i love the ways meals are done in Pentiment. for one thing, it's great that there are meals at all - in so many games, even ones with a day night cycle, eating is just kind of skipped, or a matter of keeping some stat bars up. but as a human being, you eat... at mealtimes. usually with other people. so it feels refreshingly true to life.
and i also love the storytelling purposes it serves. people talk differently at mealtimes - they're more relaxed, more intimate, it's a chance to talk with a group not just one on one, to see a family dynamic (for good or bad). and inviting you in to share a meal - that's something that says something about the customs of hospitality in this time and place & your relationship with the people of the town. and the food itself! different people you eat with will serve you different food, depending on the kinds of things they are used to eating, and most importantly, can afford to buy (white bread is a whole thing, for example). and eating is a small mechanical interaction - you grab the item of food you want to eat next. which means the food becomes something you consider, even momentarily, rather than a background illustration you tune out.
the thing about all of this, though is that it isn't a revolutionary system. there's no great mechanical breakthroughs involved, no inspiring leaps of insight to make this system possible. if you started with the set of goals that Pentiment had for it's systems around meals, you'd likely end up in a pretty similar place. so the really good thing about eating in Pentiment is that it is a game that really cares about communicating something about it's setting, and about food, and about the people you're eating with. and that's the thing that's good about food in Pentiment.