AIBU to conclude that "Fine Dining" restaurants more often than not offer miserly portions of food?

[FineDining]

Have been to a number of restaurants which are listed in the Michelin Guide. Without exception, the portions have been tiny and we have come out hungry.

Paid £60 for a vegan tasting menu the other week at a Michelin recommended restaurant. After 2.5 hours of getting a tiny portion of food every 15 minutes, we were still not satiated. Had to go to Greggs straight after to top up with a sausage roll after!

I think it's a cheek to charge high prices for portions that wouldn't keep a sparrow alive.

Brace yourself, OP - the competitive under-eaters will soon be arriving to tell you we have 'lost sight of normal portion sizes' 😃

I can’t say I’ve ever come away from a Michelin star meal or any tasting menu and been hungry.
The portions are supposed to be small because there are usually significantly more courses.

Its not about quantity and stuffing yourself. Its about explosions of flavours you don't get in less rated restaurant. You're supposed to take time and appreciate each mouth full.

I do agree though that I also never left feeling hungry, maybe because you take more time to go through each dish.

I wonder if it's the vegan thing.

As a meat eater I always think the same as you at the beginning, and then by the last petit four suddenly feel completely satiated.

I always assumed it's measured and timed absolutely perfectly to make you only feel full at the last mouthful.

The portion sizes of a la carte food is designed around a 10+ course meal not the standard 3 courses that most of these restaurants are serving so yes its a rip off

Were you actually hungry or just 'not full'?

I've never come out hungry, no. Not stuffed to the brim like a pub grub place though.

The courses are small because there are loads of them.

I’ve not often done a tasting menu but I went to one a little while ago for a friends birthday- not Michelin star but high end restaurant, 6 course set tasting menu.

The food was tasty but literally a couple of mouthfuls each portion, I wouldn’t go again.

£60 would get you just a starter at a fine dining place.

I don't know, but a vegan tasting menu sounds gorgeous.

The food was lovely! However, half a carrot presented beautifully with an exciting sauce barely touches the sides of my appetite. Even with 8 similarly sized courses followed by 4 tiny petit fours, still not full 😀

Maybe I am a gannet!

I've never come away from one hungry. Not 'feeling stuffed' but definitely not hungry.

There's definitely a thing where different restaurants cater to different markets eg pubs where the expectation is a giant meal or clients will feel they didn't get their money's worth vs restaurants catering to clients who will mostly be dieting and want a small portion of quality flavour.

I suspect it could be because it was vegan. I feel like in some fine dining restaurants protein is often forgotten. I once went to a place that replaced the steak course with a mushroom - yes one single mushroom with the same sauce and sides the steak has. It was delicious but not filling. I also paid the same price!

Since that was where I first saw it, I’d always thought ‘fine dining’ was an American term, meaning basically anywhere that wasn’t a ’chicken, ribs, burgers, fries’ place.

Like any restaurant, some do, some don't.

One we used to go to (L'orlotan, near Reading) gave very generous portions by any standards. Another one (no names no pack drill) while it was superbly cooked, I'd be making myself a snack a couple of hours after we got back.

We don't go to these places very often but I always look at the portions thinking they're inadequate but end up feeling very full.
Perhaps it is the vegan thing.

I've given up on doing tasting menus now, they are far too faffy and long winded.

They are ok for the gastronomic experience, but I'd rather just have three decent courses. Plus maybe any amuse bouche they may throw in, plus cheese if I'm being really piggy, plus the petits fours!

As you gather, I like the food not the faff!

It the whole point, quality vs quantity… but yeh you never leave “full”

if you want a trough to elsewhere 🤣

Yes, vegan food can be less filling. In fairness, there were quite a few nuts included in the various dishes. I think that this was probably an attempt to include protein on the menu. The other sources of vegan protein like lentils or beans weren't served.

It's the vegan/veggie element. I do not go as I am left ravenous but DH and DC who eat meat and fish are always stuffed. That food is portion balanced for the fat'/protein of meat and veggies do not offer the same level of fat so leave you hungry imo.

The OP was there for 2.5 hours, getting a plate every 15 mins - that is 10 courses. So the size of each needs to be suitable for 10 courses!

I've never come away from either a tasting menu or à la carte feeling hungry, and I'm not someone who usually has small portions.

I’ve been for three fancy vegan fine dining meals, two of which were at Michelin starred venues.

Alchemilla in Nottingham - 7 courses and pairings and with the snacks, etc. I was more than satisfied and because the meal was a few hours long and all the explanations of courses and wines, I was very comfortably satisfied and certainly wasn’t still hungry.

Why not have your entire meal from Greggs?
That way you know you are getting value for money.
Smart dress optional

It sounds like you went somewhere a bit shit if the vegan courses weren’t designed in their own right, and instead are just the same as the meat course with something swapped out.

Stick with Greggs. Obviously this isn’t for you. Btw portion sizes at fine dining restaurants are roughly what they should be; it’s just that we generally eat more than we should. If you look at portions 30 years ago it is not a mystery why people are much fatter now.