“There’s nothing more romantic than a dinner date a home. Without the distractions of a restaurant, all of the focus can be on you and your date. You’ll find that the conversation will be more comfortable and honest. And of course, women love men who can cook.”

– The Art of Manliness

Never do a Men’s Health style home dinner date

The home dinner date is popular in magazines like Men’s Health and on websites like The Art of Manliness. These publications love to tell guys that they have to spend hours in the kitchen whipping up all kinds of exotic dishes. That way they can impress some girl who works at Target and she might possibly consider sleeping with them.

While there’s nothing wrong with a home dinner date, if you really want to do one, they aren’t a good option for most guys.

I did a little field testing last night and found several reasons why normal guys should never do a Men’s Health style home dinner date.

(Watch the video for my personal story)

You won’t know how to cook anything

Here’s a recipe that The Art of Manliness offers: “Molasses Marinated Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Fennel Potatoes and Dried Fruit/Cognac Sauce.”

I’ve never made a molasses marinated pork tenderloin for myself so there’s absolutely no way that I’d be able to cook it properly. All of the dinner date recipes that you’ll find are too elaborate for a normal man to prepare.

Yesterday night I tried making a sauté mushroom and special sauce pasta. I had to hand grate nutmeg to complete the dish. Most guys aren’t going to own a grater or have nutmeg in their house. That means you’ll be making a run to the store and wasting your time and money on something that only gets used once.

Going out to eat is cheaper

Preparing a molasses marinated pork tenderloin, or similarly exotic dish, is going to be pricey. You’ll probably drop at least $20 on ingredients. If you were really interested in getting food with a girl, you could go to a restaurant and spend about the same.

Or, if you’re just trying to get a girl back to your place, you could offer “drinks and a movie” in your living room.

Splurging on groceries, cooking, and cleaning up is way too much work. Your money would go a lot farther with either a nice dinner or nothing more than an invite to hang out at your house.

The meal is irrelevant

Any girl who comes over to your house alone, and isn’t collaborating on some school or work project with you, is interested in sex. Whatever activity is being offered at your house is just icing on the cake for her.

You could probably say “Come over at nine and I’ll show you my model train collection.”

There’s no reason to go overboard and attempt to dazzle her unless you really want to. The mainstream idea that you need to cook some five-star meal is silly. If you really want to make something, stick to what you already know. Even if it’s just sandwiches.