Portion sizes in restaurants getting small!!!

[SantaOnFanta]

Am I just getting greedy lol or are portion sizes in restaurants really going down??

A pasta dinner no more than 7 mouthfuls.

A roast pork dinner which consisted of six small strips built up like a Jenga and one plate of veg to share with husband with his meal. £17.

Two burgers and one side of chips and drinks £53!

Anyone else noticing this?

But takeaways can put less of the expensive bits in. I got what was described as Katsu prawns not so long ago. But what came was about 4 prawns, along with a similar amount of sweet potato and courgette. It was nice, but I'd think twice about ordering that dish again, because I could have got Katsu vegetables for about a fiver less and done without the prawns.

We've got a local independent pub which has always had a great name for food. We went the other day and although the food and service was fantastic, I did notice that they have kept their portion size of the main bit of the meal the same, the meals no longer come with any sides. So if you want chips and veg with your steak that's another £4 for the chips and £4for the veg. Or the pasta dish that came with garlic bread, no longer does. So they have found their own way of upping their prices.

We ate out at Browns. Very mediocre and not enough vegetables.

DD and I ate in Pho yesterday and it was £40. We had a main each, we shared summer rolls and each had a juice.
It was nice and portion sizes were good but it is a lot for what we had. Sadly, the rise in energy and food costs have to be passed on.

@BarbaraofSeville have to agree! every time I order a prawn dish there are fewer and fewer prawns!!!!

Portion sizes are ridiculously large and so many people are fat, it's a good idea.

We have almost stopped eating out, and cut back on lots of things - but still go on a few holidays a year instead. All inclusive in particular is good value and feels like eating out several times a day 🙂

Last year we had a family to Turkey that worked out at £250 each for everything (as there were child free places) - including flights. With every meal and drink included that works out well compared to a UK break, plus the restaurants locally are cheap enough to have a few meals out as well, with great service.

When I compared the cost to centre parcs… and took into account the cost of eating out in the chain restaurants there, it wasn’t a hard choice to make! The UK is just so expensive now and, and as others have pointed out, the service often isn’t great either.

When I look at the calorie levels I rarely see ridiculous portions. Being fat is not about a portion size when eating out as a treat.

I don’t really understand these threads, people don’t want to tip. They want staff to be paid a living wage, they know the cost of food has increases, energy prices, and yet they want big portions of food for the same price as a year ago.

it’s ludicrous. These outlets are not charities there to provide a service to you

And also each time I went out over Christmas I left earlier than I would normally have done as it was FREEZING in the pub/restaurant......

I ate out at a couple of gastro pubs over Christmas and both meals had changed .
Pub 1 - Sea-bass fillets used to be served with proper portions / sides of rosemary potatoes and veg . My sea bass this time was presented differently to hide smaller amounts eg potatos had been cut into tiny squares , I had 6 of them and instead of veg sides they had hidden about 8 French beans under the fish . The fish was stacked with beans underneath and 6 minuscule bits of potato dotted around the plate in a jus.

Pub 2 - had hunters chicken again but this time the quality of the chicken was greatly reduced , it was a horrible rubber . Shall not be having chicken there again .
I'm probably in the minority but I wish restaurants would keep the same quality of produce but increase the price . Going out is a treat and I'd rather pay the price necessary than have a bad meal .

I would rather they charged the going price for the same quality. It does mean though those that offer mediocre food will probably close.

@BradfordGirl You’re right, apols. Still comes in pretty high for one when adjusted though.

McDs big mac meal typically around 1000cals; Costa latte & panini around 700; Spoons tikka masala 1100! It’s obscene. No wonder the country is fat as fuck and the NHS is spending huge amounts of its budget on preventable diabetes.

I know we are all paying twice as much for our energy at home but business are paying FOUR TIMES as much or more as there is no price cap for non domestic users, and energy companies are taking advantage of that. It's a nightmare for SMEs.

Teeny tinies assemble!

@Getamoveon36 You are choosing though the options with the most calories. Big Mac Combo is high in calories because it is burger, chips and a coke. It is going to be high in calories with the fat and sugar.
I think 800 calories is reasonable for a meal eating out. It is not what you should be eating at home anyway. But if I buy a burger, chips and a coke I would expect it to be a lot of calories, but I would see it as a rare treat.

I actually read research that a lot of people consume less calories when they eat out as they eat little or nothing except the meal out that day. Certainly with my friends most people would only eat breakfast if eating out. So a few slices of toast and a Big Mac Combo would not be a lot of calories in a day. Not a healthy food intake, but not a high calorie intake.

@BradfordGirl thats fine, but the general obesity levels in the uk right now would suggest a large swathe of the population are not eating either the right stuff or in the right quantities, be it at home or when eating out. I also think that eating out/takeaway/junk is much more commonplace - not an occasional treat - for many. Understand there are many issues around poverty, education around nutrition etc that need to be addressed - but a general reduction in restaurant portion sizes I welcome, it’s at least addressing a element of the bigger problem .

I haven't eaten out in ages, but perhaps they try to keep the same price, hence smaller portions? And awful quality. I don't think they can do it forever though. McDonald's never disappoints re portion size😂

I don't think it's restaurant portion size which is the problem when it comes to eating out, since most people aren't eating in restaurants every day. The problem is that sugary, highly processed food is cheaper, easier and more addictive than good quality, healthy food.
People were better off when bacon and eggs was for breakfast, instead of sugary cereal or while toast and jam. Dinner was meat/fish with veg instead of packet stir frys made with sugary sauces! And when we had to walk more, rather than getting in the car.
A time poor parent knows their kid will eat a frozen pizza or a takeaway burger, but might reject the more expensive home cooked meal that they are too knackered to make anyway!

Yeah I don't get it either, everything has increased in price, it's no secret is it? Everything that's needed to make a meal and serve it in a restaurant environment has gone up -

The ingredients - suppliers needing to charge more for the food itself as they're paying more, fuel for delivery has increased, shortage of drivers so they need to pay more to have them.

Fuel to cook and heat - increased more than domestic bills and no help like for domestic customers.

Staffing - there's a well known shortage of staff across all levels, so to get/keep staff to actually serve you, they need to pay more - which most people support because hospitality is notoriously low paid and people are not willing to put up with long, unsocial hours dealing with entitled, arsey people who think they own a bit of your soul because they're paying for something, for minimum wage because they have options. The workload is also increased for no extra because of the shortage and therefore people want to do it even less

Yet people expect that magically, none of that should affect the price or the portion size and things should be as they've been in recent years. Well if they don't increase prices and/or reduce portion size, they won't stay in business and then there'll be people moaning that there's no where to go........ Expectations need to be realistic, because at the moment they're not.

I understand why, but service is also worse.

I think people just want what they've paid (handsomely) for! Restaurants won't survive if they lower the quality of their food and charge just as much for it. All that will happen is people eat out less and the restaurant will close anyway.
This is a problem that neither restaurants or ordinary people can solve.
The government seems to be MIA at the moment - don't feel like I've seen Rishi Sunak since the Truss debacle.

I agree!

I would like to see images of portion sizes because they certainly haven't got smaller where I live.

How small is small?