These days I'm pretty much housebound and Pizza Hut is the only local place with delivery, so I'm stuck with home cooking whether I like it or not. Fortunately I'm a good cook, but I really don't enjoy cooking only for myself.
I used to eat out 7 days out of 7 although that was also a lifestyle thing rather than choice. I simply didn't get home early enough to consider cooking. But then "gourmet" food isn't the only option. I had a more than passing acquaintance with greasy spoons from Hammersmith to Whitechapel and there weren't many parts of London where I didn't know which was the best chippy or couldn't lay my hands on a decent bacon sarnie. And at the other end of the scale there are expensive restaurants such as Simpsons in the Strand and the Savoy Grill, which also serve "unfussy" food.
I get your point tho. There are lots of restaurants in cities like London, which ride the latest wave or use prices as a way of ensuring exclusivity and the food is often execrable. I used to have several clients in the entertainment industry and many of them seemed to be drawn to such places. Thanks to them I have eaten more overpriced crap than I care to think about
