Food is like art. There are some wonderful masterpieces in the world that people queue for ages to see and are then disappointed.
That happened to me many years ago in the Louvre in Paris when, after a long day of seeing some wonderful art, we cam
e to the Mona Lisa.
Frankly I found it dull and uninspiring. It was just not for me.
The same can be said about food. Some, I know, can sit down and have soup, a huge main course, followed by dessert, cheese and biscuits and coffee and still feel hungry. These are what are known to me as trenchermen or trencherwomen.
There are those who will have one course, leave bits and pieces on the side of the plate and are equally delighted with the food.
Some like it piled high, some like nouvelle cuisine. You pick your restaurant accordingly.
Sometimes the menu can totally fool you. The description can often be the result of someone who has just earned a PhD in flowery language, with the expansive descriptions lent to a piece of chicken, salmon or steak.
Recent years have seen the main course coming on a bed of something or other – be it green leaves, potatoes, turnips, etc. In the old days, the vegetables came as a side dish, but nothing stays the same.
Some people will like what they order, others will not. It is often not the chef's fault that you have made a mistake in what you have ordered.
Now I must admit I am not a gourmet food critic, like our esteemed editor, who it seems can eat course after course and still stay as thin as a rake.
I have not got his experience of moving from dining room to dining room, but he gives an honest opinion.
But I know what I like and what I enjoy. Friends sometimes goad me for not being adventurous but when I am it can often be disappointing.
I picked venison in an excellent dining room in the Lake District and it was so strong that I have never chosen it again. Wrong choice, not a bad meal.
When we travel in Europe I do eat the local cuisine and enjoy nearly every meal I have, be it fish, fowl or red meat. Horse I have avoided!
Recently, we went out with friends for a meal to an excellent local country pub where the majority ordered steak from a set menu.
With one exception, we all asked for the steak to be served without the sauce. Sauces as a rule dominate everything on the plate and you can not savour the individual flavours of each item.
This brings me back to Blackmore's. We were invited there just before Christmas by friends.
They had booked for the restaurant upstairs but when we arrived we were told it was overbooked and we were offered the bar area downstairs.
Bad fault. A restaurant booking is a restaurant booking and should be honoured.
That aside, the food we had was excellent, all agreed on that and it was not costly as we chose from a fixed menu.
They also gave free liqueurs after we complained that we should have been upstairs.
So remember the food might be right but your decision may have been the wrong one.
