Food presentation in restaurants / pubs

Mushy peas in a tiny pot. Try getting them out without spilling some down your front.
Back to plates for me.

I hate boards and wierd serving ideas, and thinking about it, here in Belguim it seems to be the Irish and UK bars/restaurants who go for the boards and things.
I cannot think of a Belgian place which does not use proper plates, but then again I am not eating in the 5* places.

Chewbacca .You and me both, are behind the times.
Oh for the massive platters of the 80's and 90's which held no falling off the sides, our steaks French fries. crispy onion rings and accompanied by a side bowl of salad with dressing of your choice
Followed with good old fashioned apple pie and cream.

Sloppy things that should not be presented on wooden boards ... the awful sound of cutlery scraping on slate ... the odd 'grouping' of different elements of a meal when /I would prefer it all side by side ...

No doubt we have seen prices go up as plates have been discarded for trendier serving platters that might not be dish-washer friendly either.

And another reminder that I am probably just getting old and grumpy .

I had a meal served in a dog bowl at our local cafe, wouldn't mind but it had a chip in the enamel.

Food has got to be served on a plate, I don't mind the shape as long as it's white. Thank goodness my waitress days are long behind me

Can't get my head round a lot of the trends for serving food in "odd" containers

Apparently wood halts the growth of bacteria very quickly.

I stayed in a very low note in Torquay last week. The dining experience was lovely, and they did serve the food on plates. They served the baked beans with the full English breakfast in a little ceramic pot which I just tipped onto the plate. Chips served with dinner came in a small copper pan! What tickled me though, were the "chef's tasters", tiny cup and saucer with soup before the starter course, and a wee bottle, with a straw, containing fruit juice between the main and dessert courses. All delicious but quite amusing.

I hate food served on anything but a plate. Baskets, pieces of slate, etc, etc, must be very difficult to clean properly and I am always wary that they may have received only a quick rinse from the last time they were used.

Has anyone seen this website? It is hilarious. www.facebook.com/WeWantPlates/

DH thinks that the most disgusting photo was food on a spade...

We went to a gastropub and I ordered curry and rice. It was served in two tiny separate bowls balanced on a slate. I obviously couldn't tip the curry out of the bowl so had my elbows in the air trying to get a bit of rice out of one bowl and put it in the other to get some sauce on it. My husband had tuna on noodles and there were so few noodles that he sat there waiting for the rest of the meal. It was hugely expensive and he was sniffing appreciatively as we walked past a fish and chip shop on the way home! The price of the drinks was also ridiculous.

This subject comes up regularly and with good reason.
I do mystery shopping in restaurants and hotels and always request they remove the offending board, slate or whatever and replace it with a plate. I complain about the presentation in my reports, congratulate the places which use appropriate plates and am often asked to return to the same venues every six months. In no cases have I seen any change in the presentation. Clearly nobody in management is listening!

I don't like lasagne and fish pie served in small individual dishes.I usually tip them out on to the plate.but I dont mind chips in a bucket or cone..but. generally speaking I Go With The Flow for most other dishes ☺

I don't mind pasta or maybe chili in a bowl, and usually use one at home for these. Everything else on a plate please.
And I wouldn't dream of eating somewhere like MacDs or KFC. If I walk past these sort of places, I often see couples eating there - why would you?

Plates please....but not square ones.....also chips served on the plate properly instead of the "enamel mug" which holds the very sparse quantity which is now considered to be a portion. We used to enjoy going to a lovely old pub which served good food on normal plates.....then closed for a while for refurbishment. Is now a gastro-pub ....slates...chopping boards...enamel mugs.....you name it they have it....apart from proper plates.

A chorus of vindictiveness? Grumpy grans just waiting to pounce? What odd comments.

I've never eaten at a training college.

Carolpaint having a meal in a restaurant is not art! When I order a meal I want to eat the food not have an art experience.

I like the idea of going back to trenchers, as long as the table is clean. It is then a choice of whether you wish to eat it or not.

In Dubai we had breakfast served in the small frying pans it was cooked in. Novel, but DH burned his hand on it! My mother would only take the GC to the Wimpy, never McDonalds, because they had "plates and knives and forks".

I don't mind chicken-in-a-basket but soup is taking it too far!

Uggh! I've just read about food served on wooden boards that have been through a dishwasher and have many cracks. Even with dishwashing they must harbour germs in those crevices; the most attractive way to serve food (for me) is on white plate - it makes everything look fresh and colourful, and having had a meal served in a piece of terracotta guttering (Portugal) I think the whole idea is farcical and off putting. Not to mention dangerous in some cases - tea cups without handles???

At home I serve dinner in pasta bowls. They are flat like plates but with a little rim that keeps food from falling of. Great for children and adults alike. I've had no complaints so far.

Since when have comments on hygiene and practicality been vindictive?

I always look around and if other people are being given boards or slates I actually ask for a plate. I'm probably wrong but boards and slates never seem hygienic to me. Also proper plates are much easier for the waiters to pick up and carry

I like mine on a plate too. When the vegies are in a separate bowl and the meat's on a board I don't know whether to move the veg onto the board or vice versa. A while back it was fashionable to serve the bread in a clay flowerpot!