# Restaurants with limited menus **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [January 7, 2024, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-with-limited-menus/995738 "2024-01-07T16:55:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-with-limited-menus/995738/81 "2024-01-08T17:10:56Z")
Having watched _The Menu_, I’m a little leery of this sort of restaurant, but inclined to go with option #1. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-with-limited-menus/995738/82 "2024-01-08T17:15:50Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Just for the record, duck confit is _fantastic_. Agreed. A perennial favourite on our dinner table…! ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-with-limited-menus/995738/83 "2024-01-08T17:16:36Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > “What are Harry-caught vertz?” If you are ever in Sint Maarten, stop by The Palms, a cute little foodie restaurant in Simpson Bay. Ask the owners (shes Canadian, he’s Trinidadian) about the guy who ate the little square of paper that some appetizer was served on. It happened 6 or 7 years ago, but they still tell the story and they still tell us about how they still tell the story. (It was our last night on the island and the owners got pretty drunk with us. Boy, was my face red.) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-with-limited-menus/995738/84 "2024-01-08T17:39:25Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > but I’d hesitate to buy it again. And there is the crux of the matter with this whole hread. Lots of folks, you and me included, are perfectly willing to try something at the risk of not liking it. And to finish it for the experience even if we find we don’t like it much. If I’m not saying “well, _that_ was plenty of that; never again.” _frequently_, I’m not living anywhere near close to as large as possible. Push the envelope; it’s the only way to know where the edge is. There is a whole 'nuther crew of folks who have no interest in maximizing their horizons if that includes any discomfort or even anticipated discomfort along the way. Stay safely in the center is their ideal. Lastly of course we have the folks with deeper food issues: texture, aroma, etc. That’s beyond adventurous versus play-it-safe. That’s more like choosing disgust-o-barfing vs not. Nearly nobody when faced with that choice says “Yeah, man, gimme the barfing; it’ll totally be worth it to try something new.” ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-with-limited-menus/995738/85 "2024-01-08T17:47:32Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > The menu was available online before you went, and you have looked at it, but it changes daily and you didn’t want to spoil the surprise for your SO. This would be a deal breaker for me under those circumstances because I would have to know in advance exactly what is being served on the evening I plan to attend. Also, when I treat someone to dinner, I ask what they might like in advance because that is very helpful in narrowing down restaurants. Are they in a a mood for steak, or Italian, or Asian, or vegetarian, etc. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-with-limited-menus/995738/86 "2024-01-08T17:58:22Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > I’m always embarrassed to remember the time many years ago that my husband and I went to a fancy restaurant in New York and had to ask the waiter, “What are Harry-caught vertz?” I remember reading about a shop in Paris called Harry Covers (pronounced in French, it was close to haricots verts). Nice little bilingual joke. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2024, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-with-limited-menus/995738/87 "2024-01-09T04:12:53Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > > [@kayaker](#): > > > > but I’d hesitate to buy it again. > > And there is the crux of the matter with this whole hread. > > Lots of folks, you and me included, are perfectly willing to try something at the risk of not liking it. And to finish it for the experience even if we find we don’t like it much. If I’m not saying “well, _that_ was plenty of that; never again.” _frequently_, I’m not living anywhere near close to as large as possible. Push the envelope; it’s the only way to know where the edge is. > > There is a whole 'nuther crew of folks who have no interest in maximizing their horizons if that includes any discomfort or even anticipated discomfort along the way. Stay safely in the center is their ideal. > > Lastly of course we have the folks with deeper food issues: texture, aroma, etc. That’s beyond adventurous versus play-it-safe. That’s more like choosing disgust-o-barfing vs not. Nearly nobody when faced with that choice says “Yeah, man, gimme the barfing; it’ll totally be worth it to try something new.” You’re forgetting taste. Some things just taste bad to some people. I don’t eat seafood. Why? Because whether it be fresh clams, fish sticks, salmon, tuna, or whatever else I’ve choked down over the years, **it all tastes the way dead seaweed smells to me**. Why on earth would I voluntarily order it? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2024, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-with-limited-menus/995738/88 "2024-01-09T14:14:28Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Looks like there’s a number of variations around, not just London and Paris. There was a restaurant like that in Cape Town. They nowadays serve some other entrees too, but for a long while it was just like that - starter salad, one cut of steak and frites, and choice of several desserts. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2024, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-with-limited-menus/995738/89 "2024-01-09T14:38:48Z")
