What happened to the good old roast chicken and three or four vegies? I find that most chefs are in a race to see who can use the most spices so that all you taste is the spice anyway. Forget dining out, it is overrated, overcharged and nowhere near as good as a decent homecooked meal. Invite your friends over and choose those that are good cooks so that the return invite is great. This way you may even find out the real taste of food. Give me a good cook over a modern chef anyday.
I remember being in a restaurant once after being travelling and eating out for 6 weeks. We were pondering over the menu for some time when the head waiter asked if he could help and suggested he could do something else not on the menu. I said how we had been eating out for so long I was looking for plain roast beef and vegs. "Done" said the waiter and in a short space of time out came a lovely roast meal. I asked how it was possible. The answer, "actually that is what I had prepared for our family tonight".