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How to Politely Turn Down Food you Don’t Like or Won’t Eat

How-To-Politely-Turn-Down-Food-You-Dont-Like-or-Wont-Eat

Yes, I am well aware that in a previous post I listed ‘not eating’ as a common dinner guest faux pas. So no, this blog is not aimed at helping them out, but I thought it would be helpful for an entirely different type of guest; the guest who is happy to show up and eat, but is all of a sudden offered something they don’t like, can’t eat, or won’t eat.

Though this isn’t likely to happen often, it is nonetheless a situation we all find ourselves in at some point. I myself, a person who prides herself on eating everything, once attended a dinner party where the main course was veal; literally the one thing I do NOT eat. Not only that, the host was one of those persistent, shoves the food down your throat type.  Needless to say, the night ended with me feeling extremely frustrated and my host being highly offended.  So hopefully, this post will be useful to many of you, should you find yourselves in a future similar situation.

Now I’m sure some of you are thinking, ‘surely, you can just say no?’, and if that’s indeed worked on you in the past, then you’re very lucky to have never had a host force a dish on you or guilt you into trying just one bite, after reminding you multiple times exactly how many hours they had spent in the kitchen that day. Annoying as this may be, remember to always remain cool; the last thing you want is to have an awkward evening or make it uncomfortable for anyone else. Read on for some tips on how to go about it:

  • Try deflecting; if the dish is handed to you, simply smile and try passing it on to the next person. If the host asks you to have some, you can reply with something like ‘thanks, but I’m actually saving room for that pasta over there’, or ‘looks delicious, gonna try that next’.
  • Try humouring; if your polite and subtle attempts fall on deaf ears, try humouring your host. Agree to have some placed on your plate, and hopefully that’ll be enough to appease them. If not, and it is simply a dish you don’t like, have a bite, painful as it may be, just give it a try, you may even like it.  If however, it is something you can’t or refuse to eat (like me with veal), take a tiny portion and move it around, mixing it with something else to give the illusion that you have had some, even though you haven’t.
  • Try changing the subject; if you get the feeling that the host is coming for you again, immediately start a new topic to deviate away from the offending dish, such as ‘that casserole was delicious, I’d love the recipe please’, compliment the table setting or just ask a random question that has nothing to do with anything at the table.
  • Try lying; ‘Yes I tried it, it was delicious but I was already so full from the pasta, I couldn’t have much’, ‘you know, I didn’t get around to trying it, I was saving room for dessert, but I would love to take some home’, ‘I’m sure it’s delicious, everyone won’t stop raving about it, will have to have more of that next time’… you get the picture.

In short, always remain gracious, say whatever you have to in a light cheerful way, and do whatever you can to get through the evening. Then get yourself the hell outta there, and perhaps think twice before going to that house ever again.

I hope these were helpful! Any fun experiences you’d like to share? Please do, we’d love to hear some of your stories…

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