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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU for hating people wanting “a taste” of my food?

434 replies

HereComesAuntySocial · 22/01/2026 13:06

I went out for brunch with a friend which we do quite often, we usually order different meals. .

Every time we go anywhere she takes ages to decide what she’s having and questions me about what I’m going to order and makes suggestions when I just want to choose my own bloody food!

When we get our meals she will start eating her own then eyeing up mine and ask me if she can “have a taste?”
I don’t understand this at all, It’s often something she’s likely to have had before, I don’t see the point in just trying a small amount of a meal because what if you really like it? Is it not disappointing knowing then you can’t have more or having food envy wishing you’d ordered the same?

Sometimes she offers me a taste of her food first (just the wording of this is really winding me up) and I know it’s so she can then dip into my meal.
If I refuse she keeps on at me but I’d had enough today so I said no firmly and told her I just wanted to eat what I’d ordered.
She laughed and said “well I’m still tasting yours” and before I could stop her she’d stuck her used fork into my smoked salmon and scrambled egg.

I lost my temper and pushed her fork away with mine and then said I actually didn’t want my food now and she could have it.
I was really angry and she seemed taken aback and said it was a complete overreaction and it’s normal to try each other people’s food when eating out.

Unfortunately I have experienced this before and I’ve been out with groups of friends where people have asked to taste each other food and I just think it’s so unhygienic and puts people under pressure to say no.
I also really hate people staring at what I’m eating and commenting on it with things like
“oh that looks nice? What’s in it? What does it taste like?“
I had to stop eating my lunch in front of other people at work feeling like I was expected to start offering it round.
I fell out with a colleague once who was hanging around quizzing me like he’d never seen a chicken baguette before, he got highly offended when I said he reminded me of a seagull waiting to dive bomb me.

Another food crime is people who don’t ask and just take food off your plate, I find that men are the worst offenders who ask if you are planning to finish your meal or wait until you are taking a small break from eating and lunge at it before you get a chance to stop them.
My BIL used to make comments like “you can’t possibly eat all that” or “where do you put it all?”It made me feel like he was trying to shame me into not finishing so he could eat the rest so I refuse to eat with him now unless it’s unavoidable.

I know some people say they love the experience of sharing food and it makes it more enjoyable to try different things, I have friends who start offering round “a taste” of their meals before they have even tried it themselves, I just find it weird!

Whilst all these are annoying scenarios to me, nothing is as bad as people who order a small meal or nothing at all claiming they aren’t hungry but then they change their mind and ask for some of mine - or worst still start helping themselves. There is a special place in hell for those people - especially when it’s a pudding I’ve been looking forward to, fuck off Janice we will not need “two spoons” 😂.

AIBU to get so pissed off about this or was Joey right when he just made it clear he doesn’t share food?!

OP posts:
Cherrytree86 · 23/01/2026 21:24

WhatMyNameis · 23/01/2026 21:21

That’s nice.

@WhatMyNameis

It is 😀

WhatMyNameis · 23/01/2026 21:25

Greenmouldycheese · 23/01/2026 21:21

I was just thinking the same 😄 🤣 ive seens posts in here about people sleeping with many people, many ine nights stands etc yet being weird about a fork. I dont think its about the spit underneath it all, its probably just greed and selfishness. That's fine, but own it rather than saying its about the fork.

Yes! Don’t share if you don’t want to share, but seriously, the minuscule amount of spit you might get scraping your lips on someone’s fork??!! 😂

JoeyJava · 23/01/2026 21:25

Can confirm, Joey doesn't share food. I once had a couple of bits of chewing gum, and my friend just silently held his hand out and looked at me expectantly. Fuck off unless it's offered. Like when I offered to lend him a pen for his exam and he chewed the lid. And even tried to deny it ffs 😡🤬

Cherrytree86 · 23/01/2026 21:26

WhatMyNameis · 23/01/2026 21:25

Yes! Don’t share if you don’t want to share, but seriously, the minuscule amount of spit you might get scraping your lips on someone’s fork??!! 😂

@WhatMyNameis

i know someone who got glandular fever from sharing a vape. Similar thing

CypressGrove · 23/01/2026 21:30

Cherrytree86 · 23/01/2026 21:19

@CypressGrove

i don’t want even the slightest smallest trace of someone else’s spit on my food

What do you think you are breathing in when enclosed spaces - i.e respiratory aerosols and droplets? If people at your table and surrounding tables are talking you've got traces of their saliva on your food.

Cherrytree86 · 23/01/2026 21:31

CypressGrove · 23/01/2026 21:30

What do you think you are breathing in when enclosed spaces - i.e respiratory aerosols and droplets? If people at your table and surrounding tables are talking you've got traces of their saliva on your food.

Edited

@CypressGrove

not the same. Also regardless I just don’t fancy it! I mean, have you smelled some people’s breath?! 🤢

AstonScrapingsNameChange · 23/01/2026 21:32

Take a loaded water pistol.

Next time she tries it, say NO! And squirt her 😆

I don't mind course friends asking for a taste but just piling right in and taking my food? Fuck right off!

