Two courses in a restaurant. Are you ordering....?

[noblegiraffe]

....a starter and a main, or a main and dessert?

When I go to a restaurant, I'm scanning the main courses and then looking at the dessert menu before I've even ordered. I don't even look at the starter menu, as far as I'm concerned those items would delay your dinner and probably ruin your appetite so that you had no room for pudding.

When I've been out, and someone asks the question 'is anyone having a starter?' generally there's a shake of heads and we get on with looking at the good stuff.

In my mind, the starters have always been there for people who feel like they could tackle the whole menu and are headed for 3 courses. Someone who has a starter and a main but no pudding has simply failed to complete their meal.

But I've heard tell of people who would deliberately choose to have a starter and a main, knowing that this would leave no room for dessert. They prefer it that way. Savoury over sweet.

These people must be ultra-rare, right? Who in their right mind chooses garlic mushrooms over chocolate brownie? (I struggled to even think of an example of a starter, so rarely do I look at that bit). Or are there lots of people out there who are regularly crushed when no one else wants a starter, the same as I am when people say they couldn't possibly have dessert?

Please vote! (Note: People who would only have one course and declare themselves full to the brim don't get a vote).

I’m vegan and if I’m eating in a fully vegan restaurant I’ll have a main and a dessert.
If it serves non-vegan food there is rarely a good vegan dessert so I’ll have a starter and a main.

Definitely starter and a main. We never eat pudding at home either except for Xmas day, never have. I just don’t have a very sweet tooth, but I do like stodge. I’m not a lettuce licker by any stretch!

My DS recently took his GF out for dinner. He still felt hungry after his main course (which he really enjoyed) so when his gf ordered dessert he asked for the same main course again! I wouldn’t go that far. If I was still hungry after my main meal I would get a pudding but it’s rare.

I much prefer savoury to sweet. sometimes i start with the main course and if i want something more after that, I'll have a starter.

Usually started and main as desserts are so boring these days or are all chocolate desserts which I always find soooo underwhelming. I love chocolate but there's something about chocolate cakes/brownies etc that are so lacking and disappointing. I love things like creme brulee or Eton mess if they have them though and would choose one of those over a starter.

Starter and main from restaurant, would usually rather get ice cream from an ice cream shop after a stroll than most restaurant desserts.

That said it depends if there's something good on the pudding menu, in which case I'll go for that ...

Sorry, ice cream just doesn't do it for me.

I can eat an entire multi pack of crisps if I'm not careful though! I never get tired of munching crisps.

Same, but in a vegan restaurant I’ll go for all three courses

I only like really pretentious ice creams like blood orange and basil sorbets.

Chocolate ganache just never tastes the way i hope it will. And I eat every last spoonful of its 800 calorie slice hoping that will change but it never does.

Most restaurants where the portions are so big you can't eat all three have such low quality that particularly the desserts aren't worth the calories

What she said...

Starter always

I look at the starters and pudding and see what I fancy the most.

Starter and main.

Don't like most puddings - especially those of the brownie, hot fudge, chocolate and ice cream variety and really dislike choux pastry and whipped cream.

For me it used to be starter and main (and sometimes cheeseboard as well).
My tastes and appetite have changed over the years and now it is main and occasionally pudding if there is something sweet I can't resist.

If I had my way I would order 3 courses of puddings... 😳

I'm a savory person, not that worried about the sweet end of the menu at all!

Once went for lunch with a group of dessert lovers, none wanted starters (absolutely fine) so all had our mains and they wanted a pudding. So I had a starter at that point! Other than a slightly confused waiter, no one batted an eyelid.

Potato skins with garlic sauce or bruschetta will always trump a frozen cheesecake slice or little brownie in my book.

A starter and a pudding.
Baked camembert with caramelised onion chutney, creamy butter and crusty bread.

Then an obscene amount of cheesecake.

I wonder why I'm so fat. It's a mystery alright 🤣

Starter and dessert here. Usually look at dessert menu first. Mains are often boring so prefer to have a nice starter and a full on calorific dessert.

All 3. Why does it have to be either or?

Starter and Main for me.

Only time I'd consider swapping out starter for pudding or adding a pudding would be if there's cheese and biscuits or Espresso Martini on the dessert menu.

Can't be doing with the generic prepacked puddings that most restaurants wheel out.

I love desserts but the kind of places I go to when eating out tend to have interesting and delicious starters so I like to try them.

However good a cheesecake or brownie or tarte au citron is just that, and I can get it elsewhere on a different occasion.

There is the occasional place I would go to for amazing dessert courses. A place that did a soufflé of d’agen prunes (rich and winey) with a jug of brandy creme anglais to pour into it. I would go starter, main and breakfast for that.

Starter and dessert for me. If I have a main it's on it's own.

Unfortunately, in my younger years ( and probably many other women might agree) I would definitely have gone for 3 courses or dessert, but seeing the effect of this now on my hips, I've had to refrain from the sugar. Sad times 😪

I have a sweet tooth but find most desserts in restaurants a let down.