Dehesa
Evening started badly. Bar stools.
What I think of Bar Stools
Horrid. Nowhere to put your handbag except on the dirty floor out of reach. Trying to fit into a tiny stool wearing a winter coat. Nowhere to put your coat. These stools do have a back.
Unfortunately we were coming from another event and had to go to the extra expense of a taxi to arrive on time. Even so, our relatives had arrived first. They were already settled into the wall banquette seats and I did not want to disrupt our event by making them move.
Being on a bar stool put me in a bad mood for the whole meal. Are you sitting comfortably? No.
Food Size and Dividing
Small portions. We were dividing between four. We ordered two portions of the starter. Asparagus with a smidgen of goat's cheese on the end, in a shallow sea of honey. Up comes a plate containing two. Everything was like that. I thought you got tapas for sharing. Everything had to be cut diagonally.
Plates not easily divided are an absolute disaster in groups, especially if you have any kind of hierarchy. I mean a work situation such as boss and employee so that one has to constantly defer to the other. In a family, older brother and his wife and younger brother and his wife. Or any situation where one is trying to please another.
Fish and meat
Most of the dishes for starters contained shellfish, to which I am allergic.
I had a lovely fish with tiny morsels of something delicious. We had two meat dishes. They also had lovely sauces and morsels of mushroom or fruit. With four of us sharing every plate it was quite hard to get your share.
Potato
We ordered (potato) chips. Very Spanish style, brushed with red pepper powdered or chili powder, which added visual appeal and flavour. Served with two small pots of dips.
Desserts
We told them we were sharing but the deserts were not shaped for sharing and not served for sharing. We had to play yo-yo with the plates. Could they have served us half portion each, or two plates as well as two spoons. I can tell you that I have been to five star restaurants which do so. Do they think it's bad form to share a dessert?
Shared Desserts
If you are running a tapas bar, which is designed for 'sharing' I think a table for four should be served all dishes for sharing. Otherwise the diners end up not sharing.
Whoever gets to eat the bigger portion or keep the whole dish feels guilty and the others feel resentful. However much you try to smile and be obliging, you are constantly on the alert to grab the first half, the last half, not be the first to dip in, and so on.
I don't want to go back. I must remember to tell them I'm a blind one legged cripple (not true, just joking) and will walk out with my group if I am given a bar stool. The more I think about it, the more cross I get. I did not enjoy the meal at all.
Completely put me in a bad mood. The family asked if I wanted to go onto a film with them but I said no and we went home. Two of us felt that despite having starters, two meat courses, two fish courses, two shared desserts, one coffee and three drinks, glasses of tap water all round, we were still hungry. A hungry diner is not a happy diner.
To cap it all the bill includes a supposedly optional donation to charity, already printed on the bill so you would have to make an embarrassing fuss to delete it.
I would have been a lot happier on a chair nearer the ground with my feet on the ground. The semi-circular seating near the door. That's what I want next time.
Dehesa, 25 Ganton Street, London WIF 9BP
+44 (0)20 7494 4170
info@dehesa.co.uk
saltyardgroup.co.uk
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
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