Set Menu Justice
Yesterday was Valentines day. I’m not normally into only showing my affection towards my wife on a single day – but every year Valentines day comes around and I can’t help but to buy her presents and treat her. Any excuse, really. She is the best (not least because she let us go and watch the LEGO movie in the evening of Valentines day – come on, that’s amazing!).
The day was spent mainly relaxing and enjoying the sweets we’d bought each other (we did go to work for a bit – but come on, it’s Valentines day!).
But anyway – we had chosen to go out with a few friends for dinner in the evening before going to see the LEGO movie (yes – I managed to drag even MORE people along with us). It being the day for giving, I decided to let Becky and our friends decide on the location for the meal. We landed on a restaurant called Prezzo. Our friends love it there and we’d never tried it. So we booked a table turned up ready to eat. That’s when I started to realise something was up…
Upon being presented with the menu – we quickly came to see that the only food available was from the Valentines Set Menu. This caused me some slight distress. It included a glass of champagne and three courses. And even if we had opted for fewer courses, it would still be the same set (extortionate) price. If that wasn’t bad enough – none of the dishes were written in English. My patriotic spirit was rising from my empty belly and joining forces with my (mildly) empty wallet. Our friends are really considerate of me (great friends, Craig and Kaz) and my crazy ways and could see that I was trying desperately not to ruin the overall ambiance of the romantic mood of the restaurant by turning into the hulk (MAN I would have loved to do that). My wife and friends let me off the hook as we kindly informed the waitress we would’t be dining with them (not my choice of words) and proceed to find another restaurant in the complex. Sadly they all had either set menus or were fully booked – until that once glorious restaurant. I shed a tear of happiness as I realised that the only restaurant available (bar Nando’s and McDonalds – which were on Becky’s put on her no-no list for valentines) was Pizza Hut. And yes, we had Pizza Hut on valentines day. And then we saw the LEGO movie. And it was so AWESOME.
But here is my beef. If Pizza Hut can provide normal service on Valentines day – why does every other restaurant feel the need to restrict their menu to ration-sized portions at pretentious prices? I later found out from other friends that they had similar experiences at another restaurant across town. This isn’t good enough. England. Sort it out. Next year – we will be ordering a take away (and then watching the LEGO movie on blu-ray).