Author Topic: Luxury is overrated  (Read 2585 times)

LeftFI

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 40
Luxury is overrated
« on: April 11, 2019, 05:30:02 AM »
Maybe we'll have a new breed of restaurant critic who take this to its logical conclusion and end up being critics of restaurants and luxury...

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2019/apr/11/tasting-menus-afternoon-tea-luxury-overrated-jay-rayner

TacheTastic

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 81
Re: Luxury is overrated
« Reply #1 on: April 11, 2019, 02:06:34 PM »
I always think that eating in bed is unhygienic.

PhilB

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 5705
Re: Luxury is overrated
« Reply #2 on: April 12, 2019, 01:10:52 AM »
I think anyone who has ever been forced to eat in bed for a while due to illness / injury would never again do it by choice, other than in the early days of a new relationship perhaps.
I've had some wonderful 'menu gourmande' in France in the past, but the current trend of competing on how many courses you can do is just crazy.  The luxury I would excuse though is the 'assiette gourmande' sometimes offered for dessert  It's amazing how when you are too full to eat a whole dessert, you can easily manage a half sized portion of four different ones.  Mmmm.

sea_saw

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2488
Re: Luxury is overrated
« Reply #3 on: April 14, 2019, 12:13:28 PM »
I love eating lots of different things in one meal but yeah, if they're served in courses there's probably an upper limit to how many can be enjoyable! I've done tasting menus before and LOVED them, but I don't think any went much past 10ish things, including appetisers and coffee after and whatnot. I can totally believe there's a super high end to the luxury market where it becomes less about showcasing lots of gorgeous food and more about prestige and showoffyness. Which, as always, is meh.

And surely for home luxury re cuddling and eating you can't beat the sofa.

BookLoverL

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 431
  • Location: England
Re: Luxury is overrated
« Reply #4 on: April 15, 2019, 02:08:48 PM »
I think the journalist is definitely right on this one. Why would I want to eat breakfast in bed, lying down, probably get food everywhere, when I could eat it at a table or desk like a sensible person and not have to worry about spilling it down my front? And if you want me to taste a small amount of a bunch of different things, I think a buffet would be a better format...

Even a three course meal is usually unenjoyable by the end of the third course for me, due to the sheer volume of food. True luxury, foodwise, to me means eating a relatively simple home-cooked meal when you're just that little bit hungry, so that everything tastes more delicious. Prepared competently and with a sensible portion size that doesn't leave me stuffed, I'd take it over a restaurant offering any day.

sea_saw

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2488
Re: Luxury is overrated
« Reply #5 on: April 16, 2019, 08:13:11 AM »
Everyone's different. I most love a solid, unfussy, but well flavoured and prepared homecooked meal for the bulk of the meals I'm going to eat in my life, and certainly most of the ones I cook myself (although I can get fancy on occasion). I mean, I just recently cooked four portions of kimchi fried rice, with a bit of vegetables, egg, and veggie mince, and I think it's perfect every time I eat it.

But with the right person or group, sitting down for four hours to enjoy each other's company along with a variety of exciting, perfectly prepared dishes is also brilliant. I mean, I fancy myself a pretty skilled home cook, but I'm nothing on the people who've dedicated decades of full time work to it. I love food, and I love novelty, I love being able to try things I wouldn't ever dream of preparing myself (if I could even source them), I love puzzling out how they achieved a certain flavour or texture, I love gorgeous presentations and attention to detail. I've only done a tasting menu three times in my life, but every time it's been a memorable experience, and I've learned something new that I can take to my own cooking.

And having too large a volume of food to eat isn't usually a complaint at those meals!

But clearly even for those of us who are up for that kind of thing, you do have to select the place carefully.

PhilB

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 5705
Re: Luxury is overrated
« Reply #6 on: April 17, 2019, 04:08:43 AM »
Those of us old enough to have experienced the 'joys' of Nouvelle Cuisine will definitely have memories of eating several courses and still being absolutely starving at the end of the meal...