This past weekend, we were in Washington D. C. with some church friends---a rather large group. Prior to the trip, one of the couples was coordinating a group lunch at a place called Dauphine--near the Mayflower Hotel (beautiful, old, historic place) where we were staying.
I did what I always do when I'm not familiar with a restaurant. I went online to see what type of cuisine it had. I actually thought it might be French with some delicious French onion soup and Croque Monsieur. Those were not on the menu, but there were some interesting things. Prices were soup and sandwich--$21.00 and salads--around $20. Totally normal prices. When 23 people responded that they wanted to join in, the restaurant, Dauphine, required that we have a set menu. It suddenly became some sort of catered event--three courses.
With such reasonable menu prices, why then did the restaurant come back with a quote of $95.00 per PERSON? Granted, it was gong to be a 3 course lunch--tip and taxes included and non-alcoholic beverages. We were told that we would be on our own for cocktails or wine--we had iced tea. But, seriously, who needs three courses at lunchtime? Not us.
Now we were facing a dilemma: how to get out of it! We have NEVER spent $180 for lunch in our lives.
I've always told the girls that there's absolutely no shame in saying "I can't afford it!" I still stand by that. But therein lies the problem. Affording it has nothing to do with it. We can afford it. We just do not choose to spend our money like that. Which, of course, is what I should have said. Instead, rather than looking like we were cheap, we went along with it. Neither of us were happy about it.
Also, I should add, we had two priests with us that would be the guests of our group, so we all were to absorb part of that cost. No problem--we're happy to do that. But, still...$180!! About a day later, we got another email that it was actually going to be $185!! We followed the instructions and brought a check made out to the host of the event.
When we got to the restaurant, we were seated at 3 tables in the dining room---not a private room or anything. By this time 6 people had dropped out at the last minute. Still, they were going to have to pay. I feel sorry for them.
We definitely had a nice time, but the service was not so great. We had to ask for more iced tea. Instead of bringing a pitcher, they just brought a glass to whoever asked for more! And it was extremely slow! The meal took 2 hours and we didn't even have time for the dessert. Instead, it was hurriedly put in to "go boxes."
For that cost, you might think the food would have been fabulous. It wasn't. It was just really different--as you can see by the menu below.
Butch and I both got the gumbo which was pretty tasty--very different than any gumbo I've ever had--no rice. He got the duck stuffed quail and I had the Niçoise salad (I do love me a good Niçoise salad--this wasn't particularly good).
Our take on the food was that it was just "ehh!" Not good nor bad. Just "ehh!"
I'll definitely be more careful the next time to make sure this doesn't happen again. I need to be prepared to say that we're not accustomed to $185 lunches--a little too rich for our blood! In more ways than one!
What was your most expensive, surprise meal?
Oh no! That is very expensive for a lunch menu. I can understand your dilemma though, how can you be the only two that says 'we don't want to pay that much'. I wonder how many others were silently thinking the same though?
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