Christmas meal with colleagues - which menu would you prefer?

[IcedCoffeeAlways]

Small team going out for a meal before Christmas. Manager has jumped in and booked “somewhere new for a wee change” without asking the team and it’s causing issues 😅 Meal NOT paid for by work so it’s not a “suck it up and enjoy the free meal situation”

Which menu would you prefer?

White Menu - £29.50 for 3 courses. Doesn’t include a drink.
Blue Menu - £39.95 for 3 courses including a glass of Prosecco

The white one definitely! More choice.

White menu (but I know that place 😉 so wee bit biased).
I think I know where blue is…..and last time I was there I wasn’t impressed. (Sorry).

@TuftyMarmoset

The white one on the basis that as a vegan I would be able to get a starter and main (but no pudding). Whereas on the other one there’s no vegan main and the other courses it’s not clear. I hope you don’t have any vegans going!

There is a vegan menu too and they allow you to mix and match off both menus to suit so you definitely wouldn’t be without 😊

@Bimblybomeyelash

I’d go for the white. But I really wouldn’t make a fuss it my manager had booked blue. And I’m a vegetarian who isn’t a massive fan of butternut squash. It’s a Christmas do! If I could afford the 40 quid id go along and have a good night out with my team. This post half makes me miss working in an office and having work nights out, and half makes me feel relieved that I no longer have to deal with petty moaning and bitching about where the manager has booked!

@Bimblybomeyelash No fuss has been made - the staff have had a bit of a moan but all have happily paid for the meal and are looking forward to a night out! I was simply asking other opinions of the menus 😊

And we don’t work in an office 👍🏻

@jocktamsonsbairn @BingBongToTheMoon White would always be my choice 😊 I know others have commented on having a few types of cuisine on the menu and that usually being a red flag for a restaurant but I’m sure you’d both agree, knowing the restaurant, that all their food is fab 😊 always a lovely atmosphere too!

Haven’t been to the blue one myself but I’ve heard very mixed reviews!

Yes totally agree and we're going there for a birthday lunch this weekend! Always go on Christmas Eve too for brunch/lunch.

I don't like the blue menu and don't drink, so wouldn't go tbh

White, my picky DH wouldn’t eat anything in the other menu and also I want the Tablet sundae 🤤

[quote alrightfella]@JingsMahBucket I have never found vegetarian Parmesan in a supermarket. Hard cheese and pecorino yes but never a Parmesan. Where do you get it? [/quote]
I'm pretty sure that vegetarian parmesan doesn't exist because to be called parmesan the cheese has to be made in a certain way including the use of animal rennet. Sainsburys sell (or used to, not checked for a while) a vegetarian hard cheese which is similar style to parmesan.

White by a mile for all the reasons stated. People saying the quality will be better, neither will be cooked from scratch it will most likely be from exactly the same range at Brakes (or whichever frozen food supplier they use)

White - I'd be spoiled for choice on starter and pudding; and there's a main I'd fancy (the Scottish beef).

On the blue, there's nothing that leaps out as tempting - there are things I could eat (I'll eat almost anything) but nothing sparks enthusiasm.

I'm no fan of Prosecco and would rather choose my own drink.

Add to that white menu is cheaper and it's a complete no-brainer for me.

Don't like either of them that much. And I'm not a fussy eater. White is cheaper.

Definitely the who one, can I come too?

White, why does autocorrect change a perfectly good to one that doesn't make sense.

White for me too, I couldn't eat any of the main courses on blue

@BarbaraofSeville

The Blue menu is appalling at any price and especially if you're vegetarian. Both the starter and the main are squash, such a lack of imagination, it's like the last 10 years never happened.

The white one isn't much better though. Pasta is one of the vegetarian mains. What happened to making something a bit festive instead of offering a quick cheap low effort casual weeknight dinner?

If you have to pay for it yourself then it's optional so perhaps people need to vote with their feet and choose to not go?

It makes me furious the casual way restaurants think that a meal of beef and massed vegetables can fairly be charged at the same price as a grim little plateful of pasta and tomato sauce. And I am willing to bet the pasta is out of a packet!

And how much! for a bottle of Prosecco. OMG.

White, I don't drink.

White as it has more choices

Blue - I always assume that more choices means poorer quality.

I'd pick white as more choice.
I'm sure its from a hotel up in Scotland as I've seen the tablet sundae before!

White. Much better choice for a group and if I wasn't drinking alcohol I'd be annoyed by it being included in blue.

@Findahouse21

Blue - I always assume that more choices means poorer quality.

I get your point if the restaurant has 35 options to choose from but a choice of 7 is perfectly respectable even for top end places.

The blue "menu" is hardly a menu at all and very heavy on the squash! Is it at a pumpkin farm?

White - there is a much larger choice on top of it being £10 cheaper (despite a glass of fizz) - if people are paying for themselves, particularly in the current climate where people may not want to have a major night out but would prefer to eat and go home, potentially under their own steam (driving) - then they ought to be able to choose non-alcoholic drinks.

The white one isn't much better though. Pasta is one of the vegetarian mains. What happened to making something a bit festive instead of offering a quick cheap low effort casual weeknight dinner?

It depends on the pasta dish though - I have had some awful pasta meals in my time in restaurants, but also some truly lovely ones. I would often choose a seafood or vegetarian pasta meal if available, even as a meat eater. And in some not so great restaurants, it has been a winner - while in some high end ones, it has been dreadful (and I've also had both the other way round - misses in cheaper places and hits in posh places).

It depends on the recipe itself, the ingredients available, and the chef doing the cooking.