To plate it in the kitchen rather than let people serve themselves?

[IggyPoppers]

If you're having a family meal do you plate it straight from the whatever it was cooked in onto plates and then carry those plates through or do you decant the food into a serving bowl and carry that through? AIBU to not want even more dishes and to just plate it from the hob?

Use serving dishes only for special occasions like Xmas or family visits.

You get what you're given otherwise!

On reflection I actually detest people serving themselves - always leaving all the vegetables

I usually allow people to serve themselves.

If you are doing the cooking why are you also doing the washing up?

I never plate it up, always put it in serving dishes in the centre of the dining table. Much easier than second guessing how much everyone will want!

more washing up and food goes cold by the time you’ve decanted from the pan and then finally to peoples plates

It really doesn't.

@IHaveBrilloHair

There's only 2 of your but you don't even eat in the same room together even though you're both eating your meal at the same time? That's a shame.

I know very few people with dining tables big enough to put separate serving dishes out for everything. If it’s a buffet or party food then fine; a standard meal I’d just serve.

Well, I don't plate up as I'm not working in a professional kitchen (sorry, can't stand that phrase - I don't 'serve' either as I'm not wait staff).

Depends on the meal, who's there and how tired I feel (ie amount of washing up - no dishwasher).

Plate it up and tell them to come and collect it - anything for an easy life. I've never had any complaints, but I suppose that's what we're all used to.

I can't see any reason for plating up other than wishing to control portion sizes.

Table isn't big enough
I know what people like and how much they eat or I ask (family meals)
I hate washing up (no room for a dishwasher)

ATB
DD is weird about eating in front of people, not me generally if she has to but she prefers not to so I've never forced the issue.

Plate in front of people at best. Or let them help themselves. People should be able to get the portions and types of food they want rather than what you think they should eat.
Apart from restaurants I don't understand why would anyone plate meals for guests.

I'd only plate up for a small child - wouldn't do this for any one past this age. Even when it's just the two of us, we put into simple serving dishes. An exception would be a single central feature like a steak or a piece of fish, or something like poached eggs on toast.

I also don't tend to use serving dishes. It tends to go to the table in the pots, or in the rare cases that serving dishes save space.

Unless the Queen visits, of course.

Somewhere in between usually. We're having pie tonight so I'll put pie on the plates then take veg through (dining table is in the living room) and everyone can help themselves

Always plate up. Where the fuck do People get the space for plates, dishes, glasses, jugs, cutlery?

I cook, serve, wash up every night, you bloody we'll get what your given.

I hate food in bowls on the table. If you're doing a meal it should be served on the plate. It's not a buffet or self service

If it's family do they not tell you in advance?
Like Dd would say she only wants a small portion or doesn't want carrots at that meal or whatever?
We had a roast with loads of bits last night, I'd have had to use about 10 serving dishes.

Plate it up and then shout for everyone to come and get it

No way I am I creating more washing up / mess using serving bowls!

My family attends these big family dinners where the host has everything in bowls and platters on the table. Half the guests are children. The serving dishes are often far too hot to touch and the ones that aren’t are huge and heavy. We end up passing plates back and forth, walking around the table to help kids, and it becomes a huge production and takes forever to get all the food to everyone. It ceases to be elegant and is just a giant breach of proper etiquette because passing the platters is impossible. It would be so much simpler if they served it on a buffet or just had the host plate.

Immediate family its usually plated up in the kitchen together, dh will say don't give me any carrots, or ds will ask for an extra bit of meat if there is any going etc. So everyone gets what they want (mostly!) without extra dishes.

With extended family it depends on the dish, the main component may be plated up and potatoes, veg, rice, sauce etc in the middle to help themselves.

I did put the gravy in a gravy boat though, but it's Denby and it's beeyootiful

For weeknights at home I just plate up. We are hosting a big family dinner this week and it will be a buffet.

If we have a big family gathering at my mum’s for Sunday lunch for example, it all goes in the middle of the table for people to serve themselves.....
But I’d honestly prefer to just have it plated up while it’s still all hot with a bit of everything on the plate , and just leave whatever bits you don’t like/want.
By the time everyone has served themselves up and passed dishes around the table, half your dinner is cold, and then you ends up having twice as much stuff to go through the dishwasher.

I'm going to go against the grain here and say that as a guest, I prefer my meal plated. I don't like the whole "can you pass the..." thing and also I never know how much to dish up for myself. I worry about taking too much of one thing and then there's not enough for everyone else. I find it quite stressful!

As a family I've always just cooked the amount we're likely to eat and dished up. Otherwise how do you judge how much you should be cooking? Do you make loads of everything in case someone wants say, extra broccoli on any given day? I don't like having leftovers though, as I'm not good at using them up.