Rank the parts of a meal, starter, main, dessert, the bread, the drinks, in order of how much you actually care about them.

A natural way to answer

For me, the main course matters most, that's where the meal stands or falls. Dessert comes a close second, because I do have a sweet tooth. The starter is third, more of a nice bonus, and I'd put bread and drinks at the bottom, pleasant but not essential.

Key phrases to use

• room for pudding — still able to eat dessert after the main meal“I'm full, but I've always got room for pudding.”
• take or leave — to not care much about something either way“I can take or leave coffee, honestly.”
• falls a bit flat — fails to impress or live up to expectations“The dessert looked great but fell a bit flat.”
• window dressing — something that looks nice but isn't the substance of what matters“The garnish is just window dressing.”