Top programme which makes you want to dine with others (Come Dine With Me)

Member Name: welling1

Product:	Come Dine With Me
Date:	20/05/09 (74 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Informative recipies, randomness, length of programme

Disadvantages: None

Come dine with me is a food programme which is shown on channel four but then repeated on four plus 1 etc. There are a few different formats of the show with some involving five people some involving four and they often have celebrity come dine with me specials.

All of these shows follow the same pattern which involves, in the case of the non celebrity shows, a group of random people who all share a passion for food and drink who go round one another's house and all take it in turns to host a night and deliver what they think will earn them the top prize which is £1000 cash. The way that the prize is decided is by the other contestants all voting after the night and giving the host a mark out of ten and letting us the viewers know what they thought of the night.

There are two ways that this show is split - when there are four contestants the show is all in a one hour slot, but when there are five contestants it is five half an hour shows which are usually on a Sunday on More 4. I watch both types of show but I would say anyone that has not seen the show before watch the hour show to get a feel for it and see what you think.

What I love about this show is the randomness as the people have never met before and this is a group of people who all like different food and have different tastes, some are meat eaters others are vegans, some love fish, some don't. So straight away you can see this is not just a show about food and drink it is also a show about trying different foods, flavours, understanding vegans and meat eaters and other cultures and beliefs. All of this does not always go smoothly and in the shows I have seen you can see that tensions are sometimes reached to boiling point and people express how they really feel about the evening, which has created some great television.

The show follows the people hosting the evening and showing us where they buy there food and drink and the lengths that some will go to to host the perfect dining experience. Some have had their starters on the beach others have has butlers and bands, but my favourite was when I guy got his mate to lay on the table and his guests were urged to eat sushi off his hairy stomach. I nearly wet myself watching this moment. We also get to see what the others think of the menu and their thoughts and feelings are shared with the viewers. I feel that sometimes the food on offer is way over the top and that it puts people off as it is not the norm. When the contestants go round each others house I am always surprised how brazen they can be towards the host just saying I don't like this or its not to my taste but in a horrible way. My favourite was when a guy was flicking his dessert round the plate and the host got up and just took it off him causing major friction between the pair especially as this was only the first night.

Overall I am not a great food lover and stick to what most would consider the norm but this programme is so addictive because as mentioned above it's not just about the food and drink. It is a fantastic show with such a simple process but it keeps making the viewer coming back for more. If I love this programme then I would urge anyone who has an interest in food and drink to watch along for the entertainment value but also because of the tips you can gather from the other people, happy times guys!

Summary: Top food and drink programme for all kinds