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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think my dinner party menu was better?

148 replies

TacticalWheelbarrow · 22/11/2012 16:55

A few weeks ago I invited a couple who have been friends with DH and I for years. Unfortunately the wife has been made redundant recently and they have been a bit stressed out. I offered to have them round for dinner and they seemed really up for it. So I for the evening I cooked:
Starter-homemade potato skins with bacon, cheese and mushrooms with a side salad.
Main- chicken fajitas with guacamole, sour cream, cheese and salsa (all in individual pots so everyone could help themselves) with nachos and jalapeños.
Dessert- homemade treacle tart (made by DH) and ice cream.

They picked at everything so I asked if it was ok and they turned round and said they had eaten a roast dinner before they had come. Shock

So they invited us round theirs for a dinner party and they served.
Starter- scallops which is fine yum. But it was one scallop with a purée thing, all very decorative but still one small scallop.
Main- a terracotta pot with layers of Aubergine, tomatoes, red onions and other veg in a creamy sauce with a small bit of salmon in soy sauce. Really nice but still really tiny portion.
Dessert- a chocolate mousse thing, lovely but served to us in a shot glass.
It was food that you get at one of them ridiculously expensive restaurants.
Now I had a good time and the food was nice but I was pissed off at the husband's comments. He said "it's amazing what you can do when you put your mind to it" and "we understand that you were pushed for time having two kids but your food was better than we expected." basically dropping hints about my food. He even made a dig about our wine when he brought out this expensive stuff and said "this may be a bit stronger for people who are used to echo falls". Hmm
It made me feel very uncomfortable.

Aibu to think well actually what I cooked was better than the cordon bleu (sp?) stuff they served?

OP posts:
Convert · 22/11/2012 16:58

To be brutally honest while your menu sounds absolutely lovely and I would much prefer yours, theirs was more of a 'dinner party' menu.

Rugbycomet · 22/11/2012 16:59

I think yabu about your food being better but they were being bloody rude!

HoratiaWinwood · 22/11/2012 16:59

Better is subjective. Did they think it was Masterchef?

Yours was what I might call kitchen supper - hearty and tasty but not foodie posh like theirs was.

They were fucking rude though, irrespective of menu.

MrsTerryPratchett · 22/11/2012 17:00

Horses for courses. I would have preferred theirs but he shouldn't have been rude and he was. Being sniffy about wine is the sign of a real twunt unless it's chardonnay boak.

Convert · 22/11/2012 17:00

Oops, pressed send too soon!

So if they usually serve that kind of stuff I can see why they thought yours wasn't 'proper' however they were incredibly rude to make any kind of comment at all, so they are shit hosts which is the most important thing about having guests, not the food!

missymoomoomee · 22/11/2012 17:01

I would be worrying less about the food and more about the company. They sound awful.

OutragedAtThePriceOfFreddos · 22/11/2012 17:01

I'd have preferred yours, but I don't eat anything that lived in the sea.

TiggyD · 22/11/2012 17:01

At least it wasn't a plate of carrots.

MardyBra · 22/11/2012 17:02

I'd be happy with either, although theirs sounds more like treat food as long as the portion sizes were ok.

However, he is being an arse. Very rude to comment adversely on your food and wine choice. And incredibly wierd to have a roast before coming round.

Just don't invite again.

ihearsounds · 22/11/2012 17:02

Yours an informal meal, invite mates round for a meal and maybe watch some footie or similar. Whereas there's was more on par with what I would expect for a dinner party. Sorry.

ObiWan · 22/11/2012 17:03

I'd say yours was more nursery food, not really the stuff of dinner parties. More the kind of thing you'd serve on a saturday night in with mates.

But if you made if clear it was just 'drop round for a meal' and not 'we're throwing a dinner party' then your stuff was fine.

They sound a bit rude though.

Narked · 22/11/2012 17:04

They were very rude. Very.

Your menu wasn't really dinner party food.

whatacolddaytoday · 22/11/2012 17:05
Bear Bear Bear
youmeatsix · 22/11/2012 17:06

you sure you werent taking part in come dine with me? Grin

they sound very rude, both at yours, and about their menu

abbierhodes · 22/11/2012 17:06

Yours sounds absolutely lovely! What the actual fuck is 'dinner party food' anyway?
Invite friends, serve something tasty, enjoy each other's company = job done.

They sound rude and very condescending. Fuck them off. Real friends don't sneer.

DinosaursOnAnAdventCalender · 22/11/2012 17:07

I think yours sounds yummy. Can I come for dinner please!

toofattorun · 22/11/2012 17:09

Grin @ Tiggy

I think you need to ditch these pretentious "friends" of yours. They sound like right arseholes.

tiggytape · 22/11/2012 17:09

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

littlewhitebag · 22/11/2012 17:09

This is not about the food but about the fact the your 'friends' were incredibly rude and up themselves. Don't invite them again.

ivykaty44 · 22/11/2012 17:10

I wouldn't bother inviting them again for dinner - find other friends and make sure you enjoy their company and visa versa.

ISingSoprano · 22/11/2012 17:11

I can't really be bothered with competitive dinner parties. Both menus sound tasty and both were home cooked with care and attention - what more do you need (except maybe lashings of red wine!)?

FunnysInLaJardin · 22/11/2012 17:12

see having someone round for dinner is not a dinner party IMO. So your food was just right for what you had invited them to. They were rude to have eaten before they arrived and for making comments about your cooking.

Their food sounds nice too, but tbh they don't sound very good company

marshmallowpies · 22/11/2012 17:13

I didn't think people did 'dinner party food' any more! Clearly I'm in the wrong there...but when I go round to dinner at my friends or they come to mine we have lasagne or stew or fajitas.

I also have friends who were notorious for turning up to house parties where I'd prepared nibbles & dips & canapés etc and saying 'oh we had dinner already'. OK, it was a party not a dinner but I wouldn't throw a party and not feed people!

5hounds · 22/11/2012 17:13

Id prefer yours, I hate posh food :) and snobs!

GlitKnit · 22/11/2012 17:13

yours sounds like a TGIs recipe

nice but not dinner party