Fine dining?

This week I have cooked....occasionally. Most days though we have eaten out! Yesterday we chose to go to a lovely hotel with a dining room looking out to sea.
The sun shone, the sea was azure, the weather was perfect but the lunch was a bit of a disappointment!
We ordered boulliabase. . ...
We have eaten this before and enjoyed it so finding it on the menu was a real treat!
After a longish wait we were shown to our table. The dining room was busy...I recognised none of the young people serving us .
We waited again. I couldn't drink so I sipped a tonic water because I was driving!
Eventually a plate of food arrived. It was not a French fish stew which was what we'd ordered! It had three pieces of grilled fish, fragments of vegetables and tiny bright orange potato squares . We were offered no rolls or butter or given spoons. Eventually the ”sauce " arrived. It was a cream sauce...and rather delicate. But not what we'd ordered!
Finally we asked for some rolls! And a spoon. Each.
As a meal it didn't work and was a huge disappointment.
We ate it and grimaced at each other...
Eventually someone arrived to ask if everything was alright?
We had by this time noticed that "hand cut" bowls of chips were being ordered all round......people were hungry!
We explained without rancour that this was not the French fish stew we thought we were getting.
The maitre de explained in gentle tones that this of course was fine dining...it was just a take on the French classic!
She was a little condescending which brought out the not so gentle Jean.
When she then asked us where we were staying I replied that I did actually live here and that whilst we fully understood the fine dining concept what we had been given did not in any way qualify for that description.
Today we go to a different establishment....with a good reputation.
But please no more fine dining!

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