Hotel Buffet Breakfasts ( cold) How do you do them?

[NoelleHawthorne]

I was abroad with a lavish hotel breakfast of cold items. (North European)
If there were two of you eating, how would you arrange collection and arrangement of the items?

I think I did it wrong.

( Ps not telling you how I did it until you reveal, but i think the English way is The Wrong Way)

I usually get some fruit and go back and eat that.

Then return for my hot plate.

there is no hot
ok there are two of you.

How does that alter it?

Just get what I want, return to my table, eat it, go.

Get shown to a table, order coffee or tea then go and see what there is. If I'm with DP we don't take turns or get things for each other (neither of us is a child in need of supervision) as drinks will be on the table making it clear it's taken.

oh, sorry. Didn't read properly.

we'd probably sit at our table and then go one at a time and bring back what we needed. How many ways are there? !

I get my own. They get their own. I might get them orange juice when I go to get mine but that's the extent of it.

i ususallu put what i fancy on the plate then eat it. i dont care about etiquette!

i dont understand why you are stressing.... no one marks your performance like they do on strictly!

its all going to get jumbled up in your tummy anyway

What's the 'English way'? No one's ever communicated it to me if it exists!

you take YOUR plate , trot off, go and get what you want and then return to eat your plate of stuff?*

*NB this is a v boring thread you have permission to leave now ;)

no i am not stressing, I just noticed it was different abroad. Its not a big deal!

We'd just go up together and get what we wanted (wouldn't take it in turns) and go back up as required.

RIGHT
well it seems that German families do it in a much nicer way that made me at once annoyed and also secretly jealous

Is there another way of doing this which people of other nationalities always do??

they lay a little table with rolls on one plate, ham and cheese on another etc and then all help themselves from the communal plate.

It was so NICE and i just looked like a big ol warthog with my own plate groaning with food.

Just say what it is then!

( I think it is in their DNA )

it's usually the Germans who are stuffing fistfuls of it in their pockets for later

Each person fills a plate with the food they are going to eat.
Then takes it back to the table.
Then eats it.

Are there other methods?

What do Germans do? I never thought of doing anything but going and helping myself to whatever I fancy and letting DH do the same.

X post - well that just presupposes everyone wants the same thing and sounds like a more limited selection than I was imagining. Perhaps they had a look and discussed what to get. Who knows.

yes there IS weeps and it was SO GENTEEL

Sorry x posted, that dies sound a nicer way, but wasteful if things get left and messy if you haven't got a plate in front of you as well.

Several families did this. I pretended that I thought it was crap but it made them look like UBER families.

This is why I hate eating breakfast with other people. wrings hands

if there was no hot course then I'd go fruit, yogurt, cereal (maybe, I am not keen on cereal tbh), then onto the breads/toast, pastries, croissants, muffins and then rounding off with cheese, ham, possibly smoked salmon

I would ask my fellow diner if there was anything they required when I went up or if they'd rather go themselves.

I'd also have a glass of juice at the start and then coffee to accompany! :o

I like a nice hotel breakfast.