The spider man is having you for dinner tonight

[venta]

Still frantically busy[*]. In lieu of actual content: a poll!

[Poll #1711426]

This is a very conventional restaurant, by the way, which doesn't let you do unorthodox things. And you know you're only getting two courses, so opting for starter, main doesn't mean you might have an option on pud later.

There is a restaurant near us run by a very lovely lady called Lisa, who is perfectly happy for a three course meal to go starter, main, starter. I imagine she'd let you go pudding, pudding, pudding if you wanted, though I've never made the attempt.

[*] Organising this. Are you coming?

Comments

[ebee.livejournal.com]

2 votes for the latter. I've met lionshaman.. He'll allege otherwise but cracks on sight of a pudding menu. But we'd be happy with both as sneaky trip to G and D is pos.

[venta.livejournal.com]

No voting is necessary. The poll has nothing to do with anything, I'm just curious!

[lnr]

It would depend a lot on what the occasion was, how much I wanted to blow the diet and most importantly what the choices of starters and puddings were like.

If you're only going to *offer* two courses I'd say offer main and pudding though, even though I voted the other way.

PS your link he is broken

[bopeepsheep.livejournal.com]

Yes, this - if the best choice starter is something I can't/won't make at home, say, that could swing it easily.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Ah. Thanks - forgot LJ doesn't automatically pre-pend the "http://" for you :)

[venta.livejournal.com]

Also, yes, if I were organising a two-course meal I would also server main and pudding, even though I'm very firmly in the starter camp myself. However, I'm not currently organising a meal, I'm just idly curious ;)

[uitlander]

I would indeed like to come, especially as it doubles up nicely with another event. Am currently waiting on an answer about the viability of crash-space from someone.

In answer to the poll, it all depends on the choice of starters and puddings.

[bateleur.livejournal.com]

Had there been a "starter, pudding" option in your poll I suspect it would be crushing the opposition effortlessly!

[valkyriekaren.livejournal.com]

I think it depends what's on the menu. Generally I'd probably go for a starter, but if the pudding menu has sticky toffee pudding or creme brulee, all bets are off.

[venta.livejournal.com]

I recently discovered (to my own surprise) that apparently creme brulee isn't the top of my own dessert pantheon. In an Italian restaurant, with ChrisC...

C: Do you want a pudding.
Me: No thanks.
C: Sure?
Me: Yup. I'm full.
C: They've got creme brulee on the menu.
Me: I know.
C: It's vanilla creme brulee.
Me: Yup, still full.
Me: No wait, they serve affogato, I'm having a pudding...

[nalsa.livejournal.com]

Affogato occupies negative space. When you eat it, it makes you feel less full.

[venta.livejournal.com]

I'd certainly argue that it's morally a cup of coffee, not a pudding at all :)

I had an interesting variant in a Japanese restaurant on Sunday: vanilla ice cream, coffee (cold, boo!) and chunky azuki bean paste. That worked pretty well, too.

[onebyone.livejournal.com]

I had a chocolate affogato in Lucca. (i.e. drinking chocolate instead of coffee, not coffee and chocolate ice-cream). The business.

[beckyc.livejournal.com]

My answer would be ENTIRELY different in a restaurant which provided nice puddings like soy ice cream and vegan cheesecake and non-dairy sticky toffee pudding.

Unless they only do melon for starter at which point it doesn't really make any difference.

[venta.livejournal.com]

What on earth does one make vegan cheesecake out of !?

[beckyc.livejournal.com]

The rainbow cafe do a nice one that's made out of soy cream cheese.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Ah, ok. I've never met soy cream cheese, though given the existence of soy everything-else-dairy I should have guessed!

[venta.livejournal.com]

I take it back: I did have some soy cream cheese a while back, and it was really nasty. Maybe it gets better if you mix it with stuff and make it into cheesecake. In fact, ISTR it was oddly sweet, so maybe that's a good use for it.

[beckyc.livejournal.com]

I remember you discussing it :-).

[fractalgeek.livejournal.com]

Starter/pudding is oftern queenortart's answer - and sometimes forced due to lack of veggieness.

For me, it is entirely dependent on the menu, with a slight preference for starter over pudding.

[ghoti.livejournal.com]

I'm not coming, I'm afraid, but I am very intrigued by the restaurant. Are you prepared to share details?

[venta.livejournal.com]

Um, the restaurant was a hypothetical, non-existent restaurant purely introduced to put some bounds on my poll. I am in no way involved in catering arrangements for DERT, and am asking purely out of irrelevant curiosity as to people's starter/pudding preferences!

[venta.livejournal.com]

Oh, unless you meant Lisa's restaurant, which really does exist!

[ghoti.livejournal.com]

I meant Lisa's restaurant. I'm not actually sure when I will next be eating in Oxford, and anyway Jon usually cooks, but it's nice to have some ideas.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Ah. I see. "Near me" no longer means "in Oxford", however! I moved to Ealing Broadway about 18 months ago - though if you're in the area I do recommend Lisa's on Pitshanger Lane!

[exspelunca.livejournal.com]

I'll second that.

[phlebas.livejournal.com]

Depends a lot on the restaurant. The fancier it is, the more likely I am to find a starter more exciting than a pudding. treacle tart and custard beats soupoftheday/prawn cocktail hands down, but mini chicken liver and tarragon omelette with truffle shavings beats prune&armagnac souffle.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Damn tarragon! The bloody stuff's everywhere :)

[sea-of-flame.livejournal.com]

Clearly the answer is to order starter & main; then peruse the dessert menu after finishing mains & eventually order one to share.

Since it's impossible to get every last scrap off the plate, each has slightly less than 0.5 of the dessert...so rounded down, that's still only two courses ;)

[mrph.livejournal.com]

In practice, it varies a lot - I do this whenever I'm in one of my favourite restaurants and I might as well flip a coin each time...

Hypothetically, though, my imagination prefers starters to puddings. So that's my starting point before I actually look at the menu and see the lemon posset or rhubarb, cream and meringue or whatever else is going to lead me astray this time...

[motodraconis.livejournal.com]

Well it would depend on how much meat was involved, I'd like a meat starter and meat main!
Unless there was a meat pudding, in which case I could be swayed to have pudding.
Savory all the way, though I'd never complain at all 3 courses! (Cheese platter anyone?)

[stegzy.livejournal.com]

When dining out, as zoefruitcake is allergic to dairy, I usually opt for the starter main option. However, if dining with others and there is a chance to have one of them massive sundaes to share....then I typically order the main dessert option.

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

In practice I would go along with whichever the other person/people I was with wanted, as I'm pretty happy either way -- and I find it a bit odd eating a starter by myself with companions staring hungrily at me.

I actually eat out rarely enough that I would always prefer to make the most of it and have three courses. But other people don't seem to be as greedy :-)

[onebyone.livejournal.com]

Note also, forced to make this choice in any kind of Indian, Thai or Chinese restaurant it's barely even worth looking at the pudding list, because the starters clearly are going to marmelize it.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Obviously. Didn't even occurr to me people might think the question applied in an Indian ;)