Another member of the committee, Philip Sassoon, had favoured the artist Glyn Jones, and proposed a competition for the mural's design among alumni of the British School at Rome.

They travel on all manner of transport‍—‌bicycles, carts and horses‍—‌from their point of departure the "Duchy of Epicurania", and venture through bizarre and enchanting lands while coming upon creatures such as unicorns, truffle dogs and two giant gluttons guarding the entrance to a cave.

[11] The tale finishes with the adventurers arriving back to an ebullient welcome, and the menu of the Epicuranians, which had previously consisted of dry biscuits, is forever changed.

"[2][1] Several notable British buildings are depicted in the mural including the bridge at Wilton Park and an arch and pavilion in the grounds of Stowe House.

[5] When the restaurant opened in 1927 with the mural completed, Henry Tonks, a professor the Slade School of Fine Art who had recommended the artist, described it as "the most amusing room in Europe".

[3][4] Writing in Apollo magazine in 2014, Digby Warde-Aldam remarked that "[l]ooking at the mural now is a strange experience; while its subject matter and frivolously gallant style are almost unutterably camp, there's a sombre sobriety to the tones of the paint that renders it an impressive work rather than the sort of kitsch and ephemerally fashionable diorama churned out by some of his contemporaries".

A Change.org petition by the duo read: "The fundamental point of a high class restaurant (used primarily by an older white demographic) being installed with art of this horrific nature is not being acknowledged as the harmful and hateful issue it is" and that The Expedition in Pursuit of Rare Meats "sounds more like a concept for a horror film than what you would expect Britain's largest art institution to offer up as an exclusive dining experience...Tate Britain allowing this overtly racist painting to remain for diners' enjoyment is not acceptable".

[6] In August 2020 following a public campaign, The Tate removed a description from its website that had described the restaurant as "the most amusing room in Europe" and wrote that "Whistler's treatment of non-white figures reduces them to stereotypes" and that the gallery was "working to become a space that is more relevant, welcoming and inclusive for everyone".

As an art gallery, it can hardly cover the offending figures with a screen and it has a responsibility to allow public access to a work by an important early 20th-century British painter".

Bailey wrote that by "drawing attention to the two black children and the Chinese figures the overwhelming number of visitors will go to see the mural simply because of the controversy.

[5] In February 2022 The Tate announced that the former restaurant would reopen to the public as a display space containing, alongside Whistler's work, "interpretive material" and a site-specific art installation to "critically engage" with the piece.