Eating out - for just a few mouthfuls

cheesefest

cheesefest

cheesefest

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Don’t get this at all.

Whenever I eat out or walk past an eating place with outdoor seating, why do some people leave the food after just eating a few mouthfuls? Like today, walked past a pub and a group of four (2 couples in their 50s) leaving a table with meals with a third eaten. Such a waste of money, food and effort.

If these people aren’t hungry, don’t eat! Doubt that the food is awful as would complain.

As my parents and myself leave empty plates (bar inedible things like bone), some waiting staff’s reactions think this a rare thing.
 
I occasionally do this. I do it to support the industry that's still recovering from the most epic downturn it's ever experienced. I'd rather throw the food away knowing that I've helped top up their coffers a bit, than not eat out at all.

That said, my waistline is very clear evidence that this is a rare occurrence :p
 
I've never noticed anyone else doing that, in fact I can't ever remember looking at another table at what they're eating. My wife has a small apatite and sometimes the dishes that come out are just too large, so perhaps you'd think she was being wasteful on those occasions. She doesn't want to waste food, in fact she gets embarrassed and hides it under a napkin. We joke sometimes that she could eat from the child menu and be perfectly sated.

I tend to leave an empty plate and in the past I would eat some from hers, but recently my waist line has become a problem so I don't do that anymore :(
 
It winds me up, sometimes I want to lean over and ask if I can finish it off.
Sometimes you look over and it looks like some have had nothing and it's a waste of money.
One of my daughters did it the other week and I had two main meals.
 
Sometimes meals are of a stupidly large portion.

I often find even the kids meals are too big.

Maybe they are just eating what their stomachs say is enough for them and we should stop demanding such large meals. Maybe people wouldn't be so fat then instead of forcing it all down?
 
It's all to do with their upbringing, seen it time and time again, can't be done with folk who push food around their plates and just leave loads , I just see these type of folk as droids :D
 
Too large, this is clearly not French cuisine. I rarely see restaurant dishes too large, usually quite the opposite to the point it's obvious they're using portion control to increase profits. A few places like Nandos, Wasabi and Cafe Rouge got smaller and I stopped going. The only one I can think of as sometimes being large portions is Flaming Grill.
 
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I used to eat everything on the plate, but a few years ago I hit a point where I was getting near to 20st, after that I started being more conscious of how much I was eating.

You can't exactly order 1/3 of a portion of something so if, for example, I ordered a chicken wrap and chips, I would eat all of the chicken wrap (provided it tasted nice) and around 1/3 of the chips.
I don't feel particularly bad for wasting half a potato.

On almost any occasion that I 'eat out', it's more for other reasons (a date/pre-arranged social engagement) - If I'm eating for sustenance, I'll eat at home or take something with me/buy a sandwich.

Also, where are the boomers getting these £1000 houses from? I'd like some of that action!
 
Can't really say I've noticed this either. People normally leave a few things on the plate, but not a substantial part of the meal.
 
Haven't eaten out in quite awhile (due to the pandemic) but it was only a small number of people doing it that I've noticed - largely seemed the meal was very secondary to these people often loud types with poor consideration for other people.
 
BDEE said:
Sometimes meals are of a stupidly large portion.

I often find even the kids meals are too big.

Maybe they are just eating what their stomachs say is enough for them and we should stop demanding such large meals. Maybe people wouldn't be so fat then instead of forcing it all down?
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Especially pub food. I swear portion sizes in this country have grown. I quite like not being fat unlike most of my middle-aged mates :P.....so I eat sensible portions. It annoys me when I order something and it turns out to be enough to feed 4 people.

I got a 'Meal For One' from the local Chinese takeaway a few weeks ago. It was absolutely obscene, must have been 10,000 calories, enough to feed me for days.

Most of it went in the bin :(
 
mid_gen said:
Especially pub food. I swear portion sizes in this country have grown. I quite like not being fat unlike most of my middle-aged mates :p.....so I eat sensible portions. It annoys me when I order something and it turns out to be enough to feed 4 people.

I got a 'Meal For One' from the local Chinese takeaway a few weeks ago. It was absolutely obscene, must have been 10,000 calories, enough to feed me for days.

Most of it went in the bin :(
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Going by the takeaways we get delivered to work seems to be more the increase comes from bulking out the cheaper bits in an attempt to compensate for cutting back the more expensive bits i.e. overly generous portion of fries/chips but skimpier portions of the rest.
 
TrojanWhore said:
where are the boomers getting these £1000 houses from? I'd like some of that action!
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They're getting them from 1970.

Before I was born, my parents had a house which cost just over £1000. But if you think that sounds ludicrously cheap, bear in mind that when my sister was very ill (encephalitis leading to disability) the interruption to them being able to work meant they had to sell the house and live for a while in a caravan in my grandparents garden because they couldn't afford the mortgage. Hard to imagine now that the mortgage for a house which cost less overall than my monthly payments could become unaffordable.
 
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