Who else hates eating outside?

[Backdrifter]

I mean alfresco eating. As soon as a single photon of sunlight fights its way through the cloud cover, certain restaurants and cafes immediately set up tables outside. And people seem to be drawn to them. It always appears to be the preferred option, as soon as the outside tables are there. I feel like I'm in a minority but I dislike it - alfresco eating means sweltering in direct sunlight, cold drinks turning warm in minutes, batting away insects, inhaling traffic fumes and having a stream of passersby inches away from my food. Some of those factors vanish if there's a nice garden but even then I don't care for it. And as for picnics....

Maybe it makes more sense depending on where you are. I've enjoyed meals at dusk in beachside tavernas on Greek islands. But in the UK... There must be someone else out there who agrees.

[jake-the-peg]

Nope

Sitting in the garden having lunch with friends on a warm summer afternoon is one of my greatest pleasures in life.

Maybe you're right in what you say about it all depending on where you are

[Backdrifter]

Location and 'the moment' do play a part. It's not all bad. A very fond memory is my partner and I in Cadgwith Cove on the Lizard Peninsular in Cornwall one summer, buying sandwiches stuffed full of freshly caught local crab from a woman in a little wooden shack, taking them and eating them while sitting on rocks with clear water lapping around us, yards from where the crabs were caught - wonderful. But it's pretty specific. And is not unrelated to your friends-in-the-garden thing. I'm thinking more of the generic "restaurant with tables outside" thing that people seem to automatically think must be better than eating indoors.

From the cool shaded interior of a restaurant in Kingston last summer I watched this bloke on an outside table, by the river of course, POURING with sweat under the sun, flapping his hand at flies and other river insects and sipping what had been a refreshing iced drink but was now lukewarm slop, barely avoiding being brushed against by towpath walkers. And it summed up everything I detest about the experience.

[heathfield]

And then it rained?

[ugly_bob]

sitting on a London pavement doesn't really appeal, but if the surroundings are nice I have no objections to al fresco

[rockyracoon]

Love alfresco, even when it's a bit chilly. Mind you inside might not be so bad from next June when all will be smoke free.

[SaxyJag]

The yard or garden of a nice pub, somewhere with a decent view over a river or something, even in a city - great.

But in the middle of a main shopping street, next to a stinking waste bin, watching drunks, screaming kids and mouthy chavs wend their way past? No way hose.

[toecrusher]

agree with you 100% for all the same reasons, especially flies buzzing about and landing on your food, have to tolerate bbqs because the children love them and it seems to be the 'in' thing to do as soon as the sun comes out!

[maxi29]

I love eating outside; we get so little sunshine normally, it seems churlish not to make the most of it. I don't see the point of those restaurants who just put a table or two on the pavement outside, forcing you to share space with passers-by and breathe in traffic fumes: if you're eating al fresco, it has to be dedicated for that purpose, either a traffic-free square or a garden.