Restaurant lies!
 

My mum took me out to eat today even though I didn't really fancy it. After wading through all the calorific offerings on the menu (there is a token salad for anyone who wants "healthy" you don't get choice you get salad, which is actually quite fatty) I found what I was after, a grilled chicken sandwich. I asked for it without all kinds of side dishes though it still cost a fortune, and when it arrived it was not grilled at all but griddled, i.e. thrown on the flat pan with all the other "grilled" food like burgers soaking up the oil i.e. fried. Should have returned it but it didn't look that bad. Ever since I ate it I have felt ill.

I get really cross with this sort of thing, it's been tricky all my life when I've been trying to work with food allergies and you get an unexpected side dish that was not even referred to on the menu. I always got angry at "roast potatoes" which were clearly potatoes dropped in a deep fat fryer, not roasted at all, never been near an oven. Annoyed.

Sticker shock is what I call it. Looking at the calorie counts for items ordered out. It certainlytakes the fun out of it. If at all possible, I check the menu ahead of time, post for help if needed, then remember it for the future. The extra work is in the beginning of the journey. After awhile, I found where I can go and what I can order and still feel happy about it.

Do they have to post calorie counts on menus where you live? Here in the UK they are neither required to post calorie counts nor complete ingredient lists, so all it would say is "grilled chicken breast on a bun served with mayonnaise, sliced tomato and coleslaw" so you ask for it with no mayo and no coleslaw and it turns up with fries, dressed salad and ketchup, and it's not even grilled! You have to guess what you think might be in anything, and you think you've asked all the questions you need to ask about whether there is skin on the breast fillet, has any oil been added, but you'd never think to ask if there will be dressing on the salad cos they don't even mention salad might arrive! It clearly says grilled on the menu and it turns out they mean griddled, it's crazy.

Most chain restaurants have nutritional information available on their website here. Some smaller restaurants don't.

For salad, I like salad a lot and it depends on the salad obviously but what makes it caloric is the salad dressing. If you use sparingly or bring your own, then it'll lower the calorie count significantly.

I have a Blackberry Smartphone and on I have an app called Fatsecret. Within that program I can find out what's on any restaurants menu before I even go in. By looking at the amount of fat, sodium and protein etc. I decide if I want to eat there or not. I also use this app as a Food diary. It even allows me to print reports to give to my nutritionist (from my desktop).

I think it's good business for restaurants to publish that kind of information.......especially here.