Channel 4’s Come Dine With Me, now marking two decades of dinner party disasters and culinary triumphs (often of the dubious kind), heads to Glasgow. This isn’t your average soggy vol-au-vent affair, though. Catering manager Garry is attempting to transport his guests to the sun-drenched shores of Ibiza, complete with a full beach club set-up in his back garden.
The ambition is admirable, bordering on delusional. Garry’s menu is described as “posh,” and his commitment to the theme extends to creating an actual club atmosphere. It’s the kind of over-the-top effort that Come Dine With Me thrives on, setting the stage for either glorious success or spectacular failure.
The inevitable spanner in the works arrives in the form of a fiery debate over the correct terminology for a “sea bass steak.” It’s precisely the kind of pedantic argument that elevates Come Dine With Me from a simple cooking show to a glorious study of social awkwardness and simmering resentment. Garry’s carefully constructed Ibiza illusion might just shatter under the weight of culinary nitpicking.
Come Dine With Me airs on Thursday, February 6, 2025 at 6:00PM on Channel 4.
