Impeccable Table Manners

What happened on the date Rich | Gabrielle Good table manners? She handled stringy onion rings like a pro. Good table manners? Neither of us was prim and proper. Imagine. Sounds like two wild boars fighting over slop in an eggcup. Photograph: Graham Turner; Sophia Evans, both for the Guardian...

What happened on the date James | Kirsty Any awkward moments? She got caught trying to go through the tube gates on my Oyster card, and she fell down the stairs. Good table manners? Great! Good table manners? That’s a bourgeois idea. It would perhaps be unfair to paint Kirsty as joyless – although she does a pretty good job of that herself. Her staccato responses to all the journo’s questions and a REFUSAL to even answer the all-important question – not even a cop-out “impeccable” – suggest there is...

What happened on the date Tom | Isabel Any awkward moments? The first 10 minutes, after the host told the whole bar I was on a blind date. Good table manners? Impeccable, even with chicken wings. Good table manners? Contended admirably with chicken wings. Even before you get to the end, you can tell these two got on. How? Because they made an agreement on the key table manners question, that’s how. They obviously both demolished chicken wings with all the grace of a pair of starved dogs, but realised...

What happened on the date Jane | Crudgie Any awkward moments? When I proposed we wrap up the evening when I thought we were running low on conversation. Good table manners? Yes. Good table manners? Of course. I’d love to know on what order the questions are asked. I like to think the table manners query comes toward the end of the interview, once all the bile has been expelled. It’s the only reason I can find for such incredible politeness over a date which, when you read the whole thing,...

What happened on the date Lauren | Sam Good table manners? Very – he let me order the wine. Good table manners? Yep, although slight black mark for sipping a shot. This date actually went well. Notice ‘top bantz’ from Sam about his date not downing a shot. Lauren’s answer to ‘what we talked about’ is quite telling: "Our jobs, five-year plans (I have one, he does not), anti-feminism, the fact that I want to learn taxidermy." The “I have one, he does not” is such a burn that Sam is no...

What happened on the date Sophie | Laurie Any awkward moments? The waiter commented on our chemistry – we were the spectator sport. Good table manners? No complaints. Any awkward moments? Only when the waiter complimented us on the "chemistry" at the table. Good table manners? Very. OK, so this is more than table manners, but I had to put the “awkward moments” in because the “table manners” responses were practically a double-impeccable. I can’t even imagine why the waiter thought it was appropriate to butt into the date, but it...