Restaurant Dining Guide: Best Healthy Choices
It’s easy to make sure you eat right and stay on track with your healthy eating plan at home, but making good choices when dining out can sometimes be a little tricky.
That’s why we’ve put together this handy, healthy Restaurant Dining Guide to help you. There’s tons of helpful information about each of the cuisines listed below — simply click on them and you’ll see typical menu items, the smartest options and simple substitutions to ask for.
Click through the different types of food to see how eating out can be delicious and healthy!
– Chinese Food
– Mexican Food
– Thai Food
– Middle Eastern Food
– Japanese Food
– French Food
– Korean Food
– Fast Food
– See All Cuisines
Plus, read our columnist’s funny, true-life story about going on a dinner date while trying to stick to her low-carb diet!
Don’t feel like dining out? With an eDiets meal plan, you have hundreds of healthy — and tasty! — recipes at your fingertips. Sign up today and get a free week each month!
Restaurant Dining Guide: Healthy THAI Food Choices
Enjoy dining out? Learn even more healthy eating options with our complete Restaurant Dining Guide!
Thailand has introduced Americans to the biggest food trend in decades. Influenced by the cuisine of neighboring India and China, Thai food combines flavors and ingredients in a way that gives it a distinct personality all its own.
Like other Asian and Southeast Asian cuisines where meat is scarce and expensive, Thai cuisine is rice- and noodle-based. Since Thailand is formed around a gulf, there is a large variety of fish dishes. In general, Thai food is light and combinations of herbs and spices yield sour, salty, hot and sweet flavors in every bite. Many of the herbs used are thought to have medicinal benefits, such as aiding digestion, as well. The harmonious blend of flavors and fragrances makes Thai food irresistible to Western palates.
A major element in Thai cuisine is the yam (sometimes spelled yum), a kind of salad. Unlike traditional salad as we know it, a yam can be made of pork, beef or other protein, dressed with ingredients such as nam pla (fermented fish-flavored sauce), salt, lemon or lime juice, garlic or shallots, and chilies. For example, sliced steak soaked in lime juice and mixed with chilies, onion, tomato, cucumber, coriander leaves and lettuce are the ingredients that compose nuur yung namtok, yet the same flavor mix used with a base of sliced squid yields yum pla muk. If you’re feeling adventurous, frog legs are a Thai specialty, and are prepared in many different ways.
Thais do not eat in traditional, individual courses the way we do; they enjoy a communal eating experience. All the dishes are placed on the table where diners can sample a little bit of everything, family-style. Some of the most common flavorings you’ll find in Thai dishes are coconut milk, lemongrass, tamarind, nam pla, ginger, galangal (a member of the ginger family that tastes like a cross between ginger and pepper), garlic, cilantro, basil, palm sugar, turmeric, cumin, green onions, shallots, peanuts, lime juice and kaffir lime leaves, in addition to chilies in varying degrees of heat.
Know Your Menu
Fish cake: Patties of ground fish and curry paste combined with ground shrimp and usually served over a salad
Steamed dumplings: Ground pork, shrimp and Thai herbs in paper-thin wrappers
Pad thai: The classic and most popular of Thai dishes, a noodle-based dish that incorporates shrimp, green onions, eggs, dried tofu, bean sprouts and chopped peanuts
Curry: Thailand is famous for curries, usually beef, chicken or shrimp simmered in coconut milk with mixtures of different curry pastes (red, yellow, green), and sometimes potatoes, peas, bamboo shoots, basil and hot chilies
Did you know you can lose weight by having restaurant-quality, fresh-prepared food with eDiets Meal Delivery? Learn more!
At Thai Restaurants
Choose…
tom yum koong (shrimp and mushrooms simmered in hot-and-sour broth with coriander, lime leaves and lemongrass)
Instead of…
dumplings or spring rolls
Choose…
sauteed shrimp or beef with basil, onion and chilies
Instead of…
pad thai
Choose…
sauteed scallops and shrimp (or beef or pork) with mushrooms, zucchini and chili paste
Instead of…
any curry dish
Choose…
sauteed beef, chicken or pork with shrimp paste and green beans
Instead of…
sauteed beef, chicken or pork with ginger, black bean sauce and green onion
Choose…
sauteed mixed vegetables
Instead of…
Thai fried rice with vegetables and eggs
Choose…
steamed mussels with Thai herbs and garlic sauce
Instead of…
deep-fried whole fish with sweet-and-sour sauce
Tips
– Avoid bean thread, a vermicelli-like noodle that appears in many dishes not specifically listed as such and is high in carbohydrates.
— Anything listed on the menu as pad will almost certainly be a noodle dish.
— If you order curry, request one that doesn’t contain potatoes.
— In general, stick to dishes that are quickly sauteed with lemongrass and/or basil, other aromatic Thai herbs and vegetables.
— Many Thai dishes use sweet ingredients — pineapple, oyster sauce, sweet-and-sour sauce — which should be consumed in moderation, to complement more pungent ones.
Restaurant Dining Guide: Healthy MIDDLE EASTERN Food Choices
Enjoy dining out? Learn even more healthy eating options with our complete Restaurant Dining Guide!
From Morocco to Israel, Lebanon to Egypt, there are many flavors of the Middle East… and their aromas are captivating.
