Restaurant portion sizes are huge

[Paq]

Does anyone else find this? Went to a pub/restaurant last night and the portion sizes were insane. I managed a third of my salad, brought the rest home and shared it with DH for lunch today. DD got through half her curry and 6'1" hollow legged DH just about managed to finish his risotto but then felt overstuffed all night.

Did you go to Harvester and get confused between the salad bar and your portion?

I think eating a few chips the next day or a bit of cold pizza won’t do you much harm even if not refrigerated @CandidaAlbicans2 but salad/meat/fish and like you say-rice. Not so much. Better that the restaurant bins it.

This thread is making me hungry…

But hadn't the guacamole turned brown/black and sort of acidic? (not envy)

And the hummus gone a bit runny, or hard?

We need to know, OP!

FizziWater
I agree with you. Lots of people will have different preferences and appetites so why don't we all get on with eating what we want to, and not eating things we don't. Eating out is a treat for most people. I'd be disappointed if I booked a meal out only for the plate to arrive half empty, or 50% full of salad or MN approved vegetables.
If most people wanted small portions or lots of salads then more places would offer it as standard. Places base their offering on what their general customer base want.

The millions people tiny containers annoy me too. Have you seen the We Want Plates campaign? They share photos of silly serving containers.

As a rule, yes. I love the idea of a starter, main course and dessert but I know I'll only manage a starter and about half the main course. Or a main course and about half of the dessert. I could count on one hand the times I've managed all three courses and that's been when the main course was small and the meal was spread out over a couple of hours.

We have a fab. Thai street van near us and DD and I generally order spring rolls and a main course. We eat the spring rolls and half the main course one day and save the other half of the main course for the next day.

That said, I'm not really into salads. I like my carbs.

But take away portions are huge, far bigger than restaurant portions! And no way am I reheating yesterday's curry and rice. I know loads of MNetters do, but even though I have a stomach of steel I wouldn't dare.

For lunch I've had A WHOLE PANINI! I need therapy!!!

LynetteScavo
You're right about take away portions. I usually order an additional side with takeaway so that I've got enough for lunch the next day.
I don't mind reheating takeaway as long as it's heated to be piping hot and it's me or DH doing the reheating. Too much time loitering near the worm microwave suggests a lot of people don't reheat food to appropriate temperatures.

And I have had a huge salad
Actually, I have, and I had a lot of cheese with it.

I can eat a whole panini, but I couldn't eat chips with it as well.

What I also find fascinating is why eating out for many means gluttony is part of the experience. eg. I have a rather overweight, intelligent friend who has just started a diet, says he really wants to lose weight, yet went out for dinner recently and ate the largest steak on the menu, plus starter and dessert. He told me how he was so uncomfortably full afterwards he had trouble sleeping that night! WTF is that all about?! Surely he couldn't enjoyed the experience just as much with a smaller steak

I'm also confused by this. So many people say things like 'if I'm going out to eat, it's a treat so I want to go all out'.

To me, eating food out is about having something I can't easily replicate at home, either because it's complicated, fiddly, requires lots of ingredients, time consuming, or just hard to get right. So I make sure I get something like that, rather than something that's quick and easy to make just as nice at home, like steak.

And I'd much rather eat the amount I need to be just full, rather than stuffing my face, feeling ill and being unable to sleep. Which also means I have some left to enjoy the next day. I do this pretty much every time I eat out or get a takeaway, so have had reheated leftovers hundreds of times, probably thousands without issue, and find it very odd that people won't do this.

I'm the sharing a panini person 😃 🤔
I don't see why having half a panini and a half portion of chips has been seen as a merit of mirth !
But I'm glad I've brightened up your day !

@LynetteScavo

But take away portions are huge, far bigger than restaurant portions! And no way am I reheating yesterday's curry and rice. I know loads of MNetters do, but even though I have a stomach of steel I wouldn't dare.

Agree. DH (who’s 6’ 1”, so not small) and I routinely share a takeaway - the portions are massive, so we split them. That way we never feel stuffed and we’re not throwing food away either.

I don't think restaurants could stay in business if they offered half portions at half price to everyone - children's portions are usually a loss leader to get parents in buying full portions and paying for more profitable drinks, and restaurants usually won't offer the full menu as children's portions because they can't make money on that - its why children's menus are often cheap junk, because parents aren't prepared to pay full price for a small portion, unsurprisingly, but its not actually 50% cheaper for the restaurant to produce a half size portion of a "proper" meat or fish dish. Some restaurants offer "senior" portions which are children size portions available only to people of retirement age, but often only on traditionally quiet nights of the week or times of day to draw people in at those times. Normally restaurants can't afford to give up the revenue at busy times or from their bread and butter 18-65 year old most profitable customers.

