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Original poster

Restaurant portion sizes are huge

800 replies

Paq · 31/07/2021 22:05

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.

OP posts:
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LadyDanburysCane · 31/07/2021 22:57

@FizziWater

A salad is not a meal IMO. It's something you have with a meal. Do people really bring home leftovers?
Of course a salad is a meal! This evenings meal for us was salad - lettuce, tomato, cucumber, spring onions, pepper, new potatoes and poached salmon. It was really filling. BUT we are in our fifties so need to reduce our calorific intake if we don’t want to pile on the weight.
Sparklingbrook · 31/07/2021 22:58

We need to know what sort of salad it was. If it was fish then I really would have left it there.

grasstreeleaf · 31/07/2021 23:00

How can you be ‘caught unawares’ recreating a huge meal you had in a restaurant at home

You develop an appetite for it. You assume it is a correct portion for eating. I was taught as a small child to finish my plate. School dinners were hell because of it! It gets ingrained into the subconscious. I thought I was weird for not wanting to eat everything.

Anyway, I learnt. I'm fit and slim now and a healthy weight.

toocold54 · 31/07/2021 23:00

I think there is an inverse relationship between the expensiveness of the restaurant and the size of the portion. The more you pay, the less is on the plate.

I completely agree and tend to go to this cheaper places for this very reason!

You are correct though OP many restaurant/pub meals are way bigger than they should be I guess that’s so people don’t give it a bad review.
Although I’d love to know how much you paid for your salad that you brought it home with you!!

Coogee · 31/07/2021 23:03

Do people really bring home leftovers?

Yes. It’s not an unusual thing to do. It it was, restaurants wouldn’t have the cartons ready to put them in.

RampantIvy · 31/07/2021 23:03

@WildBurd

The other day I ate a whole Camembert starter, then a ribeye with chips, then a sticky toffee pudding.
I would have been able to manage that 30 years ago, but now I would only manage two courses.

I love my food, but my appetite is nowhere near as hearty as it once was.

I agree that restaurant portions are too big these days. DH had stomach surgery 6 years ago and can't manage big meals either, so we don't eat out very often, and never eat three courses.

Starfleck · 31/07/2021 23:08

I usually think the opposite and wonder where the rest of it is! Admittedly I don't tend to eat in pubs really or chain restaurants.

LolaSmiles · 31/07/2021 23:10

This thread needs linking in the 'mumsnet massive salad' thread that's going on at the moment.

I can't believe some of you eat your salad. I bathe mine in water when the planets align and drink the clever memory water. I don't have to eat for days because the water is so good at remembering the nutrients I need.

earthyfire · 31/07/2021 23:12

I'd rather have more than less. Hate going out to eat only to come home still hungry.

olidora63 · 31/07/2021 23:14

Am reading this having an amazing ham and cheese toastie !!

RampantIvy · 31/07/2021 23:17

Admittedly I don't tend to eat in pubs really or chain restaurants.

Neither do we, but any eating place serving meagre portions in South Yorkshire wouldn't last very long, so portions are quite hearty, even in nicer places.

merrymelody · 31/07/2021 23:19

Leftover salad - yuck! All wilted and slithery...

RampantIvy · 31/07/2021 23:20

I meant we don't eat in chain restaurants, but we have a lot of pubs round here that do really good food. It is a rural area so the good pubs source their meat from local farms.

Starfleck · 31/07/2021 23:20

@RampantIvy

Admittedly I don't tend to eat in pubs really or chain restaurants.

Neither do we, but any eating place serving meagre portions in South Yorkshire wouldn't last very long, so portions are quite hearty, even in nicer places.

Wish that was the case here, even the non fancy places seem to give small portions. Not a huge fan of eating out mind, prefer to go out for drinks and something small. Can't ever imagine being full after a third of a salad though in any scenario
Starfleck · 31/07/2021 23:21

Small as in snack not meal...

Deadringer · 31/07/2021 23:26

Who on earth brings home leftover salad?

IHaveBrilloHair · 31/07/2021 23:26

It depends on the restaurant.
I check them out online first.
If the mains are huge, I'll order a couple of starters, or share.
We love small plate places, tapas, or sushi for eg as we can order a few plates, then add more if we want, I really hate waste.

TheGenealogist · 31/07/2021 23:29

Yay! It's been at least a week since we had a competitive undereating thread.

I can't believe you ate a third of a salad OP, oink oink. I just need to BREATHE near a salad and that's me stuffed for a MONTH! Hmm

m0therofdragons · 31/07/2021 23:33

I’ve no experience of this because I’d never go out to eat and order a salad.

SimonJT · 31/07/2021 23:37

Ah yes, the pro-ana side of MN.

No, now I have a healthier attitude to food I don’t at all find portions to large, I often find the opposite.

kwiksavenofrillsusername · 31/07/2021 23:38

Goodness you ate the salad? I just give it a good sniff and I’m nice and full. If it’s a special occasion such as my birthday I’ll suck on an ice cube for pudding. Of course, I never finish the whole thing. The one time I did, I was pregnant and went up to a whopping 7 stone.

PresidentJoey · 31/07/2021 23:43

@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.
You remind me of my late grandmother, she'd pick at her food in a restaurant and complain in a quavery voice 'they always give you too much'. Sure nan, nothing to do with the half packet of chocolate digestives you scoffed during Countdown Grin
IHaveBrilloHair · 31/07/2021 23:43

Nah, there was a thread about kids meals earlier and many people seemed to have to inform us of the skinny/tall/sporty as we've all come to know.
Everyday, a new, but exactly the same, food thread.

MaMelon · 31/07/2021 23:48

I agree OP - the portions in some places are huge, easily enough to feed 2 people. When did portion sizes become this big?

RampantIvy · 31/07/2021 23:50

@IHaveBrilloHair

It depends on the restaurant. I check them out online first. If the mains are huge, I'll order a couple of starters, or share. We love small plate places, tapas, or sushi for eg as we can order a few plates, then add more if we want, I really hate waste.
Same here. On holiday a couple of weeks ago we ate at a brilliant Thai restaurant in Salisbury. We chose the tapas style meal because we couldn't decide what we wanted to eat. It was utterly delicious, and the portions were manageable.