The Irish and eating

OK, I eat as slowly as anyone you know. I just do. Chewing 40 times, not wanting to swallow too much at once, enjoying food at a leisurely pace--stuff like that.

And also, for a fat-ish guy, I don't eat a whole lot.

At Dromatine the staff serves your lunch and dinner. Breakfast you are, gracefully on your own, unless you let one of the wait staff dish out your 'porridge', which I would call 'oatmeal' and never want as much as they will give you at Dromatine.

Going through the serving line is like this: "One slice of beef/pork/lamb, please." "Oh, here's a second just in case." "No potatoes please." "Just two, if that's alright...."

For lunch one day, we had a curry to die for, really, they can really cook at Dromatine. And they found a way to have potatoes as well--curry and chips, I swear that was what they did, not even asking, not even believing I might not want 'french fries' with my rice and curry though I was saying I didn't.

Thing is, I never finish my meal, never clean my plate at Dromatine.

All the Irish do, even eating with their knife in their dominant hand and their fork in their other hand and doing things to their food I couldn't begin to do, being American and cutting with my right hand and then eating what I cut with my right hand with a fork.

Then the 'pudding' comes...want it or not.

I had a piece of cheesecake the size of a saucer.

It was very good.

In spite of myself, I ate it all, finishing a good 8 minutes after everyone else at my table.