A Disappointing Meal

What is most disappointing (not the worst) meal you have had recently? Or ever?

For our anniversary, my wife and I went to one of our favorite restaurants, one of the first places in New York to focus on local, seasonal ingredients. Our appetizers were excellent—a soup of lettuce and celery root and a dish of rabbit offal. Both were simply but expertly prepared.

The main courses were the problem. My wife had a salt-crusted baked duck served with shaved carrots. The duck was slightly undercooked and lukewarm. The big problem, however, was the carrots. They had no flavor. A little crunch, yes, but that was about it.

My pork was more of a mess. It was served with noodles (fideos), stuffed in the neck of a hollowed out squash, looking like some baroque wiring connection. Every individual element was good; the pork in particular was excellent, but texturally it didn’t make much sense—it was all on the softer side of things.
My point isn’t to grouse, but to try to figure out how this could have been served. It wasn’t bad, just disappointing.

I do have a couple of thoughts. First, menus are designed seasonally, not daily. Carrots that are bursting with flavor one week can be bland the next. The second thought is a kind of generosity on the part of the chef. Squash is in season and is excellent; the kitchen just got an great source for fideos—perhaps all of these can go on the same plate?

Restraint and self-censorship—as in the first courses we had—is often the better, if harder, course.