Sharing plates

[cupfinalchaos]

This is now the norm in many restaurants. Much easier for them to bring out dishes whenever they’re ready and not have to remember who ordered what.

But am I on my own in not wanting to eat what other people order and not wanting to share the only dish I fancy on the menu? Even if I tell the waiter/waitress I’m ordering for myself, it gets placed in the centre of the table for everyone. Recently I didn’t even get to try what I’d ordered as I was in conversation and when I looked down it was gone! In one restaurant i had to ask for extra cutlery so the person with a cold wasn’t sticking his fork in..

AIBU to think restaurants have normalised an easy option for themselves?

The restaurants we go to still have options of sharing platers or individual meals which are placed in front of who ordered them.

Check at places before booking?

I love sharing plates. But if it’s not for you there’s more restaurants which aren’t sharing plates than restaurants which are, so just go to those ones.

Unfortunately the dishes I actually like are at the sharing ones!

Not where I am in London.

Sounds like it’s more a problem with who you choose to dine with?

Never experienced this unless it’s a classic sharing, small-plate cuisine, such as tapas. Never had waiting staff not deliver what I ordered to me, specifically, either. And I eat out a fair bit. Perhaps even out with a big group and it’s something casual like Indian, but sharing dishes will always be discussed before ordering.

Where are you going and who with?

The problem is who you are going to the restaurant with not what you are ordering or the restaurant if your food is being eaten before you get it.

Sounds like you’re restricting where you eat too much.

I like the smaller sharing plates. I do not have this problem because my friends and family aren't twats.

We love sharing plates because I don’t eat much and my husband can have most of it. But there are always lots of other options.

I have never experienced this at any restaurant. The server always names the dish and then we tell them where to put it. Though as the others say, it's your friends that are the problem here. They are the ones without any manners. I wouldn't ever expect my friend/s to just dig in or even finish what I ordered, without me even getting a bite in.

Obviously not a popular view then so I’m not surprised restaurants are getting away with it.

This was with one particular couple and I won’t be making many arrangements with them in future!

I’m ND and will only share food with my DC.

Luckily my friends are well aware of this, so it’s never a problem.

Restaurants are sociable places and sharing food is a sociable thing to do. It probably doesn't occur to them that people would only want one thing off a menu and that they want to keep all that to themselves.

Don’t you just say you only want this meal and your mates say yep no worries and leave it for you? If not then the problem is them and not the restaurant.

I like sharing plates sometimes because I get to try more dishes and sharing food is sociable.

I also like having an entire dish to myself sometimes.

Luckily there are restaurants that cater to both those desires, easily checkable in advance, so that makes it easy to know what kind of dinner I'm going to have. Yes, sharing plates have become more common, but it's not hard to find restaurants that don't do them if you dislike them.

I don’t see this either, but if you order a sharing plate for yourself then the wait staff will just put it in the middle. All you need to do is pick it up and put it in front of you.

I love sharing plates as I can never really decide what i want.

But if I REALLY want one thing I make sure to say I am ordering this for me so if anyone else wants it order another for the table.

Simple fix

This only happened once but still…

Restaurants that do sharing plates also tend to be more flexible so if a dish comes out and it's smaller than you thought then you can just order it again. If a particular dish is very popular with the table it's always a good idea to order multiples of it.

I've never seen this outside of restaurants and types of food which are traditionally shared this way. What type of places have you found them now serving other food this way?

Isn't this a problem with your dining companions rather than the restaurant?

E.g. at curry house food has always been brought out in serving dishes to go in the centre, but you know if the plan is to share or whether everyone has ordered their own.

I hate sharing. I’m like joey in friends “joey doesn’t share food!”

I agree op it’s not just common in restaurants, it’s common in my group of friends to suggest sharing main courses

I live sharing food. DP and I always share our meals. We get to taste more. I have quite a few friends I do this with too.