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?

Weatherspoons breakfast - tomato is now just half a tomato. Mushrooms is now just one largish mushroom. Beans a small portion. Still two sausages, one slice of bacon and 2 slices of toast.

Browns Sunday lunch - piece of meat with artfully arranged green beans, 1 small bit of parsnip, three tiny carrots and three tiny roast potatoes.

Just to say personally I don't mind paying more if I dine out. It's paying more and getting less/poor quality thats my problem. Especially when it's passed off as COL. I feel a bit conned.

Abit like the wagon wheel debacle from yonks ago where the wagon wheel just gets smaller and smaller and the price goes up and up with the supplier denying any reduction in size.

I definitely noticed the local Indian takeaways have reduced the amount of chicken in the curry!

If you ever do Slimming World you will understand how essential beans are on a menu 😂

Veg fajitas are one of my favourite meals and I'll usually order them if they're an option.

TGI Fridays-still okay but the tortillas-I think you get about 4? I had to order extra, and they're TINY! Can fit a morsel of the veg etc into one of those.
Went to a nice but not 'posh' independent restaurant recently in London and ordered them and much the same! When did tortillas get so tiny?
I worked at a restaurant about 20 years ago and the tortillas were the size of mini wraps you'd get in a supermarket. Just the right size IMO. They've shrunk!

There's a lovely Italian near me where I required a 'doggy bag' for a pasta dish recently however. It isn't a universal problem. I've done this more than once in the last few months. Perhaps one's best bet is independent places rather than chains? I am not against chains as a rule either-I like the consistency and they seem to be better at keeping up with catering for allergens/preferences such as veganism etc.

I ate in a higher end London pub chain last week. Apart from one vegan dish, there was only one main less than 1000 calories, at least half were 1200 or more. That's a lot or one meal before you've started adding sides, drinks or another course.

@Dryandirriatble That is unusual. Was it a place that does all triple fried chips with everything? They add a lot to calories.

one that i still like and is good value is toby carvery i got four decent slices of lamb and beef a huge yorkie as much veg as i wanted and at £12.99 each for new years day well worth what we paid

No, I don't think chips were a feature at all, except for fish and chips. There were a lot of pies.

@Dryandirriatble Which chain?
Even weatherspoons does healthy options so interested to know the chain this is.

I think caterers are between a rock and a hard place at the moment. Their costs are soaring so they need to pass that on to customers or they'll be losing money hand over fist, but if they charge too much they will lose customers and go under anyway. Especially given that most people have less disposable income so are eating out less anyway. I guess the smaller portions are an attempt to save costs so that prices don't absolutely sky rocket. Personally I don't mind as I am trying to lose weight, but my teenage boys have complained about still being hungry after meals out a couple of times recently.
We had lunch at an Italian restaurant recently, not a chain, but closer to Pizza Express than somewhere haute cuisine, and I did notice that the pasta dishes were quite small. As it was only lunch and we were going to be having a proper meal at home in the evening I turned down the pleas from the rest of the family for desserts, but it definitely wouldn't have been enough for a main meal for DH and DSs. And 3 small pasta dishes, a bowl of soup and 4 soft drinks set us back over £65 which is rather more than I'd usually spend on a casual lunch whilst out shopping. If we had had desserts it would have been around £100. I do understand it from the restaurants perspective as I have quite a lot of friends who work in hospitality and I know how tough times are, and I try to support local businesses when I can. But the bottom line is that I just don't have that kind of money to spend on eating out regularly, especially not if my boys are going to do a good impression of a plague of locusts when we get home because they are still hungry.

We eat pasta at home so I never order it when out to eat. I tend to order things I can't or won't make at home.

I think @ImAvingOops has hit it on the head there; people do want what they've paid for, whether thar be luxury fresh produce or a big plate, or a mixture of both. The portion size debate really does depend on the restaurant but there is a general decline it seems, either in standards or size.

@namechangeforthisoneeee

Our local cafe has sublet to another business to help with the costs, another has started bistro nights, pre book set menu only and it's no secret that loyal customers are coming to help the owner out, lovely atmosphere too - could one of these be an option?

@gogohmm I've started renting on an evening too actually :-) I do need a little more tho so think pop ups might be a good idea. Thanks so much for that

Another thing that has raised costs are the lack of chefs. So you have places buying in from huge catering outlets ready meals. Talking to one chef he'll only work 9-5 now. He's been poached Three times this year alone getting a raise of 5k each time. One place he did a week before flitting off for another 6k.

By a ready meal I mean something like lamb shanks in a sauce say. The kitchen then add vegetables.

A lot of restaurants have cut back opening hours so stay closed Monday, or Tuesday in our area because they just can't get staff. They're shutting early as well

A lot of restaurants have cut back opening hours so stay closed Monday, or Tuesday in our area because they just can't get staff. They're shutting early as well
I've noticed this in our area too. Ok, it's Winter, so not unusual for things to be quieter but I live in quite a touristy area and we do get visitors year round, so a lot of places usually stay open all year. But at the moment, apart from in the main tourist hot spots, it's difficult to find anywhere open on a Monday, a lot of pubs have stopped serving food at lunchtimes and on some evenings, and some smaller places have just shut altogether for Winter. I went on a longish bike ride a few weeks ago intending to stop for lunch at one of the multiple pubs or cafes on my route and I had to make do with a packet of crisps as everywhere was either closed or not doing food. It's a real worry for an area that depends so much on tourism.

@howaboutchocolate I am vegan and have a group of friends who are vegan or coeliac and unfortunately chain restaurants are so much better at catering for that. Independent ones may be nicer and fresher but they just haven't caught up, likely for very viable reasons but I don't choose them very often. I ordered pasta at the one I mentioned upthread because it was either that or nothing, at my local nicer italian restaurant. Had I gone to a chain, I'd have had much more choice, and I like food!

I always say 'doggy bag'. I am from a relatively 'posh' background and everyone I know, including a much older generation have always said 'doggy bag'! Maybe regional?

I don’t think you get what you pay for necessarily although today I visited my favourite cafe and for poached eggs, tea and home made cake ( amazing) it came to just over eight pound. At a more local and hip place you’d be looking at at least four point more. Granted the toast would be sour dough and it would come with a garnish of greens.

Pounds not point

It's so difficult isn't it?

My money's more precious than it was 12 months ago and eating out is more of a treat. So I'm less likely to return to poor service/ quality.

On the flip side, restaurants can't get staff, costs have rocketed and service levels slipped.
Many won't survive.

I don't have the answer unless you've got a time machine and a taser for the bigoted racists & covid shite.

Was surprised at the cost of a lamb shank in sauce wholesale price £7.77 per portion, add vegetables it explains why they're so expensive in restaurants

I’ve eaten out several times in the last few weeks and can’t say I’ve noticed any difference in portion size, just the cost increase. But given the cost of everything has gone up I’m not surprised!

I would defy anyone to say that the meal in your picture was a small portion @justasking111. You would have to be a manual labourer to feel hungry after that.