I would consider that a food issue. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2024, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-with-limited-menus/995738/90 "2024-01-09T15:53:29Z")
Yeah. Any taxonomy fails at the edges. By the taxonomy I provided, @kitap’s preference is on the border of a food issue. e.g. They’ve never had eel, but eel is a sea creature, so they know in advance they can’t possibly like it. Not “probably won’t”, but “can’t possibly”. That doesn’t quite fit the adventurous / play safe rubric of my first two categories. So falls in the third category, or at least on the border between category two “play safe” and category three “flat unwilling to eat something much of humanity enjoys” I also left a fourth category out of my taxonomy because although it’s different in motivation from category three it’s similar in effect. That is “dietary needs”. Folks with gluten allergies will be made sick eating ordinary bread. Not really much choice about needing to play that safe. I’m diabetic. I can survive eating lots of simple carbs with no prompt overt ill effects. But I’m doing myself a lot of chronic damage in so doing. For example I can go to an Italian restaurant. But after I cross off everything with pasta or bread built into it, the menu gets pretty short. Spaghetti today won’t kill me. But spaghetti every day will. Better to skip it today. Is that a “food issue”? Is that functionally equivalent to @kitap’s distaste for sea critters? Sure. Is it the same exact thing? Not quite, but similar for sure. Is that the same as a seafood allergy? In terms of outcome, yes; in terms of motivation, no. IMO YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2024, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-with-limited-menus/995738/91 "2024-01-09T16:01:09Z")
Some of it may be genetic. Apparently there are certain substances which some people can taste but others can’t, or experience in a different way. Seems that some people find that cilantro tastes like soap, whereas I find it a pleasant ingredient in Indian or Mexican cuisine. Personally I detest celery, but many seem to like it…? ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2024, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-with-limited-menus/995738/92 "2024-01-09T20:40:16Z")
> [@xtenkfarpl](#): > > Personally I detest celery So do I, and it was one of the aversions 23andMe nailed in my DNA profile. The bitterness is acute to people with a certain gene. Before the human genome was mapped (or even discovered) there were courts that accepted a baby’s aversion to that bitterness as evidence in paternity suits. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2024, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-with-limited-menus/995738/93 "2024-01-09T20:42:58Z")
How interesting! I’d never heard of the celery aversion before. What else do you put your peanut butter on? 😀 ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2024, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-with-limited-menus/995738/94 "2024-01-09T20:46:45Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > > [@xtenkfarpl](#): > > > > Personally I detest celery > > So do I, and it was one of the aversions 23andMe nailed in my DNA profile. The bitterness is acute to people with a certain gene. Interesting. I really don’t like celery, but it doesn’t taste bitter to me; I just don’t like either the flavor, or its particular texture (I like some things crunchy, but celery’s particular combination of crunchy and watery doesn’t appeal to me.) I can eat the stuff, but I’d rather not. > [@carrps](#): > > How interesting! I’d never heard of the celery aversion before. What else do you put your peanut butter on? Bread, usually. 😄 ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2024, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-with-limited-menus/995738/95 "2024-01-09T20:58:53Z")
Oh, bread is fine, but I like that celery adds that extra “juiciness” to counteract the stickiness of the peanut butter. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2024, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-with-limited-menus/995738/96 "2024-01-09T21:00:05Z")
Sprouts work too. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2024, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-with-limited-menus/995738/97 "2024-01-09T21:04:20Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > Oh, bread is fine, but I like that celery adds that extra “juiciness” to counteract the stickiness of the peanut butter. Peanut butter and jelly is a classic for a reason. Or honey. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2024, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-with-limited-menus/995738/98 "2024-01-09T21:08:27Z")
More calories! 😄 ETA: If I had no need to consider calories, I’d go for the Elvis sandwich for my peanut butter cravings. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2024, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-with-limited-menus/995738/99 "2024-01-09T21:24:25Z")
People don’t all consider celery bitter? It’s certainly bitter to me, but I like bitter. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2024, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-with-limited-menus/995738/100 "2024-01-09T21:26:24Z")
I don’t really care for celery either but I hate cucumber. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-with-limited-menus/995738.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-with-limited-menus/995738.md?page=6)