I was having dinner with my parents at a restaurant in Dempsey when I noticed something I’ve heard many times before.
The food had arrived, everyone was eating, and the conversation moved between the dishes on the table. My mother was asking about the ingredients, while my father was doing what he usually does, looking at the portion sizes and deciding whether everything matched the price.
After a while, I asked him what he thought.
He took another bite, looked at the table, and said, “Not bad.”
That was it.
I laughed because I knew exactly what he meant.
For someone unfamiliar with my father’s way of describing food, “not bad” might sound like a middle-of-the-road review. But in my family, it usually means the opposite. If he doesn’t like something, he’ll explain every detail. The seasoning could be off, the portion could be smaller than expected, or he’ll simply say, “Can be better.”
But when a meal is good, the response becomes much shorter.
I’ve noticed this with many older diners too. They rarely describe a restaurant as “amazing” or “incredible.” Instead, you might hear “quite good,” “can eat,” or “not bad.”
It’s not that they don’t appreciate the food. They just grew up expressing approval differently. After years of eating at different places, their standards often come from consistency, value, and whether everyone at the table leaves satisfied.
Sometimes the simplest words carry the strongest approval.
There is something amusing about how younger diners and older generations can experience the same meal but describe it completely differently. One person might talk about the creativity of a dish, while another simply says, “The food was good.”
And somehow, everyone understands.
The next time an older relative tells you a restaurant is “not bad,” don’t take it lightly. It might be the closest thing you’ll get to a glowing review.
Food memories are built from moments like these, and there are plenty more dining stories to read about here.