Middle Eastern dishes are seasoned with cardamom, coriander, cumin, thyme, marjoram and sumac. Sesame seeds are ground into a paste called tahini, which is the tasty ingredient in favorites such as hummus, baba ghanoush and the rich sweet called halvah. Bulgur is a staple grain and is a component of tabbouleh salad. Chickpeas, rice and lentils also form the base of many dishes. Garlic and onions are important ingredients in Middle Eastern cuisine, as are eggplant, okra, lemon, carrots, cauliflower, green beans and yogurt. Lamb is the preferred protein and, whether stewed, roasted, pressed, ground or skewered, it rules the menu.
Know Your Menu
Many of these dishes have found their way into the American mainstream, where they’ve remained popular for decades:
Pita: A round, flat bread that can be split to enclose ingredients, like a sandwich, or torn into pieces and used for scooping up food.
Baba ghanoush: Eggplant grilled over charcoal and blended with tahini, olive oil, lemon juice and pureed garlic. It is offered as an appetizer with pita bread for dipping.
Hummus: Pureed chickpeas with tahini, lemon juice and garlic.
Fattoush: A refreshing salad of toasted bread cubes, cucumbers, tomatoes and mint
Kibbe: Ground lamb and bulgur shaped into patties and cooked.
Tabbouleh: A salad made of bulgur, tossed with tomatoes, mint and parsley.
Like dining out? Did you know you can lose weight by having restaurant-quality, fresh-prepared food delivered with eDiets Meal Delivery? Learn more!
At Middle Eastern Restaurants
Choose…
labnee (thick yogurt with mint)*
Instead of…
hummus (chickpea dip)
Choose…
loubieh (green beans cooked with tomatoes)
Instead of…
tabbouleh (bulgur salad)
Choose…
eggplant with garlic, tomatoes and peppers
Instead of…
fattoush (bread, cucumber and tomato salad)
Choose…
shish kebab (grilled spiced cubed lamb on skewers)
Instead of…
kibbe (ground lamb and bulgur patties)
Choose…
kofta (balls of ground lamb and onions, skewered and grilled)
Instead of…
falafel (chickpea patties)
Choose…
shish taouk (skewered pieces of marinated chicken grilled over charcoal)
Instead of…
b’steeya (Moroccan chicken pie with almonds)
* Limit yourself to a tablespoon or two.
Tips
— Ask to have a glass of the delicious Middle Eastern mint tea with your meal. It will help fill you up and aid digestion.
— If you order the thickened labnee yogurt as an appetizer, ask for raw vegetables to dip with instead of pita bread. Again, limit yourself to a tablespoon or two.
the best workouts for new bodybuilders
Your initial steps in setting up a routine are crucial to your future understanding of working out and creating something that is effective and has meaning to your workout goals. Certainly, it is key to choose exercises that target all of your muscle groups, however, you need to choose exercises that are going to actually be best for your body type and your level of development…
bodybuilding for beginners: the importance of warm-up and cool-down sets
Beginners have so much to learn, that it almost becomes overwhelming. It often takes well over a year for a beginner to even assimilate the basics of workouts and workout principles. Be sure to ready this article to get the basics on warm up and cool down…
training mistakes to avoid when working out at home
Home gym is quite effective when taken seriously, but the problem comes in since many people take advantage of the home gym and miss their workouts blaming on very many issues. For one, a home gym gives you all the freedom to workout at your own pace and also to make decisions of when to do the workouts.
a healthier lifestyle is only a minute away
With more studies showing the serious health risks associated with an unhealthy lifestyle, more people are now engaging in activities that help them achieve and maintain a fit lifestyle.
getting the life blood flowing – the value of cardio exercise
We all know that diet, smoking and lack of exercise are all external factors that play a role in the development of cardiovascular disease and that we can play a big role in minimizing the risks by adjusting our lifestyles. What role does cardio exercise then play in a heart healthy lifestyle or in our state of general health?
advice for gay travel in thailand
Thailand is a tropical country in southeast Asia, located southeast of Burma and bordering the Gulf of Thailand and Andaman Sea. Thailand is known for its delicious food, culture, temples, and beaches, which makes it a desirable vacation spot.
stepping up to good health – the benefits of aerobic exercise
Over the last couple of decades much has been made of the importance of specific cardio and aerobic exercise as an integral part of a healthy lifestyle. There is little doubt that a regular exercise regimen improves our sleep patterns, reduces stress and helps us control our weight, all factors that make for better overall health. What is aerobic exercise though, and why is it so beneficial.
-
-
The Fit Shack | Change Your Mind to Change Your Body- The Number One Reason Diets Don’t WorkIf you’re like millions of other folks out there you’ve dieted at least once (likely many more times than once!) in your life. And what you’ve found is that diets don’t work. You’ve also found that YES, You CAN lose weight, but….you are unable to keep it off. And, it’s always a struggle. Therefore, specifically […]
- Is Permanent Weight Loss Possible?Have you ever wondered if Permanent Weight Loss is truly possible for you? Do you have the belief that you must struggle, struggle, struggle and fight fight fight with your weight forever? If you do believe this then guess what….you’re right! If you believe that permanent weight loss is not possible for you and that managing your weight […]
