AIBU to not understand fine dining?

[polkadotty2]

Went to a fancy restaurant last night to celebrate an occasion. Told the waiter its our first time and asked how many dishes they'd recommend. They gave a range "8-10 small plates to share depending how hungry you are". Went for 6 to start then ordered 4 more.

1 plate = ONE oyster (so couldnt exactly share..). Likewise another plate was ONE king prawn. We shared some of the other dishes like croquettes, slithers of salmon etc.

Must say the flavours were absolutely delicious. Really really lovely. However, the whole thing felt like nibbles/ starters. I mean 5 plates each could have been 5 oysters. I'm quite petite/don't eat much but DH has a much bigger appetite. We enjoyed our "meal" but did contemplate getting takeaway on the way home (instead had leftover pasta).

We don't do fine dining often, this was possibly the finest we've experienced.. is this what its all about?

Isn't fine dining just eating your fish & chips off a plate?

..not to mention each "small plate" was easily the cost of a main at most restaurants! Didn't mind spending more as it was a special occasion but couldn't exactly order 60 plates. Some plates were literally one bite/mouthful (e.g oyster) So 5 plates were not much more than 5 bites.

Not all fine dining is like that so you should try somewhere else - sounds like that particular one was serving very small plates of food.

Try watching professional masterchef where you get more of an idea of how much time and skill goes into this type of cooking - the preparation and sauces can take many hours from start to finish.

The food and sauces are also quite rich so you shouldnt need to top up with extra food when you get home! Maybe you ordered badly?

Tell us where you went so we can look up the menu?

Was it a tapas type of place or did you order the tasting menu? Fine dining isn’t normally what you describe. That’s normally a tasting menu or tapas.

Where was this?

That really doesn't sound like fine dining as I would expect it. That sounds like a taster menu or tapas. Especially the reference to sharing plates.
Where was it?

It's really strange to suggest you share, then have one of anything. Weird.

Fine dining is the equivalent of an afternoon tea.

Tiny plates of tiny food that leave you hungry when you leave

I don’t get the appeal of fancy dishes either. It’s wasted on me. Wider family like it but I’d rather have a big plate of something I definitely know I like.

You learn pretty quickly what's going to be tiny when doing sharing plates. There usually are some that are just a bite and some that are more substantial. That said, I've never been to a fine dining restaurant that did small plates, except as a tasting menu as people have said, and I've definitely never needed more food after either a tasting menu or a small plates dinner!

Sounds like an odd set up

I like my fine dining and my Michelin starred places, and I’ve never had the situation you described. It’s normally a small or set menu, with various added extras. I do normally do lunches though, as it tends to be cheaper.

I don’t spend lots of money on other things, so a £60 / £80 set menu, with a couple of glasses of wine, every couple of months seems fine to me.

I’ve never left hungry

I've never heard of a "small plates/tapas style" fine dining restaurant, is that a new thing?. Tasting menus at fine dining restaurants are usually set courses, around 8 small dishes, but you don't get a choice and if I were to book a tasting menu I would expect not to feel neither hungry not stuffed full afterwards, but just right. I suppose if you're the type who doesn't feel satisfied unless you're like "oh, I couldn't eat another thing!" and flops down in a chair then I suppose you might be disappointed. I always have the optional courses in those places, eg a cheese board as well as the dessert offering etc.

I'm not sure I'd want to choose 8 dishes myself from a small plates offering because tasting menus are usually carefully designed, calorie and satiety wise. If you went to a small plates/tapas style restaurant then you could end up feeling hungry if you picked things that didn't contain many calories eg a salad, or something like padron peppers equivalent if it were a Spanish style place.

YANBU. DH and I hate work events because it’s always poncy food like this and we leave hungry every single time. We get a take away on the way home. We’re not overweight or particularly greedy, I just don’t think one oyster in the middle of a huge plate is particularly filling.