Originally Posted by
Bohemian1
Given the richness of the food, I thought the pacing there quite good, especially if you have the wine pairings. As a comparison, portion sizes at Quince in SFO recently were comparable and the meal was about as long. Besides, who is in a rush?
+1
We tell most restaurants with tasting menus that we are not in a rush as a matter of course now.
I'm rarely in a rush when dining, but to me, if I am waiting 15-20 minutes with no wine or food (particularly in between earlier courses in a meal), that's poor pacing and leads to too long an experience.
IMHO, good service manages pacing properly. They don't rush you; they don't descend like vultures to clear the table and immediately bring out the next dish... but they also don't leave you twiddling thumbs for long periods.
T'ang Court did that when I was in Hong Kong. They were what I expect of 3* service. Akrame was what I would expect of 1*; they weren't as polished, and didn't have the pacing down right and thus dragged out a meal that should have been 45 minutes shorter based on portions, drinks, and the fact I was dining solo and clearly left "waiting" several times during the meal.