....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).