After cooking almost every meal for the last month (in comparison to before when my office would cater every lunch and I'd usually do take out for dinner), I've

After cooking almost every meal for the last month (in comparison to before when my office would cater every lunch and I'd usually do take out for dinner), I've come to appreciate that yes: ingredients are expensive and cooking is laborious. At the lower-end of the industry (<=$10 per meal), prices are low. Perhaps lower than what I could make it myself just due to ingredients/spoilage costs. At the lower-end of the medium-part of the industry ($10-$30/meal), I think the prices are a ripoff. For instance, I've been making a lot of ramen (akin to what you find in dedicated ramen shops a la spicy miso tonkatsu ramen with a soft boiled egg) lately. I spend probably ~$6~8 for the ingredients for a bowl (not incl. ingredients that I buy but end up spoiling before I can use them) that I previously wouldn't have blinked twice to spend ~$20 on at a ramen shop (incl. tax/tip). Yes it takes me a solid 15-25 minutes to make it myself, but my subway ride to/from the restaurant takes about that same amount of time. At the higher-end of the medium-part of the industry ($30-50/meal), things become more debatable since flavors _should_ skyrocket. I have no qualms about paying for the ingredients for food. But I don't really care if the restaurant is a proverbial hole in the wall where you order and pick up your food at the counter. I'd prefer a store where the food is comparable to another store but at half the price and 0% of the frills of table service.