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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:
EnglishGirlApproximately · 22/11/2012 17:48

Yours is better because you made Treacle Tart which is the best pudding ever Grin I think it depends what you expect. If I have good friends or family I like to do something nice but I also want it to be relaxed. If I wanted restaurant food I'd go to a restaurant.

ChestnutsRoastingonaWitchesTit · 22/11/2012 17:49

They watch too much 'come dine with me'.

Eating with friends isn't supposed to be a gastronomic competition.

I blame heston

monsterchild · 22/11/2012 17:50

I didn't realize there was some sort of bar for a dinner party either! I thought it was just food and friends. Hmm, well that may explain somethings...

He doesn't sound like someone I'd hang out with again. Perhaps part of the problem is that they were trying to keep a standard of living they can't afford, which is why the tiny servings and the braggadocio?

coldcupoftea · 22/11/2012 17:51

Yours sounds lovely! They sound like pretentious arseholes.

I thought people only had 'dinner parties' on tv- or in the 1980s Grin . Round our way it's called having friends over for dinner.

monsterchild · 22/11/2012 17:52

Also, all their food can be bought premade as well, so it's not like they actually had to put themselves out for that. I see stuff like that in the stores all over the place.

lastSplash · 22/11/2012 17:59

YABU - yours was definitely not a better dinner party menu. As you mention the other two course being homemade, were the fajitas from a kit? Guacamole from the shop? Nothing wrong with them if they were, the meal sounds lovely but not what you'd expect if you'd called it a 'dinner party' rather than mates round for dinner.

But they were BU to be so bloody rude! Had a roast before they came? Cheeky fuckers. I wouldn't have even accepted their return invite so would never have tasted their single scallop...

FrustratedSycamoreBonks · 22/11/2012 17:59

I'd much rather have yours OP. you menu sounds yummy and eatable.
Also how cheaky to eat before you go.

noddyholder · 22/11/2012 18:00

It all sounds hilarious

Frontpaw · 22/11/2012 18:04

Ruuuuuuude!

abbierhodes · 22/11/2012 18:06

Wow, I must be common as muck! I once served up sausage and chips to friends for Sunday lunch! We started with the intention of a roast, but due to epic hangovers illness we didn't organise the roast into the oven in time. So we were going to do sausage and mash, but we couldn't be fucked were too ill to peel any potatoes. So in the end we all (4 adults and 5 kids) has sausage, chips and mixed veg. Served with Blosson Hill. For pudding, I think the kids had freddos and the adults had wispas. It was a bloody lovely day!

Rugbycomet · 22/11/2012 18:12

Abbierhodes ..that sounds like my kind of day with friends!!!!

ChaoticismyLife · 22/11/2012 18:13

I prefer your's, food and company.

He sounds like a pretentious snob, no class.

Blatherskite · 22/11/2012 18:15

Next time you see them, drop into conversation that you were still so hungry after their dinner that you had to swing by the MacDonalds drive through on the way home Grin

Am panicing now. We have friends over for Dinner on Saturday. Worried I'm going to be judged!

Asinine · 22/11/2012 18:16

They sound insecure and rude. Real posh people have informal supper parties, anyway.

Maybe they are secretly on the 5:2 diet thread and your dinner fell on a 'fast' day?

Grin
XBenedict · 22/11/2012 18:17

Nothing wrong with 1980s diner/TGI Friday or Echo Falls for that matter Wink

Their menu sounds lovely but they sound quite dull!

IsabelleRinging · 22/11/2012 18:17

I would really have enjoyed your food OP, but it does sound a bit American diner and something I might have cooked for a dinner with good friends and kids, maybe not for a dinner party though.

The DH sounds a bit snobby, but to be honest if you had served me Echo Falls wine I would have thought you either had no taste in wine or were on a tight budget.

MainlyMaynie · 22/11/2012 19:31

I don't think Echo Falls is really aimed at people who generally like wine. I'd be a bit surprised if someone served it with dinner, but I would never say anything. And I'd drink it anyway.

KitchenandJumble · 22/11/2012 19:36

Goodness, the food snobbery on this thread is hilarious. Both menus sound fine to me in terms of the items served, but I'd be left starving by the tiny quantities the second couple offered.

The friend's DH sounds like an idiot.

BegoniaBampot · 22/11/2012 19:40

Guess I'm just a pleb. I'd have been more than happy with either menu and not turned my nose up at your wine either. Just glad to spend time with friends and have someone else provide the food. I usually just bang on a big pot of chilli, rice some salad tortilla chips and dip and some pudding. In fact we're having some friends round this weekend and going to just order in some takeaway as I can't be arsed with the stress of cooking for adults and kids and at least it should be edible. Wonder what my guests will make of it. Never used the term 'dinner party' ever I don't think. We just have something to eat and drink.

Rudolphstolemycarrots · 22/11/2012 19:45

I preferred your friends menu sorry. Its sounds so yummy and right up my street. Not sure about the small amounts. The rudeness is unacceptable.

HecatePropylaea · 22/11/2012 19:46

To me, a dinner party isn't about the food. It's about the company.

I'd rather eat chips out of newspaper with great people who I am having a laugh and a lovely time with, than the most fancy meal in the world with people who think that picking at me is the evening's entertainment.

Rudolphstolemycarrots · 22/11/2012 19:46

Can I have the other couples starter and main menu with a huge slab of your hubby's pudding.

3monkeys3 · 22/11/2012 19:49

Gosh, I'd never cook snooty food like that for friends! I hate anything pretentious. Your menu sounds lovely, informal and fun.

thebody · 22/11/2012 19:51

And laughing my arse off at the snobby wine comments.. Echo falls references are hilarious.

IvantaOuiOui · 22/11/2012 19:52

Your menu sounds fucking yum. I love mexican stuff with dippy things and nachos. Sounds like a meal you'd make for mice friends. Invite them again and serve Pom Bears.