Page 8 | Charged for an empty plate?!

sandwichh · 2025-09-09T20:36:40+00:00

I recently went to a greene king pub for a carvery. After plating up my dinner, I asked for a plate for my 10 month old, not to take any extra food but to take it off my plate to give to him. They wanted to charge me for it! Never had this issue before, AIBU?

Strawberrryfields · 10/09/2025 07:01

How much were they charging? I don’t think £1 is bad for a baby bowl but if they were charging for a full adult plate that’s ridiculous

FurForksSake · 10/09/2025 07:02

You could also consider whether you loaded your plate for yourself and then ate less than you intended to allow for feeding the baby or if you compiled your plate to ensure you had enough and then added what you intended to feed the baby.

this is going to run and run. I doubt the OP will be back, I’m not sure I would be!

SummerFrog25 · 10/09/2025 07:09

Frazzledcat · 09/09/2025 22:57

I can't see how people think this is being cheeky. It's exactly the same as ordering one meal to share with a friend and asking for a spare plate. I often do this with a friend as we both eat really small portions.

I can't see, how you can't see, the massive difference between ordering a set meal & sharing it & paying for one person at a carvery , taking a huge serving & sharing that.

Seajaye · 10/09/2025 07:12

Presumably it wasn't full price charge? I think it sounds like you wanted a separate baby portion of food, so not unreasonable for the restaurant to charge something for it, as it's difficult to know at what point the cut off should be for free portions of their food. Lots of people would do the same for a toddler.

I would have just fed the baby from my plate or used a saucer or side plate .

SummerFrog25 · 10/09/2025 07:12

ProfessionalPirate · 09/09/2025 23:01

Ok, like I say I’ve never been to the big chain ones. Have you been to Greene King? Do you know which format their carvery takes? If it is indeed all you can eat, I agree that does have some bearing on the OP’s issue - although I still think trying to charge a 10 month old for a full child’s portion is OTT.

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We don't know how much they wanted to charge because she won't say, I'm assuming it was probably the usual 'baby biwk' £2.

Sausagenbacon · 10/09/2025 07:13

They have to make up for people like my elderly mum who load up on more food than they could possibly eat, and ask for a box to take left overs home in (which look disgusting)

Shhhhitsmagic · 10/09/2025 07:13

SummerFrog25 · 10/09/2025 06:48

Because you have paid for that food , no matter who eats it. It's different at a carvery because you haven't paid for that food in the same way. You have paid for that one person to eat , not extra food for other people. Substitute her DH for her baby & then you might see the difference.

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The OP has paid for her that food too! 😂
You can't compare an adult male to a 10 month old baby, that's ridiculous. A 10 month old might eat half a potato and a few peas. The OP is simply having 1 or 2 less bites of food and giving it to her baby. This thread is crazy!

breakfastdinnerandtea · 10/09/2025 07:17

Whenever I went to the carvery with my babies, they’d always give a small free bowl to share food from my plate. I thought this was normal?
Toby carvery is as many vegetables as you want, you can keep filling up. I can’t see anything on Greene King to confirm or deny but wouldn’t be surprised if it was the same.

ProfessionalPirate · 10/09/2025 07:17

Jc2001 · 10/09/2025 06:54

Why don't you Google it yourself, or are you too good for that too? 😆

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Touchy! I genuinely don’t live anywhere near a chain carvery to I couldn’t visit one even if I wanted to (admittedly I really don’t).

Anyway, after getting no replies I did google it in the end (as you would know if you’d read my subsequent posts!) and after wading laboriously through their waffley website I’m still unsure what the answer is. It appears their pricing scheme is based on plate size so I’m assuming it is not all you can eat but I haven’t seen that in writing.

ProfessionalPirate · 10/09/2025 07:18

Charlize43 · 10/09/2025 00:05

🤔

Edited

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🤷🏻‍♀️

ACR7 · 10/09/2025 07:19

I’ve taken my baby to the toby carvery. It was 99p for a baby bowl. I thought it was a bargain

Letsgoroundagainnow · 10/09/2025 07:21

Charlize43 · 10/09/2025 00:05

🤔

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Interesting edit!

But I don’t think the Mexican baby is an average 10 month old…..

tumblingdowntherabbithole · 10/09/2025 07:22

whatisthegoddamnholdup · 10/09/2025 00:30

She was taking her food off her plate to feed the child, she was paying for that food, is comprehension not your strong point?

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I think it’s more that comprehension isn’t your strong point, to be honest.

