Operation Empty Plate

[Earthmaiden Profile]

Sorry, Guardian again, many of you will have read this but I think it's a great idea. It invades people's right to freedom of course and possibly affects restaurant profits, but it saves on food waste and excess calories. Which are most important I wonder?

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/ ... GTUK_email

I was amused to see that the following article was about dealing with 'lockdown belly' by eating less.

[halfateabag Profile]

Whilst in Greece, we had to remind ourselves that we needed to order less as the portions were huge.... Nothing went to waste.... It can sometimes be a case of eyes and belly.....

[scullion Profile]

a good idea - although it would also be a good idea if we developed more of a 'doggy bag' mentality in this country.
i usually take a tiffin box to the places that i know over-cater. one local indian restaurant, surprisingly, hadn't seen one before, asked where i'd got it and was really pleased that i'd taken the excess food away (without them having to pack it up). it had been a meal for two - and lasted my partner for the next two dinners after i'd gone upcountry!
we always ask for a box for leftover slices of pizza when eating it at a restaurant.

[herbidacious Profile]

Generally I find that the more you pay the less you get, so the answer is to go upmarket

I rarely leave food uneaten when I eat out... hmm apart from pizza crusts or it's really just very unpleasant I suppose when eating out it's usually lunch time, and I often just order a starter instead of a main if I don't think I can manage a main. This seems acceptable, although I always find myself asking if it's ok to do this rather than just boldly ordering thus. Many places do call their starters 'small plates', though, which helps.

I never over-order in Indian restaurants, and I sometimes just have a vegetable side dish or two with out any sundries. It has to be said that Indian restaurants do seem to encourage over-ordering in a way that tapas and mezze places don't. Possibly because 'traditionally' Indian food was a lot cheaper than any other type.

[ZeroCook Profile]

Generally I find that the more you pay the less you get, so the answer is to go upmarket
other type.

Very true!

There are several elements to this, it would seem. Looking at it the other way around. The problem in China seems to be that over ordering or filling the table up with dishes of food as a show of abundance expressly without intending to eat a good amount of it is a cultural behaviour, so a government edict like this actually lets people off the hook freeing them from feeling the social need to over order.

As always, the issue in places with huge populations is often about food production and feeding mouths.

It's not a lot different from being taught as a child - or at least I was - not to put more on your plate than you were going to eat when helping yourself at the meal table. Same goes for ordering at restaurants.

As far as western countries go, the gannet factor mainly comes as a form of marketing in the restaurant industry where more and bigger servings is often the tool. As most restaurants seem to have only one portion size per dish, the solution apart from doggie bags would be for restaurants to offer say two or three sizes of portions. While we generally don't do government edicts for that sort of thing it wouldn't be a bad thing to require restaurants to offer 2-3 portion sizes to reduce waste. After all there are health and safety regs, so portion regs aimed at reducing post consumer waste down the line wouldn't be a big deal IMO.

In certain London boroughs households are not allowed to toss waste food in the bin and are given separate plastic caddies that are picked up and emptied with the rest of the recycled stuff.


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[Pampy Profile]

Waste food collections for recycling are common in a number of parts of the UK, not just London. My sister, who lives in Greater Manchester, has one in her area. Even though I waste very little food, I do wish my local authority had food waste collections - would be useful for peelings, eggshells etc.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

I would like the Chinese half portion option rather than doggy bags or equivalent
A lot of my restaurants eating is done away from home where using up the leftovers isn’t always convenient, and a lot of what I do leave is because I don’t like it

I think part of the problem is the N European culture of having and defending one plate/dish for every diner. I don’t think it’s done so much elsewhere, think meze, Chinese or Indian set meals in restaurants. I still have to argue with friends who still think each person should order themself several items in an Asian restaurant even though the server is also trying to talk them out of it

For example when my friend and I went to Croatia, where I’d been before but she hadn’t, we went into a harbour bar for lunch. She was thinking food would be served as in an English or French café and was a bit surprised when I ordered only one portion chips, one tomato salad, one portion cevapčiči (meatballs). Slightly more than we needed (but only slightly)

[herbidacious Profile]

As I said, small plates is not uncommon in gastroesque pubs. OH and I sometimes order three to share. Some restaurants work this way too. e.g. Caravan, Peasan, Polpo, - I thnk all have 'large plates' too. I wish more places did this. And while we are at it can we have dessert mezze too?!

I really love the whole concept of mezze, alhtough struggle to know how much to eat and hate sharing ok I love the whole concept of being able to try lots of things in small portions (aka a tasting menu.)

[northleedsbhoy Profile]

My local Chinese serves portions that are far too much to eat as a meal if I add rice, which I always do. No problem, I let it cool, cover with cling film bang it in the fridge and enjoy it heated up for breakfast/lunch the next day. Indian curry, best served cold for breakfast same as pizza. Restaurants I find generally serve smaller portions so I don’t bother asking for a doggy bag and decline if offered.

