apologies for the crude food
Humble set phrase said by the host or cook after a meal, downplaying the quality of the food they provided. Often used humorously or as a polite formula even when the meal was good.
See also: お粗末
"Thank you for the meal." "Not at all — apologies for the humble fare."
After serving her home cooking, my mother laughed and said, "Sorry it was nothing special."
Standard kanji spelling for this set phrase.
Variant spelling using 様 instead of さま; slightly more formal in appearance.
From お粗末 (osomatsu, 'crude, poor') + 様 (sama, honorific) + でした (deshita, past polite copula). Literally 'it was a humble thing', used as a set phrase to modestly downplay one's own cooking.