The fixe is in
A prix fixe menu may not give diners all that a restaurant can offer, but it remains a worthy endeavour Claudia McNeilly
mediocre, was a negligible part of this appeal. A tomato focaccia at Bar Buca, served somehow both soggy and dry, transformed the pricey and upscale wine bar into an accessible place where I could spend an afternoon. A room temperature bowl of ramen, delivered to me with a scowl at Momofuku Noodle Bar, still allowed me to say I had visited David Chang’s famed ramen institution.
One afternoon at Hawkerbar, a quietly trendy eatery serving the type of hip Asian food that can be depended upon to draw crowds of young professionals who don’t mind paying $18 for fried rice, I was served a particularly disheartening bowl of shrimp laksa. The soup, studded with congealed beads of coconut fat that floated on the surface like lost lily pads, was inedible. But the dining room, a cozy two-storey space complete with patchwork red wallpaper and flickering tea lights, provided an unexpected tranquil escape. At $23 for three courses, it was hard to stay angry.
These less- than- great meals were, occasionally, punctuated with moments of culinary transcendence. An ephemeral foie gras parfait at Canoe and bouncy strands of papardelle pasta dusted with winter truffles at La Societe turned me into a loyal devotee of both restaurants. But like picking through the sales rack at Nordstrom or flying Air Canada Rouge, partaking in discounted set menus means accepting that you rarely get more than what you pay for.
During prix fixe food events, restaurants function at 100 per cent capacity top eateries. In Calgary, 13 underrated restaurants created menus ranging from $15 – $35 at Summer Feast Festival. In Vancouver, Dine Out Vancouver grew from a simple set menu event to a full 17- day culinary tour, including cooking master classes, wine brunches, neighbourhood food tours and chef collaboration dinners.
But beyond the financial incentives of prix fixe menu festivals, discounted set meals provide a rare opportunity to not have to think too hard about what you’re going to eat. Unlike the average restaurant menu with pages of unlimited possibilities, most prix fixe programs include no more than three options for an appetizer, main and dessert. Navigating these succinct lists usually takes no more than a few minutes, making the experience free of stress.
But even at their most promising, discounted set menus offer a mere shadow of a restaurant’s full capabilities. In an industry with razor- thin profit margins, there is only so much you can serve for a $ 15 three- course meal without giving food away for free.
No one wants to think of themselves as a bad customer. And yet, it is easy to forget the context of dining during a food festival in a restaurant environment where every empty water glass and half- hearted bowl of soup can feel like a personal attack against your taste buds and your wallet. But just like shopping in the sale section or flying with a budget airline, the experience is often still worth it, so long as you leave your sense of entitlement at the full-priced restaurant next door.