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 think Cheesus was parodying the competitive under-eating sometimes seen on this type of thread.

I agree with you that portions are often far too large for me and I feel bad about the waste. I’m not worried about calories it’s throwing away food and feeling like I have to overeat to avoid it. Pizza is not so bad as you can often take it home. It seems less common to offer small portions now, I can only presume that there’s a bigger mark up on large portions.

@CheesusWept

I always ask the restaurant to box up the leftovers and then that does me and DD for dinners for the rest of the week.

You eat leftovers from a single meal for the rest of the week?!!

Why is Mumsnet so dramatic about anything concerning food? 😂😂 This can't be true.

If I was running a cafe or restaurant, I would offer a small plate / big plate options, including for cake. I have been a greedy fat bastard for most of my life, but increasingly I just don’t want a massive piece of cake /a blowout meal, I want a taste of something.
I know I could get one-between-two but sometimes I just want something nice for me.

@NoodleNuts

If I wanted a ham sandwich with a salad garnish and a handful of crisps, I would make myself one at home in about 5 mins. That to me is not a treat and I wouldn't be ordering one in a pub or restaurant.

I agree. I don't order food or that I can easily make at home.

Also a "handful" of chips isn't that many.

The competitive undereaters will be along shortly..."a handful of chips?! I'd be stuffed for a week!"

@Antarcticant

I think Cheesus was parodying the competitive under-eating sometimes seen on this type of thread.

I doubt it, there was a poster on another board that said her 14 year old would struggle to eat half a tin of beans 🤣 the competitive under eating on MN is madness.

Italians are good often for doing half pasta dishes

The leftovers from one restaurant dinner provides enough food to feed you & your DD for the rest of the week? How does that work?

Obviously served at home each day with a massive salad.

Order the vegetarian option. They're always tiny compared with meat options. Or better still the gluten free since it's usually a bowl of fresh air.

Is it just greedy pig me that thinks restaurant portions are actually shrinking? Like TGI Fridays - v small plates and not so filling but more expensive than ever.

Not that I would eat a whole pizza and chips! Heavens. That would last a fortnight!

@GenderCriticalTrumpets

Is it just greedy pig me that thinks restaurant portions are actually shrinking? Like TGI Fridays - v small plates and not so filling but more expensive than ever.

Not that I would eat a whole pizza and chips! Heavens. That would last a fortnight!

TGI's has gone rubbish lately

@GenderCriticalTrumpets

Is it just greedy pig me that thinks restaurant portions are actually shrinking? Like TGI Fridays - v small plates and not so filling but more expensive than ever.

Not that I would eat a whole pizza and chips! Heavens. That would last a fortnight!

No not just you I went to TGIs recently and got the quesadilla and it was tiny I was so disappointed! So not everything is huge portions, my kids got the fajitas and I wished I had ordered that instead as you got a lot more. I was still hungry after eating.

@CheesusWept

I always ask the restaurant to box up the leftovers and then that does me and DD for dinners for the rest of the week.

This made me laugh. I can't imagine how big a dinner would have to be to feed me for a whole week. Like how big are the plates?

"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."

I agree. I lost my appetite completely when I had anxiety and still couldn't eat very much for a year or so afterwards. Eating out was often a challenge - I usually had a starter and a side, or a kids meal.

Now that I'm better, I can eat a full adult meal plus DD's leftovers and still have room for pudding... but I know that I shouldn't so it'd be nice to have the option of a sensible portion.

I love a good MN food thread. Never any inbetweens or nuance. It has to be batshit at either end of the scale

I've had weight loss surgery and I noticed this. Ironically one of the least fancy pub chains wetherspoons do small portions of mains. I've found independent pubs also do small portions.

@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.

Don't be ridiculous. The actual ingredients are a tiny fraction of the cost to the restaurant. Just eat what you want and stop when full. If you can't afford the price of the meal, don't eat there.

Hahaha here come all the dainty little dotes that couldn't possibly eat more than a few leaves because they get soooooo full

I'm 5ft, 7 stone and some of the portions posters bleat on about here would leave me ravenous.

OP, if you don't like the menu - go elsewhere. If the calorie counts are too high on the menus (and you only eat from the kids menu) then why not just stay home. Agree with PP, a sandwich and crisps is something for home.

TGI has been rubbish for about 20 years now. It used to be great.

We often eat out with my elderly mum and between us all with our autism and sensory issues it's really difficult to find one place that suits us all. There's nowhere to store leftovers in the hotel we stay in.

Obviously we normally survive on fresh air carefully filtered through Fijian rock but on holiday we have to make sacrifices.

CheesusWept

I always ask the restaurant to box up the leftovers and then that does me and DD for dinners for the rest of the week.

🤣🤣

Have you got your big plate, Alan?

@CheesusWept

I always ask the restaurant to box up the leftovers and then that does me and DD for dinners for the rest of the week.

@CheesusWept I would like to do that sometimes, but never have the nerve. Do the restaurants ever give you a funny look? Or is it quite common nowadays?

I’ll be honest, this is why we go to Wetherspoons. You can get small versions of all the meals. Ds in particular eats very small portions, normal portions overwhelm him.

If he orders a pizza or pasta based meal out he ends up leaving half unless it’s somewhere that allows adults to order children sizes. We both really like sides like dough balls etc and would prefer a smaller main but with a side or starter.

Because for lots of people it’s a treat.