To be annoyed at my seat in restaurant?

‘Small, cheap’ places lol. Got to love snide remarks like this. She’s only asking your opinion, not for a character, lifestyle snd finance assassination! She can start a thread about anything she wants.

They're not even dining tables! These are tables for a sandwich & a drink, or drinks with a few bowls of olives, crisps and bread. And they're too close together.

I know restaurants are having to maximise capacity due to soaring overheads, but squeezing diners in too tight to actually dine is counter-productive. Put it in your review, OP. Hope you had a good evening despite the table Tetris.

See I have to apologise to you here as when I first read it I’ll admit I rolled my eyes a bit….and then I saw the photo and actually completely agree with you! That’s definitely one table too many and I’d have felt really uncomfortable too

I can’t remember whether I misread or not, but I enjoyed the image of the stretchy superheroes dining out!

I thought you might have been being unreasonable until I saw the picture. That is ridiculously cramped. If I'd been sat there my arse would have cleared off the neighbouring table when moving past!

You will get some people who wouldn’t mind at all however I would absolutely HATE this. I hate eating alongside strangers who can overhear my conversation at my table. It’s so uncomfortable for me - I try to request a quiet corner table if it’s a romantic meal out. I think Waiters like to group tables together as it makes it easier for serving but it really ruins the experience for me.

DH and I once went to a place that had the tables that close together. Bloke at the next table proposed and she said no! Both of them carried on eating in silence, it was so awkward and we vaguely knew them too which made it worse!

I would have as well.

And I would have told them why.

I think there's not enough space to get out from those tables so is unreasonable

I can't see how even the thinnest of people could squeeze in-between those tables and absolutely no chance of having a conversation without the people either side overhearing. I would feel very uncomfortable too.

OMG, I forgot to include "exactly" as the first word!

It really isn't cheap. Depends whether you have three courses, how many drinks, coffee etc.
For two courses and a drink it might be reasonable but it's not "cheap".

Same here! It was some time ago and was to celebrate finding out that I was pregnant. We were talking quietly, of course - private stuff! - but at one point the woman on the next table leaned over the six-inch gap and congratulated us, and then said that she'd smoked all the way through both her pregnancies and both her kids were fine! Okaaay!

Reminds me of a Parisian cafe for a quick lunchtime meal.

agree with everyone else, that's too close. it's either two tables of four and a larger gap, prob still a push for someone fat like me, or three tables of two.

It was £100 for two people - nowadays that is fairly cheap.

That's a bit squished. I wouldn't mind a table for two, but they have squidged in tables to get more covers. I wouldn't go back.

Me too! I would have felt very uncomfortable!

Should be 3 tables max. I, too, would have felt awkward.

I wouldn't like that either; probably wouldn't go there again

What makes you think it was cheap? If you can’t imagine starting a thread on something then it’s probably better not to post on it.

I often find tables for two are ridiculously cramped.

What I usually do now is book a table for three but unfortunately one person is a no-show on the night.

You shouldn’t have to do that but if restaurants insist on squeezing people into spaces like this, it’s the only way to get a reasonable amount of space.

I physically couldn’t have eaten cramped up like this. I wouldn’t have been able to relax.

As an aside, I’ve seen places like Wagamama have long benches where you all sit together. I don’t want to eat while sat close to a stranger so I always avoid anywhere with that type of seating!

Gosh, you couldn't squeeze a poppadum between those tables. Anyone trying to g to squeeze though could easily brush something on to the floor, or get their clothes stained. Talk about cramming them in.

I’ve been in some cosy restaurants but never anywhere I would have to ask several people to move if I needed to get up and go to the loo. Or equally have to regularly get up myself to let other people out. That’s not on!

Did you have to wait for others to finish before you could leave?

Or did whoever was on the banquette(?) crawl under the table?