What to Eat on a First Date
First dates are awkward, but even if sparks don't fly and emotions don't run high right away, you should take certain food precautions. The Guardian has a guide to first dinner dates, with tips like forgoing Brussels sprouts, curry, and fresh pasta since the "effects" don't always kick in for another five hours. They even say to avoid coffee. It's worse than garlic breath, and might interfere with the invite up "for a cup of tea" later.
What strategic eating tricks do you have up your sleeve for first dates? Do you stress over the dinner part? Let them pick the spot? Show off your restaurant knowledge? Order pasta anyway?
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16 Comments:
I don't get it, whats wrong with pasta? Is it because it so often is prepared with some form of garlic? What if it was carbonara? Is it the risk of making slurpy sounds and having the puckered spaghetti face? What if the pasta is a shape, such as penne, or a ravioli, not a long pasta? Oh wait... Is it because of the Lady and the Tramp scene??? Please, enlighten me!
My policy for choosing restaurants on dates is, I pick wherever I want to go. That way, if I'm not enjoying the company I'm with, at least I'm enjoying my dinner.
simon at 9:27PM on 07/22/08
Order the pasta!
Kerosena at 10:24PM on 07/22/08
@Kerosena - LOL out loud! Or silently?
PerkyMac at 11:09PM on 07/22/08
tea tree chewing sticks - maybe it's not exactly classy to chew them in front of your date but will alleviate "effects" of eating curry, pasta, etc.
bingsy at 11:39PM on 07/22/08
avoid sushi... guys think they're sooooo cool and splendid inviting you to eat sushi, but no girl looks very pretty chewing a large piece of roll in her mouth - particularly petite ones.
MadelynRodriguez at 11:56PM on 07/22/08
Well, it depends, 'cause on first dates (or first meetings) I like to go out for milkshakes in lieu of coffee. Hey, I don't drink coffee. I'm weird like that.
Once the object of dating has made it to the "let's actually try dining together" stage, one thing I like to do is go somewhere you can get food pretty fast, instead of staring at your empty plate for 20 minutes should you not hit it off. For this, dim sum lunch is ideal!
I also like going to family-style places for dinner -- figure out how good you are at compromise...
mschlock at 12:17AM on 07/23/08
Back before I met the gf, I used to avoid pasta—or at least dishes with long noodles (spaghetti, fettucine, etc.)—because I tend to make a mess of myself with those things. Also with Asian noodle soups—slurping in that last bit of noodle, it usually wiggles around and flicks broth on my shirt. These are the same dishes I avoid ordering at business lunches or lunch meetings. Anything I know I might make a mess with.
Adam Kuban at 12:56AM on 07/23/08
Last first date I went on was a looooooooong time ago. We went to a movie that the next day was reviewed in the newspaper as being a really funny movie, but not appropriate for a first date.
Then, he made reservations at a restaurant that neither of us had ever been to, but it seemed to be a place "everyone" went to, and reservations were allegedly hard to get. The place had an odd concept. There were three buffets, one hot, one cold, and one dessert. Not cruddy buffets, but good stuff, and a lot of seafood. You also got your choice of steak or lobster as your main dish. We both ordered lobster. Lemme tell ya, wrestling with a whole Maine lobster is not what you want to do if you want to look all prissy and polite. We had a lot of laughs over that.
Next dining adventure, he again decided on a place neither of us had been to, and people had told him to ask to be seated in the garden room (or something like that). Well, it turned out that the restaurant they told him about was two blocks away from the one we were at, and this one had no garden. The host said he'd be happy to seat us in the parking lot, but that was about the best he could do in terms of gardens.
Yup, three strikes in a row. What else could I do but marry the guy?
dbcurrie at 1:32AM on 07/23/08
@dbcurrie: Cute!
Adam Kuban at 3:15AM on 07/23/08
@dbcurrie ~ aren't three strikes in a row a perfect bowling frame?
I remember one first date where he took me to an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet. He must have been a very hungry boy. He filled his plate, put both elbows on the table, head down and shoveled. Lost track of his refills. When he took me home, I had the garage remote in my hand, so I could get away fast - no walking me to the front door!
PerkyMac at 7:17AM on 07/23/08
@MadelynRodriguez: If the rolls are that big, they're going to fake Americanized sushi place or a bad "Asian" sushi place - like Sushi Rock (or similarly named places) where the rolls are so huge it takes 2+ bites. Well-made rolls are supposed to be small, such that your average Japanese female can eat it in one bite without looking like a porker with their mouth full.
I suppose if no one can decide -- a very nice buffet is a safe place, so there are no arguments of what someone can and can't eat (unless someone's a vegetarian and you go to a churrascaria :). You get to weed out the rubbish. Is he one of those people who go for the crab legs all night long? Does he eat like a pig? Concentrate on shoveling food versus conversing? Have self control? Tip well? :)
I've found my men and told them where I want to go. If they didn't like it, they should have said something.
Cassaendra at 7:39AM on 07/23/08
Had my first date with my (now) wife at the Corner Bistro. She dug in to the burger with gusto. Points for that.
We later went back and saw a woman on an obvious first date eating her burger with a knife and fork. My wife asked what would have happened if she'd eaten it like that. I told her flat out there wouldn't have been a second date.
crackblind at 9:18AM on 07/23/08
My friends and I have a long list of foods to avoid on a first date, just because we've eaten them together and have seen how unattractive we are: tacos, soups in breadbowls, anything with poppyseeds or other bits that get lodged in your teeth, sushi (the single bites make for awkward conversation), and creamy or milky things (risk of a phlegm attack). Now that I've been with the bf for a while, I'm not worried about looking messy because he's across the table doing the same thing!
LiveToEat at 10:48AM on 07/23/08
I don't see anything wrong with Sushi, that is probably the perfect size thing to eat on a first date. I totally try to avoid salad because I am a tall and slim drink of water, so I never want the guy to think I am "watching my weight."
I've been a vegan for awhile because I was testing how it would enhance my triathlon performance, but when that guy orders a steak or a burger I am salivating over it and I know Vegans hate me!
I definitely avoid coffee because that is the worst breath.
JacquelineS at 12:18PM on 07/23/08
Oh god. Sunchokes/jerusalem artichokes. My nemesis. I made them on my first come-to-my-place dinner with my boyfriend and...the "end results" were embarrassingly hysterical. And they weren't even that good!
But we're still together, for what it's worth. :)
onalark at 1:47PM on 07/23/08
Dumb article. I'm trying to determine if its tone was cheeky.
Like Jacqueline I tend to avoid salad because I don't want to seem like what one of "those" women, but in general I eat lighter in the summer so occasionally I'll order one with that disclaimer. There's a line between looking like you're high maintenance and looking like you could take him in an eating competition (though some guys like that).
Places like Korean grill houses where you cook your own food makes for a good ice breaker.* I think that sushi is a good ice breaker as well. I find it somewhat amusing to eat clumsily. If it happens, it happens. It's real. No one wants to make a mess of themselves, but clutzy can be cute.
*My fingers automatically started to finish "ice" with "cream" there. Must be the season.
CanadianFoodieGirl at 4:38PM on 07/26/08