Food presentation in restaurants / pubs

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Oh, Deedaa, I so agree. Brittany Ferries served me a mushroom risotto last year. Long narrow plate. two spoons of plain risotto one end, a couple of (unheaped) tablespoons of mushrooms the other and a collection of salad leaves in the middle.

When I go out to eat a meal I want good quality food well cooked and well served. I am more than willing to try new flavours and new foods but I want it served in a way that makes it easy to eat, savour and enjoy. If I want to look at a work of art, I will visit a Gallery.

I saw a couple of food photos in a colour supplement recently. They were so beautifully artistic that they it made them entirely offputting as dishes to eat.

I like a plate but I ate my breakfasts for a year in Thailand off banana leaves, out of I should say as the food was wrapped (parcelled up hygienically) in banana leaf. That tradition I didn't mind and it never caused any difficulties.

Didn't we used to wrap things like butter in cabbage leaves?

Gotta live dangerously, Chewbacca!

PS : to whoever said we are vindictive, I think that's a strange choice of word ( pedants please excuse the grammar). Eating out is expensive these days , and not supposed to be a challenge.

Oh good- I'm not alone.I must look up the We want plates website.Next time I visit the pub with the board I shall definitely ask,very nicely, for a plate.

Haha, I second the 'We Want Plates' social media group. Hilarious. I'd rather go hungry than eat some of what's being served on those groups.

Charleygirl just ask for a spoon and they'll get one for you quite quickly.

On a shovel? Makes the split breadboard I got seem quite reasonable now!

I think it can be fun, enjoyed breakfast on a shovel in Cornwall.

Can I throw in a word about deconstructed meals? When I order ravioli I want something that has been "lovingly hand crafted" not some sheets of pasta floating in stock with a few dollops of meat and cheese. If I have Eton Mess I want it to be a mess! Not separate little stacks of strawberries and meringue with a tiny pot of cream.

i was told by the owner of a very up market coastal restaurant to ask for child size portions... after we explained they offered too much food for one person and asked for two plates and one meal ... she said they would not mind at all... especially if you just said... your portions are too big for us...

As long as we don't end up with those grubby baskets used to serve pub food in the 70s.

I agree, I have started asking for a plate before the waitress/waiter walks away.Its to fiddely and I don't seem to enjoy my meal the same.

I was a bit surprised to have my Eton Mess served up in a plain glass jam jar - why?

I don't like eating out. I avoid it like the plague. As for serving food on wooden boards - yuk! I read an article that warned of the dangers of putting wooden implements in a dishwasher as they end up with more germs than they went in with. The level of hygiene is a disgrace in most establishments and don't get me started with kitchen staff who do not wear nets or hats

Yes please, a traditional dinner sized plate. I don want the food arranged in a tiny pile in the middle. I'd like the meat or fish separate from the potatoe and veggies. I like pasta or ride dishes in a bowl. I do not want a slate and I particularly don't want a wooden board. Hygienic ?

My husband loves spit roast chicken but when it comes in a full size skillet with an enamel mug of gravy, a small amount of chips and the skillet spins round and round the table that was it. The waiter had to find a pile of napkins to put under the skillet to stop it falling off the table. We have not eaten there since.

No, you are definitely not alone. There is a proper way to serve food which stood the test of time until some chefs decided they wanted to be different. Consequently they must lose some custom but clearly not enough to make them realise that. The answer is to avoid restaurants that do not satisfy you.

An alternative is to ask the waiter/waitress before ordering to confirm that the meal will come on a 'proper' plate. If the answer is no then either get up and leave or insist on seeing the manager to give him a piece of your mind. You may not only feel better but find that you can be served your meal on a proper plate after all.

scrabble That's why you got that particular bowl and not the dog

A widespread gripe! see

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/sep/16/plates-slates-backlash-gimmicky-serving-dishes

I like food served in small potjie pots

Carolpaint Quality of service not just the food itself is the right of every customer.
We grumpies should be so lucky.
'duh, don't fink we do that' when on ordering I ask may I have extra tomato in place of the cucumber in my salad,?
Should this not be
'Certainly madam, I will ask the chef'
Wasn't so difficult was it?
Doesn't need Brain of Britain to deal with that.If such a problem and 'duh'is not capable of dealing with it then head waiter or restaurant manager.

Don't mind really, as long as the food is edible!!