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.

Competitive undereating again on Mumsnet. I looked at a lettuce leaf earlier and will be all right till next month!

@FrangipaniBlue

If restaurants offered sensible portions at sensible prices then those who just want a small portion can order accordingly.

That's the crux, you want it cheaper. If you have a £15 main meal, but also offer a half sized option, it would be priced about £10-£12.50 which would cause complaints etc. The actual food cost is usually around a quarter of the menu price, the other costs having to be unchanged, i.e. staffing, premises, admin/mgmt, crockery/cutlery, cleaning, etc etc. If a pub offered half sized meals, the customers would expect to pay half price which simply isn't going to happen as it wouldn't cover costs.

And others DON'T like to order three courses, because that's expensive and time consuming. I never like any of the starters available.

Your typical pub won't want you to have 3 courses either as it's blocks your table for too long, and their business model is a quick in and out to get another party on your table. The typical pub food model is optimised on two courses, which is the "sweet spot" where the profit is maximised in minimal time, bearing in mind the average spend on food, average time, average number of drinks ordered in that time, etc etc.

I agree with FranigipaniBlue when I go out for a meal I would like to have, enjoy and finish three courses because I don't do that at home impossible to do that when the portion sizes are so huge and yes I find it off putting having a plate of food placed in front of me that I know I am not going to able to finish.

@womanchild more like competitive overeating with an added dash of defensiveness about doing so.

Even the adult menu has very little that's below 800 calories. Starters to share (for two people) are over 1000 calories

but to me that represents the one meal I would have in a day.

800 calorie mains, 500 calorie starter and similar for dessert and that is 1800 calories. Which for one days food isn’t going to really put weight on you.
especially if you have eaten it in one meal.
Isnt it healthier to have one big meal only per day.

If you compare an 800 calorie main course to a meal deal then it makes a restaurant meal look very little.

I have seen sandwiches at over 800 calories, add in a packet of crisps and you are looking at nearly the starter and main course.

@aSofaNearYou

*But perhaps read my previous post where I clearly explained that I like to have the option of eating three different courses. That's the joy of eating out for me, getting to do/try things that I wouldn't at home.

I don't want just one huge portion of the same thing thanks nor do I want to order 3 portions and leave some of them; it's wasteful and un-necessary.

If restaurants offered sensible portions at sensible prices then those who just want a small portion can order accordingly. If you want to eat more, fine order extras.

Such a simple solution that caters for different preferences and keeps everyone happy, no?*

And others DON'T like to order three courses, because that's expensive and time consuming. I never like any of the starters available.

And no, small portions with extras wouldn't keep everyone happy, because for example I do not want a tiny pizza with lots of side orders of other things, I want a decent sized pizza.

You're only looking at this from your perspective.

I would think that given I quite explicitly said I like different courses of things that I wouldn't normally eat at home, it should be fairly obvious that I'm not talking about pizza.......

@Badbadbunny

@FrangipaniBlue

If restaurants offered sensible portions at sensible prices then those who just want a small portion can order accordingly.

That's the crux, you want it cheaper. If you have a £15 main meal, but also offer a half sized option, it would be priced about £10-£12.50 which would cause complaints etc. The actual food cost is usually around a quarter of the menu price, the other costs having to be unchanged, i.e. staffing, premises, admin/mgmt, crockery/cutlery, cleaning, etc etc. If a pub offered half sized meals, the customers would expect to pay half price which simply isn't going to happen as it wouldn't cover costs.

Which is exactly why I said sensible portions for a sensible price.

I've just had a truly criminal meal of m

Try again.
Meal of microwave pizza and oven chips. I followed it with a calippo for pudding. It was delicious and just what I needed today. Carbs are good 😃

We get doggy bags too if there’s much left. But that’s quite rare and would do max one meal, probably for the DC only.

I don't get why a half sized portion couldn't be half the price or perhaps just over half. One meal is half the price of two of the same meal, and the other costs remain the same to the restaurant regarding staffing, management, premises etc. Other than another plate and cutlery being used and having to be washed.

Ok just say the price of a meal covers staffing, management, premises, plate, cutlery, washing up and ingredients.

Big meal:
Staffing, management, premises, plate, cutlery, washing up = £8
Ingredients = £5
Total for meal = £13

Half meal:
Staffing, management, premises, plate, cutlery, washing up = £8
Ingredients = £2.50
Total for meal = £10.50

The meal may be halved, but the rest of the stuff still costs the same.

You still don't get it? Wow.

YABU. Portions are fine for me as a treat and if too big, I take it home.

Except it doesn’t cost the restaurant half as much to make & serve a dish with slightly less ingredients. Ingredients is a relatively small part of the overall price

Same here - or a friend hoovers up tbe excess (or me theirs)