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Nov 08, 2023

Dining alone can leave a bad taste in your mouth

Readers describe the difficulties of booking a table for one, and the discrimination they experience as single people Punishing solo diners for taking up a table that could seat two is just

Readers describe the difficulties of booking a table for one, and the discrimination they experience as single people

Punishing solo diners for taking up a table that could seat two is just encapsulating the discrimination that single people face daily, something which I have faced often since becoming a widower (Don’t meal-shame me: a table for one at a restaurant I love is the ultimate indulgence, 29 July).

A local pub requires prebooking to guarantee a table to eat as it can get very busy. I recently attempted to do so, only to be told, both over the phone and online, that I could only book a table for two. When I said that I wanted to dine alone pub staff responded with incredulity. Eventually, head office got involved and changed the system, but that was one pub out of hundreds owned by the chain and I shouldn’t have had to complain.

When I do venture out to dine alone they generally can’t serve me quickly enough, with no time between courses, presumably so I can vacate the table I’m so inconsiderately taking up by myself for selfishly not having anybody I can go out to eat with. David Tutssel Prenton, Wirral

For some of us, it is not all about the luxury of the experience. My partner recently died. For both of us food was an important part of our lives together. For us as a couple the everyday planning of meals, preparation of food and eating together was a fundamental part of our togetherness, and a joy.

Having family and friends to eat with us at our home was a way of showing our love for and appreciation of them. We also enjoyed eating out as a couple and with family and friends, having many memorable meals both because of the company and because of the food.

Since her death, there have been times I have dined out alone. Those occasions have been bittersweet, good food but a sharp longing and missing of that which is now lost to me. My aloneness is not of my choosing on those occasions but because of circumstance. It would appear the solitary state and ageism are the last “acceptable” discriminations.Caroline BunceWarton, Lancashire

Megan Nolan is dejected at the introduction of a minimum spend for solo diners. Still, at least the Hotel Café Royal recognises the lone diner. Overnighting recently in North Yorkshire, I inquired of an Italian establishment whether they had a free table. “For one?” came the incredulous reply. I crawled out of the restaurant and back into my shell. Jeremy WaxmanCanterbury

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