I think this thread might actually come down to money - people seem to want to pay less but its more acceptable to emphasise having a small appetite. In the end you're paying for the chef's, kitchen staff's, waiting staff's, cleaning staff's wages, the rent and utilities and wear and tear on furniture as well as food, and it doesn't cost the restaurant much less to serve a smaller portion.

I’ve just have a panini for lunch because of this thread. No chips were available, but I am also eating a 99 cal bag of crisps.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with having a whole panini and chips for lunch. That would just be my main meal of the day. I don’t know why half a panini and half a portion of chips has been so controversial. Isn’t eating half a panini similar to having something like a burger? The ones in Starbucks today look about that size.

I don't think restaurants could stay in business if they offered half portions at half price to everyone

I agree. The overheads and labour costs make up most of the cost price, but charging, say two thirds of the cost of the larger portion might be acceptable.

Also if people are used to sharing a take away or having some for tomorrow they're not going to return if the portion sizes are suddenly halved!

I don't think anyone genuinely just wants smaller portions, its about money, but restaurants and take aways would go bankrupt if they charged half price for mini portions, and customers would go elsewhere if portion sizes reduced without a big enough price discount (which would mean not covering all the other costs aside from ingredients).

My dad couldn't leave any food on a plate, I think his generation were basically forced to finish whatever was on their plate. Even if they were uncomfortably full.

Sounds horrible.

Stealth boast 'I eat like a bird and so do my family, everyone else is piggy' post.

Who bloody cares? Food obsession is boring, especially when people rush in to compete with how little they eat

Go somewhere that serves smaller portions next time, shouldnt be too difficult to find.

@UntilYourNextHairBrainedScheme

Also if people are used to sharing a take away or having some for tomorrow they're not going to return if the portion sizes are suddenly halved!

I don't think anyone genuinely just wants smaller portions, its about money, but restaurants and take aways would go bankrupt if they charged half price for mini portions, and customers would go elsewhere if portion sizes reduced without a big enough price discount (which would mean not covering all the other costs aside from ingredients).

I want smaller portions. I hate the feeling when my plate arrives and I know I’ll never eat the pile of food I’ve been served and I know that it’s going to go to waste. I’m not bothered about paying less so much, I just want a portion that doesn’t contain my daily allowance of calories.

RampantIvy I guess that would vary from restaurant to restaurant depending on their overheads. I'd be unsurprised if the saving on ingredients turned put to be so small that a half portion still cost the restaurant 90% of the price of a full portion because of all the overheads of running the restaurant, and that would have customers complaining bitterly that it was a rip off.

I don't think restaurants would be able to "win" on offering two portion sizes across all meals, though some high price ingredients like fresh fish or steak lend themselves to the price per ingredient weight model.

I haven’t read the whole thread, so apologies if this has already been addressed.

But, who orders a salad when they go out for an evening meal? Seriously. Maybe at lunchtime if you’re on a diet, or the menu is limited, but for a main meal???! And then not to even finish it!!

What is the world coming to? 🤷‍♀️😂

I think this thread might actually come down to money - people seem to want to pay less but its more acceptable to emphasise having a small appetite

Not for me. I want to eat a portion more suited to my calorific needs as a woman not a 6 ft plus muscular male. I don't mind paying the same as for a larger portion if the rest of the plate is filled with a green salad or non starchy veg.

I don't think restaurants would lose money. Lots of people are in my situation since restaurant and pub portions are oversized for over 50% of the population. Lots of people care about their health and don't want to put on extra pounds or actually want to lose weight. Why is it deemed unacceptable to not want to binge eat?

Why shouldn't it be the relatively fewer people who have greater caloric needs having to order an extra large portion instead of people like me (over 50% of the population) having to order a starter or a children's meal or a pensioner's meal or finding someone else to share our meal with and requesting an extra plate?

Portions have got larger over the years. That's a fact. Restaurants did exist before when portions were smaller.

Stealth boast 'I eat like a bird

I eat like a bird. A gannet.

But, who orders a salad when they go out for an evening meal? Seriously. Maybe at lunchtime if you’re on a diet, or the menu is limited, but for a main meal???! And then not to even finish it!!

What's wrong with salad? You've never lived!