone is completely underrated. a solitary lunch is one of life’s greatest pleasures
Very poetic and very true! 😀
I always do that. People watching while enjoying my meal is my favourite hobby, hehe…I would like to explore new makan place after checking food blogs and enjoys the precious “just me” time 🙂
Haha food blogs are dangerous. I always want to go and try all the new places talked about! Its quite interesting watching people isn’t it? Entertaining too 😉
yes, i am very much comfortable eating alone because I do this often. I can even watch a movie alone if I really want to see that particular movie, hehe. I just make sure that I have great food to munch on… Am I a loser or what? 🙂
Not a loser, Issa just confident in your own company 🙂 I have watched movies alone too and it too is underrated. Why shouldn’t we watch a movie alone when in a cinema, we aren’t supposed to be talking to anyone else anyway? We might as well be alone 😀 The only thing I do miss is not being able to discuss the movie with someone immediately after that 😀
I just had lunch by myself a few days ago! 🙂 I love doing it. In the past I could not bring myself to eat alone because I feel that everyone is looking at me. But now it is a time for me to enjoy me time.
Its interesting how we perceive things as we grow, right? A few years ago I’d never eat alone either. These days, I’m like heck! I need to eat!
I don’t mind eating alone or sharing the table with strangers. Well, I’m just there to fill up my tummy. The rest don’t matter. Having said that, you don’t expect to be eating steamboat alone. I’ve no qualms doing things alone. I just went to watch a movie – Life of PI alone and I very much enjoyed myself all the same… ^^
LOL at the steamboat! You know, there’s this restaurant here where you can have steamboat but it comes in an individual pot so everyone has their own portion. Now, you can dine alone with steamboat too! 😀
Only at non crowded restaurant usually for brunch where I could relax and read… else would just takeway
I feel in crowded or popular restaurants, they try to stick you as far away in a corner as you can, if you are on your own so they can free up tables for others. I dislike that!
I don’t mind eating alone if I’m someplace like school, but I would never go out and just eat by myself. If I were on a lunch break and didn’t bring a lunch, I would just buy food to go and bring it back to the office or eat in my car. If it’s a fairly small cafe or something, I wouldn’t mind terribly sitting outside and reading while I ate though
Haha you make me think of me! Sometimes I’m out and about, and don’t really want to sit to eat, so if I pack something like sushi, I sometimes just finish it up in the car on my way home. Saves time eh? 😀
I do sometimes. Strangely though on in Asia! 😉 Really not liking eating on my own in London. I guess there are more choices of cheap and nice food/ street food in Asia so it makes eating on my own much easier and more enjoyable.
I found it easier in Europe because of all the lovely little cafes that you have. Its less intimidating, but ultimately also a little pricey. It was hardest trying to eat alone in a Chinese restaurant in London so I always did takeaway then LOL!