I finally tried that new tasting menu place in Portland, and their plating style threw me off

I went to 'Aster' last week, and every dish came on these big, flat stones or pieces of wood. It looked cool, but I mean, the food was cold by the time I got halfway through the plate. The scallop crudo was amazing, but it was basically room temp after 3 minutes on that cold slate. On one hand, I get it, the look is part of the experience. On the other, idk, maybe it's just me, but I feel like the food's temp and texture should come first. Has anyone else dealt with a place that puts style way over function like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

blair9909d ago

Oh man, I feel this. I once had a deconstructed salad served in a tiny flower pot with actual gardening tools. Spent more time trying to get the dressing out of the trowel than eating, and the lettuce was totally wilted. I get wanting it to look cool for a photo, but I'm there to eat, not start a herb garden. That scallop situation sounds so frustrating, like they forgot the food part of the food.

miaprice9d ago

My friend got a burger stacked on a literal brick once, with the fries in a mini shopping cart. Took him five minutes just to figure out how to pick it up without everything sliding off. Sounds like the same kind of over the top mess you dealt with, @blair990, where the idea totally wrecks the meal.

charlie1989d ago

Right? The flower pot thing is so real, @blair990. I got a "campfire" dessert once that was just a tiny pile of ash-colored crumbs with a smoke bubble, tasted like nothing.