The Price of a Meal - LOH # 303

I mean, i think think about it and its like, for me food is one of those very strange luxuries because the enjoyment is incredibly temporary. You can spend thousands of dollars or even much more on a meal, have it beautifully presented in front of you, take a few pictures, taste it, appreciate the flavours and maybe spend an hour enjoying the whole experience, but eventually, you swallow it, the plate is cleared, and that particular moment is gone. The food that cost you so much has essentially become a memory within minutes and somehow, we have convinced ourselves that the more expensive the plate, the more valuable the experience must be. This is just crazy!

Don't get me wrong, i loveeeee food, I understand why people enjoy restaurants. There is something about sitting somewhere beautiful, having someone carefully prepare your food, the presentation, the service, the atmosphere and sometimes even the exclusivity of the place. All of those things contribute to the experience, but sometimes I wonder whether we are actually paying for the food or whether we are paying for everything surrounding the food. There is nothing wrong with paying for an experience, but I don't think we should confuse the price of something with its value. A a thousand dollar meal is not necessarily twenty times more enjoyable than a 50 dollar meal. In fact, there are times when I have had relatively cheap food that I enjoyed far more than something that came with a fancy menu and an equally fancy price tag.

Food is also one of those things where the enjoyment has a very short lifespan. You can spend months saving for an expensive meal, spend an hour sitting at the restaurant, and within a few minutes of finishing it, the physical experience is completely over. What remains is the memory, sometimes you cant even remember what exactly it tasted like. There is nothing wrong with wanting good food. There is nothing wrong with going to a beautiful restaurant or treating yourself occasionally, but for me when the price becomes the main attraction rather than the actual experience, I start to wonder what exactly I am paying for. It just becomes kinda overrated for me.