shokutsu: I know what you mean about needing time to “switch off”. Spending a lot of time with colleagues and especially clients can be mentally draining. I’m not saying it can’t be fun, but it is tiring because you always have to be “on” to avoid those awkward silences. With good friends and family, those awkward silences are usually either accustomed (and thus aren’t awkward) or they’re filled naturally; it doesn’t feel as much of a “chore”.

I don’t have problems with eating alone in general. I especially love to cook meals even if it’s just for 1. However, I’m still not accustomed to eating out alone. What’s your secret KimHo? :)

On that note, I don’t think I could ever be a professional food critic (nor do I want to be). Don’t those guys/girls have to eat alone? 100% focused on the food and surroundings, no? :P

Brought Chinese, I always had dinners with my parents and, when she was at home, my sister. It was that one moment of the day we could sit together, be silent and disassociate everything else we had around us. I could never eat later because I was doing homework; likewise, my sister couldn’t skip dinner just because the soap opera was on. In more than one way also it was the fact we were paying respect to my mother who spend a lot of time of the day buying groceries and then doing prep work during the day. That was, at least, until I moved out…

When I started living on my own, at first, it was mostly take out. Just go to the closest fast food chain (people from a nearby Subway really got to know me…) take it home and eat it on the dark while watching some TV. And, after that, play some computer games. Did I miss home cooking and eating with others? Yes and no. I really missed my mom’s cooking (hey, who doesn’t?) but I did not necessarily missed the interaction with other. I blame it to the fact I was brought up to be independent.

So, unlike most of you, my baseline is that of eating alone, rather with others but, still, as I have expressed a lot of times, by having others around, you add that one spice, that one ingredient, that one condiment that can’t be bought or is list in any recipe and makes the meal a lot better. However, at the same time, when you go with others for a meal, it is not necessarily for the food but the company – the food is just a reason to bring people together. As a result, I usually only briefly mention how the food was but try not to over-emphasize it.

Having said all that, at least I have one bragging right: unlike most other food bloggers (or, at least, those of us in Vancouver), I usually go for my meals by myself and that “shame” of being the single person in the restaurant eating and, “worst of all”, taking pictures of the food has long gone away, hehehehehe.

Shokutsu, similar to you, once in a while, I also have meals with colleagues and customers. However, in those cases, I try to stay away from anything work related and talk about other things. It is quite interesting how you can relate to them and learn things that otherwise you don’t know about them under the normal course of a business day. Still, I try to avoid these like plague as it is possible you can end up “slipping” out things that you might afterwards regret…

Responding to your thought that “meals simply don’t tastes as good when you’re dining out alone” and your question of “Do you mind eating out alone?”, I thought I’d chime in with some simple thoughts.

For me, I suppose I’m much like you in that I’d prefer to be with others but can handle being alone to eat in a proper restaurant. But this totally depends on the situation: if I’m in the city where I predominantly live or if I’m on the road for work, or on the road for vacation. The actual circumstance totally changes things for me…

For instance, as I often travel with colleagues or clients for business, there are many times when I’d actually prefer to be eating alone at the end of a busy day and “switch off” so to speak, and not have to keep my work hat on. I’m not sure what your current extended stay in London is like, but guessing you are there on your own? If so, I can totally feel your pain as dining alone for that stretch of time could be very lonely and boring. Not sure if’ you’ve considered your “situation” and how it relates to how you’re feeling right now…

Also, when I eat alone, I don’t feel I need to verify my thoughts on things with others right away or who had happened to be there with me. As depending on their tastes and interests in food overall, you could run into a huge range of feedback. In those cases when I know I’m with others who aren’t really into food as much as I am, I can temper my discussions and not have to feel my impressions of the meal need to be “justified” by others immediately, and I’m generally quite comfortable in my own skin and my own belief in how the meal was, the service was handled, etc.