Portion sizes in pubs and restaurants-why are they so big?

[AlternativelyWired]

Unless of course it's somewhere very fancy.
Inspired by the calories on menus threads I was wondering why portions are so big. One place we go to does a children's pizza, chips and peas. This is just short of 900 calories. It's a Chicago town style pizza with a large handful of chips and a portion of peas. Even the adult menu has very little that's below 800 calories. Starters to share (for two people) are over 1000 calories. Some of the meat 'challenges' are over 4000 calories each! Why?
Surely if portion sizes were smaller or rather, appropriate, this would be better than stating calorie values and would help avoid food waste. Food waste induces a lot of guilt in me, and the calories do too as a former anorexic, and although eating out is a treat that we don't do often, I don't want a huge plateful of food that I won't be able to finish. I think the meat challenges are obscene but that might be my eating disordered and veggie brain speaking.
Why are pizzas so big? And burgers? Over 1000 calories for a burger and that's without the chips.
Could places offer small portions? Although even the seniors menu is a larger than normal portion.
I don't particularly want to know the calories of the dishes on offer but I do want a choice of smaller portions rather than contributing to food waste.
And while I'm at it, what happened to sandwiches on menus? In the 80s and 90s everywhere we went had a sandwich section with egg mayonnaise, prawn mayonnaise, beef, ham, cheddar ploughman's and now sandwiches don't seem to exist except in cafés. A nice sandwich with a salad garnish and maybe a handful of crisps. My mum would be so happy if they came back. And omelettes.
Bring back proper plates, the ones we had in the 80s not the huge ones we have now.

I wouldn’t approve of that at all.

When I was strapped for cash I really looked forward to a family party/meal where we’d be treated. Especially if it was a buffet!

I’d not eat much the day before/at all so didn’t care about the calories, and often others wouldn’t even want their copious leftovers so would end up with those too to take home.

Don’t start a campaign please, they’d shrink the portions, but not the price!

Don’t start a campaign please, they’d shrink the portions, but not the price!

Yes! That’s certainly what would happen.

[quote JollyWilloughby]@Deadringer

Not enough for me that's for sure. If I ate like that I would be super skinny, as I am slim. I would need some cheesy chips on the side .[/quote]
@JollyWilloughby

You wouldn’t NEED some cheesy chips on the side now, would you

@FishfingersAndCustard86

I wouldn’t approve of that at all.

When I was strapped for cash I really looked forward to a family party/meal where we’d be treated. Especially if it was a buffet!

I’d not eat much the day before/at all so didn’t care about the calories, and often others wouldn’t even want their copious leftovers so would end up with those too to take home.

Don’t start a campaign please, they’d shrink the portions, but not the price!

@FishfingersAndCustard86

What if they shrank the portion size and improved the quality? Lots of pubs could do with doing this

@Everydaydayisaschoolday

I agree with you OP. Portions are usually way too big. Seeing a heaped plate of food kills my appetite stone dead. I either just have a starter or I take some of it home. A standard 8oz steak in a restaurant served with a salad and chips will do me for one meal in the restaurant and then make a couple of steak sandwiches for tea over the next couple of days. Or a Pizza Express Romana - I'll eat a third in the restaurant and then the other two thirds over the next couple of days with veg or salad to beef it up.

Of course you do love

@Deadringer

This was my main in a restaurant yesterday, I am curious to know if people think this is outrageously huge, about right, or on the small side. There were more potatoes and green beans on a side plate, this is how much I took. Just curious.

That looks lovely! Perfect portion size too

What if they shrank the portion size and improved the quality? Lots of pubs could do with doing this

@LuckySantangelo35 I think they already have this. If you want higher quality you can go to a more expensive restaurant or cook at home.

There is a reason that we have the restaurant price ‘spectrum’ that we already have. So some can say they are going for quality over quantity, and others can get their value for their money.

What I wanted was ‘treat’ food that I couldn’t afford to splash out on at the time, and as much as it was possible.

If anyone thinks a given restaurants portion sizes are too big they should be more than capable of either leaving what they don’t want, taking leftovers home, or choosing a different restaurant.

junk food isnt satisfying so they have to serve a lot.

Could you go somewhere else that serves better, more nutritious food?

It seems like you're getting more for your money that way. And it's better than being left hungry. People feel skanked otherwise, and would probably leave a nasty review (and rightly so.)

A pub near me, if you order a pudding it's tiny, and expensive. Not impressive.

@Florenz

Restaurants should be legally required to offer a half size portion of every dish they offer, at half the price of the full size one.

Are you actually serious? Do you understand anything about cooking or about how businesses work?

I wouldn't give restaurants the choice, legally mandate that they HAVE to do this. It is a public health issue.

Nobody is saying restaurants and pubs shouldn't serve half portions or half pints. Or saying that they shouldn't cost less. But they shouldn't cost nearly as little as half price, for the very good reasons everyone has very clearly pointed out.

Forcing restaurants to serve half portions at a considerable loss is completely unreasonable, especially given the current state of the hospitality sector. If you want to eat less, eat less. If you want a half portion, ask for one. Just don't expect to have the staff's pay and the overheads to be taken off the price as well as the reduction in ingredients!