Cheers
NLB

[Earthmaiden Profile]

I once went to a local Thai restaurant with a group of eight female friends (who were not overly greedy types). We pre-ordered a banquet for six, knowing it would be generous. There was still more food than we could ever have imagined and a lot of doggy boxes were required.

Standard portions are still far too large in many places. I would rather be served and charged less than cart home heaps of food to be eaten up over the next few days when it has become somewhat unappetising. We seemed to always be doing that in the USA.

[karadekoolaid Profile]

Sounds like another wonderful misguided incentive to oppress the Chinese people even more.
Still, I absolutely agree that portions, in many places, are waaaaaaay too big and in the USA are absolutely way over the top. It´s odd really, because restaurants frequently operate on very tight budgets and I´d always thought chefs were very conscious of portion sizes: 125 gms of chicken per person, for example.
I have a peculiar aversion to doggie bags. I hate them, and it is, of course, totally irrational; after all , I paid for the food so why should some of it be left? I do not look forward to eating YMCA tomorrow, so I usually roam the streets for half an hour or so until I find some poor starving kid to give the bag to.
Even though it was well over 20 years ago, I still vividly remember having dinner in the White Plains Diner, NY. For just $9.99, we got a huge fizzy drink, a bucket of soup, another similar bucket of salad ( with choice of dressings), TWO chicken breasts with potatoes and two "sides", and a DESSERT. Yes, it was that big.

[halfateabag Profile]

I have mixed feelings...... We try and not over order but..... would not waste food and would rather have a doggy bag and have another meal out of it the next day rather than waste it. We spent a year in the States and got very used to doggy bags but on our return found it was frowned up on..... Why ???? It nearly always tastes better warmed up.. We find that as times go on, restauranteurs get more and more used to punters requesting a doggy bag. I do not agree with restaurants refusing doggy bags. Would rather not use them if that is their policy. Brits can be too stiff and starchy... on the excess front (restaurants that is).

[Earthmaiden Profile]

I thought that doggy bags went out of vogue because people were taking food home, storing it incorrectly and blaming restaurants for food poisoning afterwards. Everyone knows its not being taken home for the dog (initially at any rate). That period seems to have passed now. Although it's naughty to use disposable plastic, it is/was rather nice to be given a nicely presented box that wasn't going to spill on the way home. I'd still rather have a smaller portions at the time though - I might even return the following day if there were no leftovers to finish up!

[karadekoolaid Profile]

I´ve been in the US twice in the past 18 months. Yep,. the rations are still humongous, but specialised restaurants tend to serve a little less. Doggy bags are always available, everywhere, however.

[Pampy Profile]

Everyone knows its not being taken home for the dog (initially at any rate).

When I had my cats, if I had food left over after an Indian or Chinese meal out, I always took it home. One of the cats, Bird, absolutely loved curry and things like salt and pepper chicken wings, crispy duck etc so he always finished a lot of things off!

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Everyone knows its not being taken home for the dog (initially at any rate).

Some years ago a somewhat “dowager duchess” style old lady used to bring a Tupperware box to the restaurant we frequented to take her leftovers home for her dog.
Chef did not like her, did not believe dog existed, until he met said dog in the park. Chef and dog fell for each other.

After this, the Tupperware was whisked away to be filled with an assortment of suitable treats from the kitchen. Chef and old lady got quite friendly

I think one of the things that put me off “doggy bags” was working in our North Carolina office for a week. People would bring in the leftovers from last night to heat up for lunch and the smell of fast food that, as far as I was concerned hadn’t been worth eating the first time round being overcooked a second time made me nauseous.

There’s a lot of very good food available in NC but not in that staff room

[karadekoolaid Profile]

Hahaha, Sue!

KFC re-cooked with some delicious Taco Bell tostadas....

[herbidacious Profile]

The cheaper it is the more you get rule seemed to apply in the US when we were last there too. I think we only had one meal that was too much food and that was in a cheap tex mex caff/diner type place in Seattle.

Is London less generous than elsewhere? I rarely have an issue and I don't eat much.

Sunday roasts are probably the only things that involve too much food, and I rarely have those. (If I do, I do my best with them and only have one meal that day.)

Or maybe it's that vegetarian food is usually less filling?

The main course I had in the Great Amwell pub the other week was surprisingly small for the price... Husband got more food in his 'light meal', but he did order junk food.

I had a posh potato cake with roast veg. He had a halloumi wrap with chips.

[Earthmaiden Profile]

I am told that when my parents were married, (a small post-war registry office wedding), the family went off to a respectable restaurant for lunch afterwards and a rich but thrifty stockbroker uncle took the Financial Times from his pocket and insisted on scraping all the chicken bones into it to 'take home for the cat'.

I must admit, I don't remember hearing of 'doggy bags' until I was well into adulthood but I don't remember being served more than I could comfortably eat until then either.

[scullion Profile]

Everyone knows its not being taken home for the dog (initially at any rate).

in my case the goat. if she smelled chips on me she would try to lick my face. i had to leave some for her and whisk away the paper before she ate that, too.
she never complained about the large amount of salt and vinegar on them.