Fine Dining…..thoughts?

flappergirl

I'm too old and jaded for fine dining! I love eating out, it's one of life's pleasures, but I'd far rather have a good tasty plate of food preferably in an independent restaurant. I like to feel relaxed too and enjoy good conversation.

The whole 9 course tasting menu thing I find a bit of an ordeal to be honest. Too rigid and too lengthy.

Give me oysters followed by lobster thermidor or a medium rare rib eye steak and triple cooked chips, a bottle Merlot or superbly chilled Pinot and I'm a very happy bunny. Oh, and an espresso martini or two to round it off.

Agree and we ate at Ferrán Adrià´s back around 2010 / 2011 up in Rosas, Catalunya.

35 Various concoctions with instructions !!

Fascinating however, I agree with you ..

Been there, done that!
We're in greater London so in easy reach of the type of "fine dining" you describe but much prefer to go out locally. Our favourite is a lovely family run Italian restaurant where the food is simple, generous and delicious.
I like a restaurant with a "Specials" board as it is easy to tire of the main menu if you go there regularly.

The worst parts of fine dining are the teeny portions and the amount of handling that goes into presentation.
AO in Southampton was an example. The food tasted good, but I’ve enjoyed a better meal at Brasserie Blanc, in Winchester (not exactly fine dining) and even there some preparation involved a lot handling to create the presentation.

When we used to travel through France regularly we would take the A roads and stop at transport cafe's for the mid day lunch. It was always fantastic cooking and loads of courses.. and included local wine.. amazing value, not sure if they still do them though..

Routiers - yes they are Pascal average €15 for the 3/4 courses last year.
The friendliest of places to eat with tasty food, home cooked generally.

Love Le Routier restaurants
You can sample local fresh food cheeses & wine
Great value too

I have had good and bad experiences at Michelin restaurants . In general the portions are smaller than some might be used to but generally the flavour of the ingredients more than makes up for that. I've never come away feeling hungry. I think my only problem has been in just 1 star Michelins when the staff are overly solicitous and you just want them to go away and leave you alone to enjoy the meal. Probably a lack of training from places that think they're better than they are.
I enjoy these restaurants but still think a really good fish and chips takes a heck of a lot of beating or a really fresh poached egg on toast.

I love fine dining & tasting menus for a special occasion, & wine pairings too but prefer lunchtime for special meals. I’ve never come away hungry.
DD’s partner is a high-end event chef & I’ve seen the effort & time that goes into fine dining & don’t begrudge the cost.

Urgh! The words 'fine dining' make me cringe so I avoid any restaurants using those words. I think it's because of the millions of people starving in the world.

I'm just happy to have food but perhaps my standards are not high!

A couple of dabs of different-coloured sauces, a few leaves of this and that, and a cube or two of fish, flesh, or fowl. This is a snack to tempt reluctant toddlers, not a meal.

Notspaghetti - I didn't suggest that I was "made to go out to restaurants I don't want to". I simply responded to the OPs original question!

How the other half live
Never have I been to anywhere that is called ‘fine dining’ or know anything about it Sounds expensive and food limiting
I ll carry on not knowing 🤣
Maybe it’s a city thing

We have a Michelin starred restaurant in our town. We went once - never again. Pretentious cr@p basically. If I'm eating lamb etc it should taste of lamb etc. Tweezers used to 'place' micro greens whatever. By the time what little food is offered it's almost cold. Odd mixtures of ingredients and overpriced drinks. £18 ,for 3 slivers of cheese! Our local fish and chips shop is tastier.

We’ve never been into fine dining, we did enjoy some fabulous food when we went on a Caribbean cruise with Cunard in 1991 for our 25th wedding anniversary but that was a one off. We do like going to Miller And Carter for our birthdays and wedding anniversary but the last time we went the bill was so high we decided to celebrate future birthdays and our wedding anniversary by buying some nice food from M and S and eating at home. Now we are in our eighties we aren’t in to fancy food, some of the concoctions in Master Chef leave me cold.

My thoughts?

We cook very well, cook what we like, serve nice small portions by choice, and don't enjoy leaving home - so no to fine dining.

I think it is horses for courses here.
I would love to try fine dining, but the opportunity has not presented itself.
We have had wonderful meals occasionally, most notably on holiday but it has never been presented as fine dining.
Good food well cooked is good food.
I would not judge by price, only quality and value for the price we paid.
Wine is another matter.

Come to Bristol - a vast choice of amazing restaurants.

I've been fortunate enough to dine at a Michelin starred restaurant at one of the top hotels in the south of France, and it was an experience I'll never forget. The food and the hotel itself was superb - absolutely amazing (and even more so because I was on a press trip, so it was all free!). However, I would balk at paying for that kind of 'fine dining' experience out of my own pocket. Some of the best meals we have had, especially abroad, have been at little family-run restaurants where the locals eat. Nothing fancy, just good honest fresh home cooked local food.

OK, Davida, I think I read it differently to a simple answer. Apologies.

Maybe you also live in a very different area too as you have plenty of good restaurants and cafés providing excellent meals and services - sadly I don't.
There are plenty of average restaurants and cafés here, unfortunately. I think that will inevitably influence how you feel (it does me, certainly).

DD’s partner is a high-end event chef & I’ve seen the effort & time that goes into fine dining & don’t begrudge the cost.

I agree with this comment.
Fine dining isn't about a few fancy leaves arranged on a plate, or a few blobs of sauce. It's about the provenance of the food and the passion of the chef. I was lucky enough to eat at fine dining restaurants (London) regularly, some better than others. My favourite was Monica Galetti's, Mere in Fitzrovia, where as special guests, she explained her ideas and ethos on fine dining. Coupled with the knowledge of her lovely French husband, David, as sommelier, it was a very interesting evening. (She also gave us a tour of the sparkling kitchens afterwards, and we helped her load her car at midnight with all the "leftovers" she took home to practise with). Fine dining might not be to everyone's taste, but it is exciting.

Sorry, I'm having a reminiscing moment!

We too have had our 'Bill's of fine dining. We have eaten in some lovely restaurants but we have tipped off in several more. We try really hard to eat healthily and find meals are too short on vegetables for our taste and buying a few beans or carrots as an extra is another way of overcharging.

I think that "fine dining" is overrated, over-pretentious and overpriced.
Got all that out of my system when I was young and easily impressed by such ostentatious frippery!
And I agree, BigBertha1, there are never enough vegetables.

Got all that out of my system when I was young and easily impressed by such ostentatious frippery!

😂 Maybe my perceptions on fine dining have matured with age then, like a good wine!

The charging for extra vegetables everywhere is irritating. They charge for cauliflower cheese with a roast dinner nearly everywhere now.

I’ve never experienced ‘fine dining’ and reviews on it from those who have seem mixed.I enjoy my own cooked meals and those of my family and the pubs we know locally where the meals are good.We don’t eat takeaways.
Paying a fortune for tiny amounts of food while the waiter says things like ‘Breton coils of pig cheek with parmesan shavings and seaweed foam’ are not for me.😄