"Things taste better in small houses"

“Things taste better in small houses” is a saying that has been printed on many images. Queen Victoria of Great Britain (1819-1901) wrote an entry on October 12, 1865, as printed in More leaves from the journal of life in the Highlands, from 1862 to 1883 (1884):

“Excellent breakfasts, such splendid cream and butter! The Dutchess has a very good cook, a Scotchwoman, and I thought how dear Albert would have liked it all. He always said things tasted better in smaller houses.”

“The success of Brown’s dish of trout would almost go to confirm the truth of Prince Albert’s opinion that things always taste better in small houses” was printed in Golden Hours (London, UK) in March 1884. “Small houses” is usually cited instead of “smaller houses.”

Queen Victoria is often cited as the author, but the remark was made by her late husband, Prince Albert (1819-1861).

Wikipedia: Albert, Prince Consort
Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Francis Albert Augustus Charles Emmanuel; 26 August 1819 – 14 December 1861) was the husband of Queen Victoria.

Wikipedia: Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. On 1 May 1876, she adopted the additional title of Empress of India.

Google Books
OCLC WorldCat record
More leaves from the journal of life in the Highlands, from 1862 to 1883
Author: Victoria, Queen of Great Britain
Publisher: Toronto : A.H. Hovey, 1884.
Series: CIHM/ICMH Microfiche series = CIHM/ICMH collection de microfiches, no. 25356
Edition/Format: Book Microform : Microfiche : English : 4th ed
Pg. 29 (entry from October 12, 1865):
Excellent breakfasts, such splendid cream and butter! The Dutchess has a very good cook, a Scotchwoman, and I thought how dear Albert would have liked it all. He always said things tasted better in smaller houses.

Google Books
The Fireside
London, UK
Annual 1884
Pg. 152:
“Excellent breakfasts, such splendid cream and butter. The Dutchess has a very good cook (a Scotchwoman), and I thought how dear Albert would have liked it all. He always said things tasted better in smaller houses.”
(The same passage as below—ed.)

16 February 1884, Blackburn (UK) Standard, “Her Majesty’s New Book,” pg. 2, col. 2:
“Excellent breakfasts, such splendid cream and butter! The Dutchess has a very good cook, a Scotchwoman, and I thought how dear Albert would have liked it all. He always said things tasted better in smaller houses.”

Google Books
March 1884, Golden Hours (London, UK), pg. 190, col. 2:
THE QUEEN’S BOOK.
MORE LEAVES FROM THE JOURNAL OF A LIFE IN THE HIGHLANDS, 1862-1882.
(...)
The success of Brown’s dish of trout would almost go to confirm the truth of Prince Albert’s opinion that things always taste better in small houses.

Google Books
23 February 1924, The Spectator (London, UK), “Brighter British Breakfasts,” pg. 288, col. 1:
One of the most pregnant remarks made by the Prince Consort was “Food always tastes better in small houses.” He was clearly confirming the general experience I have stated because when he dined in other people’s houses it was always in a house smaller than his own.

Google Books
Roumania Under King Carol
By Hector Bolitho
London, UK: Longmans, Green & Company
1940
Pg. 32:
Like his great-grandfather again, he agrees that “food always tastes better in small houses.”

23 April 1962, Ottawa (ON) Citizen, “Trolley Keeps Royal Meals Kitchen-Hot,” pg. 11, col. 1:
Queen Victoria, whose favorite dish was roast beef followed by a fresh pear, often complained that the meat was lukewarm. He husband, Prince Albert, once remarked that “food always tastes much better in small houses.”

Google Books
Animal, Vegetable, Mineral:
A Commonplace Book
By Louis Kronenberger
New York, NY: Viking Press
1972
Pg. 269:
Things taste better in small houses.
QUEEN VICTORIA

Google Books
The Windsor Story
By Joseph Bryan and Charles John Vincent Murphy
New York, NY: Morrow
1979
Pg. 60:
Queen Victoria’s Prince Albert once remarked plaintively, “Food always seems to taste so much better in small houses!”

Google Books
Eat These Words:
A delicious collection of fat-free food for thought
By Michael Cader with Debby Roth
New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers
1991
Pg. 38:
Things taste better in small houses.
Queen Victoria

Twitter
Hyphenated Cook
@hyphenatedcook
Things taste better in small houses. - Queen Victoria #quote
1:20 PM - 23 Aug 2010

Google Books
Eating Together:
Food, Friendship and Inequality
By Alice P. Julier
Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press
2013
Pg. 101:
As Queen Victoria asserted, it is quite possible that things do taste better in small houses.

Google Books
Einstein’s Beets
By Alexander Theroux
Seattle, WA: Fantagraphics Books
2017
Pg. 317:
Prince Albert, Victoria’s husband, once proclaimed, “Things always taste so much better in small houses”—and was probably correct.

Twitter
Ensembl
@getensembl
“Things taste better in small houses” - Queen Victoria
https://www.getensembl.com/edit/post/13-small-kitchen-michelin-starred-chef …
12:02 PM - 16 Oct 2018

Twitter
Galipers Goodies Handmade
@GalipersGoodies
Things taste better in small houses. #TinyHomeLiving https://www.etsy.com/listing/670894460 … #tinyhouse #tinyhouses #tinyhomes #tinyliving #tinyhouselifestyle #tinyhouselife #tinyhousemovement #tinyhousenation #tinyjoys #sheshed #OffTheGrid #cozyspaces #lessismore #sheshedesign #boholove
2:30 PM - 12 Mar 2019