Wilfrid

Gauche knoves? How awful. I hear the toves are quite slithy too. Three fifty knicker for lunch sounds steep, so it must have been good. I must say, I approve of the straightforward-sounding dishes.

In this respect, my experience was indeed representative. I even tried to impress my Beloved with the fact that Sade comes from Clacton, an unglamorous Essex seaside resort. But the information didn't appear to shake her world.

If people keep calling my opinion "subjective" I shall revenge myself by starting a big debate about subjectivity and objectivity in taste. It was as much an "objective" assessment of the meal as a "subjective" opinion about the meal, but I can happily do without the distinction.

Not while he's got a thread about his own dinner plans, he doesn't.

No pictures, Awbrig?

But, Suzanne, it would stifle much discussion on eGullet if we didn't. I eat out a lot, but there are very few restaurants I visit more than once or twice a year.

Tommy, please don't try to lead yet another thread down that blind alley. Think again, mastermind! (exit, cackling fiendishly...)

Did not. Did so. Did not...

I was answering your question, in which the term "representative" was first introduced. I was guessing what you meant by it. I did perceive the message that since I had the meal I had (and no-one has told me I didn't), while you and other eGulleters and Gael Greene and Eric Asimovc had far superior meals, my experience was not representative of the restaurant's cuisine. Maybe I guessed wrong. Maybe it was a rhetorical question. I'd be perfectly happy not to bicker about the semantics. Jason sort of implies another interesting question. If you and I ate the same meal at Diwan, I wonder if we'd reach the same conclusions about it?

(Deep sigh). Yes - you, Suzanne and Soba have mentioned inconsistency; Orik has not found any. But have I been told that my meal was unrepresentative? Not wishing to be perceived as distorting by partial quotation, I append the following, with my emphasis: "The tasting menus I've had at Diwan were an order of magnitude superior to anything else being served in New York, and fully on par with the best I've had anywhere: subtle, complex, elegantly prepared, cooked to an appealing level of doneness, etc., like the best Indian cuisine I've sampled in Singapore, Vancouver, and London. Too many hyper-experienced and well-traveled gourmets have offered enthusiastic testimony in favor of Diwan for this to be a fluke." "I emphatically reject this notion of 'it's the best in New York, which doesn't mean anything.' That is simply not the experience I've had at Diwan on three visits, and enough knowledgeable people (especially Eric Asimov, Gael Greene, and several eGulleters of unquestionable good taste) have given the place strong enough positives to take it out of that equivocal range." "One possibility is that there's only one competent cook in the house. But I wouldn't be too surprised in any event: if you can have a bad meal at Lespinasse, you can have a bad meal at Diwan. The reality is that you can have a bad meal anywhere, even at a restaurant with three Michelin stars. The question isn't whether or not there will be inconsistency at any given restaurant; the question is how much." I had the impression that such comments suggested that, despite reports of inconsistency, my experience at Diwan was not representative or typical or general. If, on the other hand, you think my experience was representative or typical or general, I wonder why you didn't just let my original post stand. I knew I shouldn't have posted any comments on this meal.

Wrong, no. Unrepresentative, most certainly.* Maybe it was, but one isn't going to make multiple visits to a restaurant before posting a report here, unless the paychecks start arriving with greater frequency. "(N)either Orik nor I has experienced much in the way of this apparent inconsistency. And he has been more times than any of us. In addition, it's not as though the published reviews -- which I assume were based on multiple visits -- have pointed to inconsistency as a major flaw at Diwan."

Adam, you know you are simply apeing the current fashion, and it doesn't become you. But I suspect Beachfan is right, and this is going to be an unresolvable one. I can't tell you, Craig, how many times I have drunk red wine with Brie, Camembert and similar cheeses. I agree, the experience does change the taste - both of the cheese and the wine - and in a most agreeable way. Bobbie-wobbie, yes I agree blues can be a problem for red wine. I think some of the British blues like Shropshire and Cheshire (let alone Blue Vinny) work better with dessert wines or port. But I think you do have a fighting chance with Roquefort and Bleu d'Auvergne; the creaminess and hint of salt..well, let's be honest, I'm not sure why; I'm just relying on pleasant memories. What about triple cremes and red wine? Don't you all love the contrast?

