That a grazing table will end up looking a bit shit?

[Lollypollydolly]

Looking for catering for a party, will be children and adults and all I keep being offered are grazing tables/platters. Having not experienced one first hand I'm worried that though it will start looking beautiful once the guests start digging in it will look a mess and maybe bit unsanitary?

YABU - they look fab and stay looking fabulous (if a little disheveled by the end of the party)

YANBU - Wasteful fad crawling with germs, find an old style caterer.

It only takes food being described as 'grazing' or 'picky bits' to make me rapidly lose my appetite!

I know its very trendy, but not for me.

Surely with Covid and Winter germs its a bad idea!?

I'm confused that this is even a concept and I'm pretty relaxed about sharing food etc! Why would you? 😕

I think they’re grim.

If you are going for. Grazing table, you might as well dispense with the table altogether and use a pig trough and just chuck a load of random food in it. Delicious 🤢

@MargaretFaffter

Other than novelty I don’t really understand what’s wrong with a buffet.

I'm old enought to ask What's the difference between a grazing table and a buffet?

@RobertsRadio

If you are going for. Grazing table, you might as well dispense with the table altogether and use a pig trough and just chuck a load of random food in it. Delicious 🤢

Yep. Let them shove their heads straight in, like bobbing for apples at Halloween. Biggest gob wins!

Meat flowers @Bollindger? This gets worse and worse.

Imagine what would happen if a cat came along and jumped on the table.

Perfect in the aftermath of a pandemic!🤣

Aftermath? When did the aftermath begin?

They give me the major ick
I couldn't eat off one at all.
I can just about cope with buffet foods but I am a bit cringey about them too, but these are just too far.

Blimey. Another school day on MN

I'm glad i'm not the only one who had to google it. Until today if i'd seen this on an invitation i'd have jut thought it was a posh name for a buffet.

Forewarned is forearmed, as they say. I'll be sure to eat before i go

Urgh I think they’re disgusting. I don’t like foods that don’t go together touching anyway but then add in people that don’t wash their hands properly touching everything too (not envy). I also can’t help thinking about all the waste! I usually over-cater as I would hate to run out but at least with a normal buffet, most things left could be kept and eaten later. Anything left on a grazing table would just have to be scraped into the bin!

Don’t do it OP! They’re so rough, lots of folk on a local buy sell swap page who used to sell cheap sweets in pizza boxes and strawberries dipped in chocolate are doing them. Highly unlikely they have hygiene certification, pictures are always on a dog haired blanket or on a kitchen worktop that’s never seen a cloth for the last six months. Just gross 🤢

For a very small group- fine.

But a big group- nooooo. Also those ones set up outside on warm days- surely flies are an issue?

Can someone explain what the difference is between a buffet table and a "grazing" table? I'm assuming the guests aren't all livestock...

A photo has been posted which will give you an idea.

Reminds me of the film called 'The Platform':

It's like the lot of you have never seen a cheese board in your lives. Or maybe you think that since you would roll about in the food like some kind of demented swine that everyone else will, as well.

Most of us are perfectly capable of taking a few grapes and a bit of cheese and putting it on a plate.

Literally every image of a grazing table that shows up in google includes serving utensils to transfer the food from the table to your plate. There is absolutely no difference between this and a buffet other than the way it is displayed and the fact that it does't contain beige food from the Iceland party freezer.

@Wroxie

It's like the lot of you have never seen a cheese board in your lives. Or maybe you think that since you would roll about in the food like some kind of demented swine that everyone else will, as well.

Most of us are perfectly capable of taking a few grapes and a bit of cheese and putting it on a plate.

It's not just cheese 🤦‍♀️

m.youtube.com/watch?v=cX4KuEAYIYY

For the John Finnemore fans amongst us

These disgusting abominations just prove that everything is ‘for the Gram’ these days I think.

It's not just about cheese and serving spoons, it's about the fact that for people with allergies and other medical issues that affect what they can eat, there is no guarantee against contamination. Imagine if you had Celiac disease and there were bits of bread scattered throughout the cheese and fruit.

@GreyhoundG1rl no shit. It's literally just charcuterie and cheese and some fruit arranged to look pretty. People are acting like it's something completely new and insane and that people stand over it eating with their hands while bits of food drop out of their mouth back on the table or something. You use the utensils to take the bits you want and put them on your own plate. Just like any other self-serve food situation. People here are just desperate to shit on anything that isn't their own idea or isn't a frozen volauvent.