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.

plus they have a bin on each table. I lived in Germany, no one had bins then. OR these weird ice cream cone type shells to put your jam in

Go up and get whatever you want. Sit down. Eat. Go back for seconds.

There you go.

the only hot thing was hard boiled eggs MMM mit salz

One of us will get the drinks. One of us will got and negotiate with the toaster that tries to toast bread with a light bulb and therefore takes forever. I sometimes pick up a plate of all the little pastry/bread type things, and sometimes one of us will pick up a plate of fruits to be shared.

Beyond that, we get our own.

So how do the Germans do it?

no, no wrangling of Die Toddlers.
YOU AND your h alone.

Oh I love the idea of a communal plate

Were you more Scandi-way than Mittel Europe? Kind of thing I would boast obliquely about in Premier Inn, Euston "oh YAIRS, we have adopted the NORWEGIAN breakfast style" hahhah

if there were more than two at the table I would usually ask if a selection of pastries was required.

It really depends who you are with...with dh it's every man for themselves, en famille then I tend to go a bit more communal, if only to cut the queues a bit

We'll the German way is stupid because different people like different things. I don't want husbands cheese on same plate as my salami. Also DS has food allergies so the English way is better.

North Germany. Yes.
I wanted to be communal and TIDY

but the German way looked chic. No one is chic with food allergies

Those bins on the table give me the rage.

i am not sure they are very good but it made everything sehr ordentlich

I prefer the 'English way'.

I hate to see all those foreign families taking everything off the buffet to pile on their own table, leaving the buffet with major yummy things missing. They invariably leave 70% of what they've taken too, which then all goes in the bin. It pissed me of mightily in Egypt when they took every single bloody mini pancake and all the best rolls

I would HATE to stay in a hotel with families. Specially all inclusive

but the German way looked chic. No one is chic with food allergies

So are Germans with food allergies just outcasts of German society then? My DS happens to be very chic BTW!

The Russians are like this. We holidayed in Tunisia earlier this year, all inclusive. They'd sharpen their elbows, pile a plate up of as much food they could carry. Plonk it in the middle of the table, and then get the rest for themselves. It is wasteful.

I have just come back from a hotel in the Canaries where the majority of guests were German and the rest Swedish (apart from our group which was made up of English and French people). One morning they had "Englisch Frühstuck". I was quite curious to see what this would entail. It turned out to include Cocoa Pops and Cornflakes (not usually available) and cheese & ham toasties!

On my last morning, my breakfast consisted of American pancakes, a fruit compote and whipped cream.

I agree that it looks NICE, but isn't it a bit wasteful?

Won't the communal plates mean you end up having taken too many rolls or too much ham and so it goes to waste?

I fully support everyone getting their own, unless you all want the same things. I'd be quite narked if someone chose my breakfast for me.

Who wants a bin on the table?

DH and I often do this when we are on holiday. We usually take it in turns. Anyway I get fruit and juice first eat that, Then go up and serve myself from whatever else is on offer EG croissants cold meats, Then eat that. I"ll often get a 2nd helping, DH does the same

If you want chic, it's breakfast of your liking, made to order served at your table. Not a bloody serve yourself buffet.

Oh and we do it exactly the same whether we are in the UK or abroad. I've noticed that most people do the same as us,

I sit tight. DH gets the orange juice. Meanwhile waiter comes with tea or coffee. Then we help ourselves or if I'm feeling really tired or lazy DH gets what I want from the buffet. Some families get a selection of food on a larger plate and then share it at the table. Don't think it really matters.