Experts will confirm that I actually wasn't planning to mention my visit to Diwan, as I guessed it would provoke a passionate response, and that some people would tell me either that I was wrong or that my meal wasn't typical. I went ahead only because, looking at some of the opinions on this thread, I saw they were so out of line with my experience that I felt not to post would be a disservice to other members. I have only had one meal at Diwan. Maybe it was the only average meal they have ever served. Average it was, with the chicken dish being particularly poor, and the general level typical of a decent high street tandoori restaurant in the UK. That was my meal; nobody else's. The interesting question, if there is one here at all, is not whether I had the meal I had, but how a restaurant which can perform at the level described by some here, can serve such a meal on a not particularly busy weekend evening.

I think the point is that Catholics are found in the European countries most frequently visited by travellers. Although there was some qualifying argument about the Inquisition driving out creativity. Wasn't there?

Fair enough. I'd happily eat the venison chops again.

I'm not entirely convinced by your reasoning. In the UK, where cheese was served after dinner, it was traditionally served with a glass of port. Over the last ten or twenty years, there has been a move away from that tradition and towards red wine - a good thing, I would say. In France, I guess wine is usually drunk throughout most meals; cheese follows the entree, indeed, but I should have thought the French - with wine of all kinds readily available - would have rejected the red wine option if they hadn't liked it. I mean, it's not as if French families were forced to drink red wine with the cheese because they didn't have any white knocking around. Customs and opportunities vary from country to country. I'm certainly not going to roll over and concede that such a common and enduring practice as matching cheese and red wine has stood unchallenged just because there's usually a drop of red on the table. But I'm keen to get down to specific examples. What nasty pairings particularly stick in your mind? I have a feeling we are approaching this from very different perspectives, as I find red wine with Brie, Camembert, Livarot - and so on - perfectly acceptable (as does the population of Normandy), unless the cheese has a pronounced ammoniac character (indicative of over-ripeness).

Orik, I think the phrase "by far the best in New York" is key. I wouldn't argue with that. Unfortunately, it's not saying much.

If only that was our downfall. Have a good dinner.

Ah, yes. So when the British controlled what is now the Republic of Ireland, their Protestantism was restraining the cuisine of the indigenous Catholic majority?

I find that internet search engines allow me to explore a cuisine in minutes and reach a conclusion as to its merits.

I was thinking there might be a difference between specially arranged banquets and tasting menus and dinners ordered from the carte. Is the tasting menu something which needs to be arranged in advance? We weren't offered it.

And, from memory, Simon's comment was prompted by eating from the regular menu. Which is consistent with the non-delusional theory.

I looked back over some (not all) of the pages of this thread. I honestly don't know whether the diversity of opinions reflects different levels of experience and anticipation in Indian dining, or whether the kitchen has very variable standards. I had dinner there for the first time (not on a Sunday), and I found a comment by Simon elsewhere which perfectly sums up my experience: "As for Diwan. I found it fine, no more. Certainly no more than a mid level London Indian restaurant." That doesn't mean it's bad; it just means that the level of excitement bewilders me. The crabmeat beggar's purses were slightly dry and over salty; the quail was okay; the tandoori venison chops showed none of the dampness discussed earlier in this thread - they were good meat, and tasted like meat cooked in that style should (no sauce, just a few potatoes). The saffron chicken was very poor - thick, sweet-ish sauce over chunks of dry chicken breast. The lemon rice didn't excite me - too many different spices. Aloo ghobi was excellent, freshly made with crunchy cauliflower. To my surprise, I was knocked out by the desserts - the kulfi was as good as any I've had, and the Sheer Kurgh was good too. Other than the desserts, food of this kind can be eaten at maybe a dozen restaurants in most British provincial cities. Maybe special banquets or tasting menus are something else. This doesn't mean it isn't the best in New York, but I didn't think it was much better than Haveli, and can see no reason it would be awarded three stars. Sorry.

Of course, the Flemish population of Belgium is mainly Catholic. This must be why their food, albeit strikingly similar in a number of respects to Dutch food, is every bit as delicious as French food. But please, carry on with the armchair history, everyone. It's most entertaining.

Calves liver with pancetta and onions was on the menu. Vincent visited just about every table while we were there, and seemed to enjoy discussing the food.