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 think I'd want a refund if I was THAT hungry after the main course, but I love the idea of a starter as pudding, unless they have Tiramisu.

I am a starter and main or a starter and a starter and side. I rarely have dessert. I find a lot of places around me buy in a lot of their desserts and they tend to be quite over price. Likewise if I am meeting someone for coffee I am ordering a sandwich over a cake or pastry.

All this restaurant menu talk has given me a sudden craving for a banana fritter.

Always a starter unless the restaurant is particularly known for its desserts - they’re so often phoned in!

Just to add - I can't remember where it was that I had the most amazing salted caramel tarte tatin, but that's the only dessert I've ever had that I would 100% choose over a starter. I'd choose it over a main course tbf.

Starter and main here too; I hate feeling really full which always happens when I have a pudding. If DS has a children's menu and there's a pudding included, I sometimes have that as he doesn't like them at all. But I'd prefer not too. I don't like that many desserts and would prefer just to eat chocolate when I get home!

Starter and main. I really don't care for sweet foods.

I'd rather have more wine than a pud :)

Agree with this. And every dessert menu I see these days is top heavy with chocolate or salted caramel desserts. I can't stand either as they are always too sweet and sickly.

Years ago there used to be a restaurant near convent garden that only sold starters and puds. You could have whatever combo and how many courses you wanted. It was brilliant.

I would be 2 starters and 1 pud these days I reckon. My mum would be 3 puds 😀

I have quite a sweet tooth and do love chocolate, but I would still almost always order a starter and a main course rather than a dessert (and I almost never have 3 courses). I think it's partly because I always find the starter dishes more interesting and appealing, and partly because I often find desserts in restaurants a bit too rich after a potentially heavy main course. I'm less discriminating about desserts and would just as happily have a bar of chocolate.

Also though, I can only tolerate very small amounts of dairy these days (cream is the worst), and that counts out pretty much all the desserts I fancy.

You're allowed to just have pudding you know!

Starter and main. There isn't a restaurant pudding that doesn't ruin a meal. With one exception.

The chocolate mousse at Limewood Hotel which I think is an Angela Hartnett recipe.

Dear restaurant person - I'm not being coy, no I don't want two spoons, no I'm not sharing with my husband.

Starter and main with a coffee.

I dont have a huge sweet tooth

In reality I'd only want a main course. However, if I'm out with a group, I might order a starter if others are having as I hate waiting and being hungry. I have a couple of friends who I know would prefer starter and main course for health reasons (lower fat, diabetic) and another one as he feels he could make a healthier choice.

Starter and Main….unless the desserts are a. homemade and b. not just incredibly sweet chocolate/toffee/fudgy stuff. I don’t have a particularly sweet tooth. If everyone is doing three courses I’d rather have a liqueur with a coffee.

I don't have a sweet tooth. I only do dessert if there's a cheeseboard. I love calamari so will order that as a starter often.

I love the idea that people who don't have a dessert have "failed to complete their meal."
I'll be totally thinking that next time I'm eating the salted caramel and apple crumble and they sit there full from their prawn cocktail.

I went with starter and main for the vote but tbh it depends on the restaurant and the company:

I wouldn't want to delay everyone else's mains so unless there's a decent contingent I wouldn't go for them. Whereas pudding is just extending a nice dinner and the people ordering are presumably already full.

I am prepared to risk not being able to manage pudding. But the choice between starter and dessert (if there was no one else to consider) it would depend on a combination of how hungry I was and how good the pudding menu is. If somewhere has homemade puddings I might well go for pudding but if I am not sure they sometimes aren't worth the calories in comparison to a starter which can be filling but less calorie dense.

Starter and main, although I seem to be veering towards ordering two or yheee starters now dependent on size and no main.

Starter and main. I am lactose intolerant and puddings normally have a bucket load of dairy in them. The vegan ones are not worth the calories. But I will have a spoonful of dps dessert.

Starter and main but I'm much more of a savoury person. I usually go for a cheese platter if ordering "dessert" and if I've got room. I also find the puddings in restaurants these days consistently awful and overwhelmingly samey. They are usually bought in, not made on site, and very very sweet concotions involving (without fail) chocolate brownies, sticky toffee pudding or something else drenched in chocolate and salted caramel sauce. If you're really lucky they might have a fruit crumble on offer.

Can't answer without seeing the menu - depends on what the starters and puddings are. Chocolate ice cream sundae amongst the puddings? Unlikely to have a starter. Crab-based starter on offer? Unlikely to have a pudding. Both? Probably have both and skip the main 😃

Starter and main, starters are often the tastiest part. Also both DH and I find we're better off without too much carb, especially sugar. If we're still hungry we're more likely to order a shared cheeseboard than a sweet dessert.

Prefer a starter and main. It's not uncommon. Just more of a savoury person

Starters are my favourites. I's gladly just have a few of them rather than a main. But I never have dessert. Not keen on anything too sweet.