She could have just fed her child from her plate - by asking for an extra plate that could then be filled to the brim, she was effectively asking for an entire extra portion of food - which she obviously had to pay for.

The fact that she didn’t want an entire extra plate isn’t the point.

AgnesX · 10/09/2025 07:30

The expectation of a free plate for your 10 month to chow down on roasties and beef, the horror 🙄
People are being ridiculous (or bloody minded).

YANBU.

SeaBaseAlpha · 10/09/2025 07:34

SummerFrog25 · 10/09/2025 06:32

I'd agree IF it was an item off the menu, but it's not. She took extra food from the carvery for her baby. Just because it's piled on one plate, how many children do you think it's reasonable to feed from it??

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But she had already put the food on her plate. She wasn’t asking to go around a second time with the new plate. If they were happy for her to pile on the food on her plate, what difference does an empty extra plate make?

CeciliaDuckiePond · 10/09/2025 07:39

You may say 'it's only a baby, they'll only eat a couple of bites' but the point that's often overlooked is where do you draw the line?

In a commercial setting, you have to have a cut-off point for your customer offer, otherwise it leaves the door open for anyone to ask for a 'spare plate' to feed another person.

You might argue 'why don't they say 'under twos eat free' or some other age point, but then you will get people trying to sneak their older child into the free offer, and since children don't usually carry proof of age, that's going to lead to arguments and inevitably some loud, shouty mum and dad violently insisting their hulking seven year old is only two.

It's better to have clear rules, and it's reasonable in a carvery setting where people load their own plates for it to be 'per plate'. The OP will be considering her baby when she loads her plate, even if only minimal amounts. It would be different in an a la carte setting where plates held a fixed amount.

Shewasafaireh · 10/09/2025 07:41

Kelly1969 · 09/09/2025 23:29

You’re missing the point, if it’s such a minimal amount of food, why do you need an extra plate?
OP might not want to abuse it but some would and it’s not down to staff to monitor her, it’s simple, you pay for one plate, you get one plate.

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Because you don’t want the baby making a mess on the table?

redskydelight · 10/09/2025 07:44

The issue is surely not that it's per se a problem to give the OP a plate for her to put a few mouthfuls of food on for her baby, but that at a carvery having a plate is a proxy for having paid for a meal. If they give OP a plate, there is nothing to stop her then calling her bottomless teenager in and giving him the plate instead, to go up and get multiple portions of food. I think it's a reasonable policy - if OP really wants to give her baby only a few mouthfuls then it's hardly any bother for her to feed him from her plate.

CoffeeCantata · 10/09/2025 07:46

Devonmaid1844 · 09/09/2025 21:39

Presumably at a carvery you're taking more to put on your kids plate... I have seen charges for 'baby bowl' on a carvery menu for a couple of quid. To be honest I thought it was quite petty as they're not going to have much, but I guess it adds up if a lot of people come in and add a few extra potatoes and bits to their plate for little ones

In itself it’s a nice idea but people will exploit it - that’s the problem.

Rpop · 10/09/2025 07:48

Anyone who has a baby surely would say YANBU. They usually have a few mouthfuls. They should have a more reasonable policy.

NeverDropYourMooncup · 10/09/2025 07:49

bumbaloo · 09/09/2025 21:46

You think a 10 month old should be charged for a standard plate? 😑

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Bearing in mind that there will be plenty of people that pile up food on it 'for the baby', the restaurant has good reason for charging. Experience.

relentlessbrainfog · 10/09/2025 07:54

I bet if this was about a dog instead of a child everyone would agree with you! MN is a very strange place!

SummerFrog25 · 10/09/2025 07:57

SeaBaseAlpha · 10/09/2025 07:34

But she had already put the food on her plate. She wasn’t asking to go around a second time with the new plate. If they were happy for her to pile on the food on her plate, what difference does an empty extra plate make?

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yes she had already put the food on her plate, enough for BOTH of them. Which is not how carvery serving/pricing is supposed to work.

It's the principle of it. She took more food than she could/wanted to eat to feed another person (whether that's her baby or her DH) if her & her DH were going to eat of one piled up plate you think they should only pay for 1 person?

ruffler45 · 10/09/2025 08:03

However honest you may be , blame the scammers who have tried to get an extra meal for nothing...

SeaBaseAlpha · 10/09/2025 08:03

But they were fine with her loading her own plate.. other people keep suggesting that she should have brought a plastic plate with her and that would have been fine, but what’s the difference apart from the very small cost of washing an extra plate?

I honestly feel like I’m in a parallel universe.