Austerity for the many. Tasting menus for the few. And for the aspirational.

Wondering, rumbling and grumbling. Tasting Menu? No thanks, I want an Eating Menu.

Or am I just behind the times? Looking for a reasonable hotel for a short trip, I was struck by how upmarket so many claim to have become. That's if you can find one that hasn't become an exclusive wedding venue. A good creaky old hotel, even in more egalitarian Cymru, has too often become a “foody” destination. The obligatory eight course tasting menu means you can really only stay for one night, unless you want to endure the same gruelling (no gruel here?) performance for subsequent evening dinners. Although vegetarian, a worthy veggie restaurant in Yorkshire 37 years ago, long before current trends, had me rushing for the pub to escape its earnestness after just one course. You'd be lucky to find a vegetarian [other than vegan] option these days. Food for the more discerning customer, they say. The customer will have to be very discerning indeed in order to spot the food.

It's a global trend, but I'm wondering if here this fad is an inevitable metaphor for “entitled” Britain. Aspirational Tory Britain from the days of Alf Garnett through to Hyacinth Bucket is still very much with us, if not more so. In previous decades, conversations at dinner parties (remember those?) revolved around house prices. Dinner parties have metamorphosed into dining out, where some are so keen to flaunt their wealth, that they are willing to be ripped off by a tasting menu costing £175 per head (plus another £75 each for the wine pairing).

A big attraction in moving where I did, was to be somewhere less status conscious than where I lived before. Many local people here will laugh at those whose raison d'être seems to be in “keeping up with the Joneses”. Strange choice of name here, as the Joneses (Jones is a ubiquitous surname in Gwynedd) have little interest in this sort of thing. In case I'm accused of viewing Cymru through rose-tinted bifocals, I'm sorry to say the game is sometimes played here. I groaned inwardly to see an increasing number of Michelin starred restaurants this side of the border. Cultural imperialism?

To paraphrase a restaurant review on a popular site: "Lovely place, great staff. Crisp white linen. Emblematic of “white privilege” maybe, like white cars? Sanitised and sterile. Pity about the food. Posh dining means less food for more money".

Maybe one day The Entitled will enthuse about being given artistically presented tiny plates, so exclusive you know, until a young boy points out the “Emperor's new clothes”. The plates are empty. I'm sure it's profitable to the proprietors until someone points out the charade and is quickly shown the door.

Some may argue that tasting menus reduce food waste. If I were of a suspicious frame of mind, I'd also wonder if the whole lot couldn't just be batch-cooked, chilled, and then served in tiny portions to minimise reliance upon an elusive “executive chef”. There is after all a staff shortage in hospitality. Incidentally, not a surprise given the way some of The Entitled treat them. I've seen this.

There is some light on the horizon. I'm starting to read more in the news that tasting menus have had their day.  Until then I'm staying home.