WhatMyNameis · 23/01/2026 21:46

Cherrytree86 · 23/01/2026 21:21

@WhatMyNameis

suck cock, yeah. Eat arse, no. Ewww

😔

I dare you to try it tonight. Have a shower together so you can run you finger up and down his crack for a clean. Give him a bj, go lower and dip your tongue in.

thank me tomorrow.

BarbieShrimp · 23/01/2026 22:07

WhatMyNameis · 23/01/2026 21:18

I am reading this to my husband and we are in hysterics because you lot literally suck cock and eat arse but draw the line at a mate’s fork 😈🤣🤣🤣

Difference is, we keep our crass behaviour out of restaurants. Unless you yourself "eat arse" in Wetherspoons as well as picking other people's plates.

Cherrytree86 · 23/01/2026 22:12

WhatMyNameis · 23/01/2026 21:46

😔

I dare you to try it tonight. Have a shower together so you can run you finger up and down his crack for a clean. Give him a bj, go lower and dip your tongue in.

thank me tomorrow.

@WhatMyNameis

dip my tongue actually in his arse hole?

JerryTubs · 23/01/2026 22:22

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WhatMyNameis · 23/01/2026 22:23

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MrsJeanLuc · 23/01/2026 22:25

HereComesAuntySocial · 22/01/2026 17:42

There is just no need for this at all. Why don’t they go somewhere for tapas or sharing platters or similar?

Thank goodness you are with a man who hasn’t encouraged you to go along with it, did he before he met you?

Just the thought of everyone passing plates round and eating off each others makes me cringe, I bet it looks a right spectacle and people must look over?’

Do they all decide on what to order together and make sure it all complements each other or are they all having a random mix of food? What if two people want the same? Do they get told no or does one or both people lose a portion of their meal?

OP you have some serious food issues and I think you need therapy!

There is just no need for this at all
Who are you to say that? If they enjoy it and they're all happy with it, who are you to say it's wrong?

My DP and I regularly taste each other's meals. Not every time, but quite often, I suppose because he likes to choose something "different" from the menu. It's just a bit of fun. We will comment on the balance of the dish, whether the sauce has "depth" and compliments the meat/protein, whether it's nicely cooked etc . It's a point of interest and discussion between us.

Having said that, I would NEVER take something off someone else's plate without asking. And to be clear, I would allow them to give me a little bit, not help myself from their plate.

Your friend is well out of line for digging her fork into your food - that's incredibly rude.

Cherrytree86 · 23/01/2026 22:28

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@WhatMyNameis

im not sure if I have the stomach for that, but fair play to you! I hope your partner reciprocates

WhatMyNameis · 23/01/2026 22:41

Cherrytree86 · 23/01/2026 22:28

@WhatMyNameis

im not sure if I have the stomach for that, but fair play to you! I hope your partner reciprocates

Bum play is divided into people that love it and people that haven’t tried it yet…

We’re slightly off topic 🤣 but it does put germs into perspective!

CypressGrove · 23/01/2026 22:44

The OP is going to get a shock when she comes back to this thread - she was trying to understand why anyone even wants a taste of someone's food, not their butts.

Catladywithoutacat · 23/01/2026 22:46

Wow you know a lot of greedy people, I don’t mind offering food if it’s something like a spring roll that doesn’t mean forks/spoons come into contact with the other persons, like I wouldn’t share a curry unless there was a clean spoon in the bowl. Just say next time you don’t like sharing food

Catladywithoutacat · 23/01/2026 22:48

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WhatMyNameis · 23/01/2026 22:49

CypressGrove · 23/01/2026 22:44

The OP is going to get a shock when she comes back to this thread - she was trying to understand why anyone even wants a taste of someone's food, not their butts.

🤣

Catladywithoutacat · 23/01/2026 22:50

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Some women have 0 shame on this thread talking about licking poo.

Bleachedjeans · 23/01/2026 22:53

bumphousebump · 23/01/2026 13:19

Was it cauliflower cheese? the git,.

Yes! Lol

AncientBallerina · 23/01/2026 22:58

Oh Christ almighty the people who insist on sharing starters / deserts. Just let me choose and eat my own food in peace. One time the waiter actually appeared with desert and five girls. I swear i almost got up and walked out.

UnctuousUnicorns · 23/01/2026 23:05

Can all the pervy trolls here please fuck off? 🤮

JerryTubs · 23/01/2026 23:12

Catladywithoutacat · 23/01/2026 22:50

Some women have 0 shame on this thread talking about licking poo.

I’m not licking anyone’s private parts I can promise you that 🙈

dizzydizzydizzy · 23/01/2026 23:26

OMG. DM always insists on giving me forkfuls of her food. She often plonks it on my plate without asking or does ask, I then often reply with "no thanks" but she doesn't listen to my answer so gives it to me anyway. I then feel obligated to give her some of mine. I don't mind too much if I was tempted to order what she chose but it is quite often something i don't particularly like and then it is very annoying. Grrr!

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