Savor Scout › Eating out with a restriction › heart-healthy
Eating out heart-healthy
Heart-healthy eating usually means less saturated fat and salt and more vegetables, fish, whole grains and olive oil. Several cuisines do this by default — and the Mediterranean diet that most heart-health advice is modelled on is, after all, a restaurant cuisine too.
Search heart-healthy options near you →
What actually goes wrong
Restaurant cooking uses more butter, cream, salt and frying than home cooking. A vegetable side finished with butter, a fish fried rather than grilled, or a salad with a creamy dressing can turn a heart-healthy order into something else.
Processed and cured meats — bacon, sausage, deli meats, ham — are high in saturated fat and salt. They appear in many dishes as flavouring rather than the main ingredient.
Portion size matters. Even healthy dishes can come in portions twice the size you'd serve at home. Sharing, taking half home or ordering starters as a main all help.
What to ask, and how
- Grilled, steamed or baked, not fried — For fish and chicken.
- Olive oil instead of butter — For vegetables and fish.
- Dressing and sauce on the side — So you control them.
- Whole grains — Brown rice, whole wheat or quinoa, where available.
- Less salt, please — Possible for made-to-order dishes.
Which cuisines make this easier
- Easy — Greek, Lebanese and broader Mediterranean (olive oil, fish, vegetables, legumes), Japanese (fish, vegetables, rice), Vietnamese (herbs, broth, rice noodles), Ethiopian vegetarian dishes, Indian lentil and vegetable dishes cooked with less oil, seafood restaurants.
- Harder — Steakhouses and barbecue (with exceptions), fried chicken and burger places, cream-heavy French and Italian dishes, diners and Southern kitchens where butter and bacon fat are common.
How Savor Scout helps
Savor Scout reads menus for grilled, steamed, olive oil and Mediterranean, and you can describe what you want — grilled fish, vegetables, light — rather than relying on a diet label.
What this does not do. Fat and salt content are not on most menus. Follow your doctor's or dietitian's specific advice.
Search heart-healthy options near you →
Cuisines worth reading up on
Greek food, Mediterranean food, seafood, Vietnamese food
Situations where this comes up: where to eat when you're trying to eat healthy, where to eat with grandparents, where to take a client to dinner.