@WhenWillThisEverEnd

This thread is a good example of why so many in this country are over weight. The portion sizes in restaurants have changed our perception of what a normal amount of food is to eat. Portion sizes have got bigger as people have got fatter. We now have bigger plates and bigger glasses. This impacts on portion sizes at home. Of course there are a few people that can eat all this and stay slim but the fact is we have a major problem with obesity in this county it causes major health issues. Those that think it’s fine to eat a massive plate of processed food is fine because it is a treat are deluding themselves. Many counties in Europe have much smaller portions in restaurants and are generally slimmer than us. America huge portions and a huge obesity problem. The quality of food also counts. Restaurants only serve big portions of cheap, usually low quality food.

Who's fault is it if a person is overweight though?

If it's genuinely through eating too much and not moving enough, then who's to blame? Not the restaurants, they don't force food down peoples throats.

Even if the portion sizes were cut, it's possible to just order more so policing that won't work.

A lot of this depends on where you go to, don’t want pub grub? Go to an al a carte restaurant.

@Deadringer

This was my main in a restaurant yesterday, I am curious to know if people think this is outrageously huge, about right, or on the small side. There were more potatoes and green beans on a side plate, this is how much I took. Just curious.

That looks very nice, but I'm guessing it didn't come from somewhere that also sells 'meat challenges'.

Going to the sort of place OP went to and being disgusted by the huge portions is like going to McDonald's and then being horrified that it's junk food - it's the whole point, it's what the people who go there want and know they're getting, and there are loads of alternative places to eat if it isn't what you want.

I don't understand why it's not just the case that diners overwhelmed by portion sizes can't use their voice.

Because they're so waif-like from their bird like appetites, they've no energy to use their mouth.
(Plus, what if they open their mouth and swallow an extra mouthful of air... THE HORROR)

@Kurtanforpm

You know if it’s too much for you, you can just leave it?

No one is standing over you making you clear your plate.

The restaurant don’t care if you lick your plate clean or leave it all as long as you pay.

Does it not bother you to waste food? It bothers me.

This thread is a good example of why so many in this country are over weight. The portion sizes in restaurants have changed our perception of what a normal amount of food is to eat. Portion sizes have got bigger as people have got fatter. We now have bigger plates and bigger glasses. This impacts on portion sizes at home. Of course there are a few people that can eat all this and stay slim but the fact is we have a major problem with obesity in this county it causes major health issues. Those that think it’s fine to eat a massive plate of processed food is fine because it is a treat are deluding themselves. Many counties in Europe have much smaller portions in restaurants and are generally slimmer than us. America huge portions and a huge obesity problem. The quality of food also counts. Restaurants only serve big portions of cheap, usually low quality food.

I think pretty much any measures taken by the government are just shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted though. You can't make people eat less or eat healthier. If some restaurants serve little portions and some serve big portions, people will vote with their feet.

Personally I wouldn't want to live in a country where restaurants were mandated by law to serve dishes within a calorie limit. What would be the point anyway, when people can just go home and eat a tub of ice cream if they're not full? People shpuld be, and are, responsible for their own eating habits.

Most places serve big burgers on horrible buns, and pizzas and chips etc, because they know lots of people like stuffing these things down when going out to eat.

I think some of the sparky replies are from posters who haven't eaten round here. We joke about Barnsley sized portions, but people feel cheated unless they get an outsized plateful of food. I have a healthy appetite, but I'm not a teenager, nor do I do manual labour, and I agree with the OP that in many cases portions are too big these days.

Does it not bother you to waste food? It bothers me

Not when eating out, no. I don’t dictate the portion sizes. It’s not something I can get worked up over. I’m not out to save the world, I just want a nice meal that doesn’t leave me hungry i the way home.

For every person leaving two thirds and handwringing about the potions being too big and food waste, there will be another greedy fucker polishing it all off and ordering bread on the side (me). So it all evens out.

If people worry so much then don’t eat out?

@AlternativelyWired

Autism and "just eat somewhere else" aren't really compatible. We can't share as we all have different likes with our food and there's is only a handful of places we feel comfortable. This is only an issue when we go out which isn't all that often I suppose. I'd forgotten that mumsnet takes the piss out of threads like this Maybe I should have posted on the neurodiverse board instead.

But "your issue" , as per op and title was the portion size. Nothing to do with neuro diversity!

If you order two of the same thing at a restaurant, they don't give you a discount, you have to pay twice the cost. So it's no different to offering a smaller, half sized portion at 50% of the cost. If you want a larger portion, just buy two.

@Florenz

Those who have bigger appetites should have to pay double to fill them because you can't finish a plate and have issues with portions?

Would you do that with all meal options? Half sized salads? Soup? Or just the ones you deem unhealthy?

Was there a massive salad on the menu?

I find the portions much too large especially if the food is rich.

It's not unknown for me to leave half the food on my plate. I hate the wastage which is another reason why we now rarely eat out.

(and to forestall the questions on why don't I take it home, half a portion of a poorly made mushroom risotto or fake meat burger is not tempting at the time, let alone the next day)