Eating on the go in UK

[Elizellen]

I dont know how many UK Atkineers do a lot of driving and so need to find somewhere 'safe' to eat while on the road, but I though it would be good to pool our experiences about where and what we choose to stay on the Atkins Way of Eating.

We drive most weekends across the south of England and have found the 'Little Chef' restaurants are good.

You can order one of their all-day breakfasts and on the whole they are happy to substitute an extra egg or piece of bacon for the beans/toast/fried bread/chips I dont want.

They also offer salad meals - I had their Chicken Caesar Salad today - a plate full of Romaine lettuce, sprinkled with parmesan with a couple of 3 ounce grilled chicken breasts and caesar dressing in a little jug. I told them - 'no croutons and please put the dressing in a separate jug as I dont want it drizzled over the lettuce'.

It made an excellent legal meal - as I could add only as much of the dressing as I wanted to eat. I left some of the lettuce and wrapped up one of the chicken breaasts for another meal.

They also offer a chicken and bacon salad - I ask them to not put the onions on that as I dont like raw onions, and ask for some mayonnaise on the side too!

I take my own herbal tea bags and ask them for a mug of hot water (usually they dont charge for that either) and they have splenda too! I always put a few of those in my bag for later use!!

My extra tip is - go to their website (www.littlechef.co.uk) and register and then you can download their 2for1 voucher so you can buy 2 meals for half price! I always print a few off and keep them in the car.

You can check also on their website before a journey to find where their restaurants are so you can plan your mealstops.

Has anyone else any good suggestions for which other roadside restaurants can be Atkins-friendly?

[amy_rocks]

Thanks for the little chef tip! I always found it VERY overpriced so the 2 for 1 vouchers will be handy.
Usually I take a packed lunch because I hardly ever find something good to eat. On a four hour car journey recently we stopped in a 'Welcome break' and I scoured the sandwiches and salads but there was nothing. I found a chicken meal in the hot section but they wouldn't serve me just the chicken and not the potatoes as they 'weren't allowed'.
Sometimes if I'm lucky I find a Mcdonalds for a bunfree burger!

[amy_rocks]

Pret a manger do nice 'no bread' sandwiches.
I occasionally eat the no bread crayfish and avocado.
Nutritional value:
Protein per pack: 11.4g
Carbohydrate: 4.9g
of which sugars: 2.8g
Dietary fibre: 4.6g

I wonder if the carb count is NET carbs or whether to subtract the fibre?

[Elizellen]

Those numbers are showing fibre as already deducted from the 4.9 grams of carbs, Amy, so the 4.9 are the net carbs
Most of our labels do that! It is only with anything packaged in the USA and imported over here that you can deduct the fibre (which will be shown as 'fiber' and listed in the same section of the label immediately below the sugars and the total carbs)