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I assume people would just adapt to the culture by generally not ordering more than they will eat.

Dalewyn 3y ago
That's kind of tedious to do when a single menu item here in America is usually, to describe it aptly, infamously yuuuuuge.
- CogitoCogito 3y ago
  We're not talking about America, we're talking about the UK.
  - Dalewyn 3y ago
    Apologies, the original story was about Simon getting overwhelmed by American servings so that context stuck.
    - lnxg33k1 3y ago
      If anything, it shows us that life is short, and can end at any moment, and maybe we shouldn't fill it with non-problems, like calculating the size of the food we order in order to don't have to take it away .-.
  - Jochim 3y ago
    Outside of fine dining/small plates, portion sizes are fairly large in the UK if you're planning on eating three courses.
pjc50 3y ago
Indeed - this goes along with other cultural values of clearing your plate and not wasting food. Some pubs offer "senior" portions for adults who don't eat much. It is definitely rare, but not completely unheard of; more common if you're in a sitdown place that also does takeaway/delivery. I've done it a few times. One memorable incident was in Bradford where we arrived late at a curry house after interminable faffing around, were all extremely hungry, ordered more than we usually would, and halfway through the starters and giant naan realized that we'd overdone it. Think we got more than one meal out of the leftovers.
- lnxg33k1 3y ago
  Leftovers happen (semiquote)
znpy 3y ago
Very bland reply. Portion sizes vary by restaurant, and also you’re not always the same level of hungry. Just yesterday i tried a new restaurant, the meal was delicious and the portions were unexpectedly large (and i had a single dish, a single course). I happily took the leftovers away.
- CogitoCogito 3y ago
  What's your point? That there might sometimes be leftovers even if you plan to finish it? So what? People also take left overs home and sometimes never eat them. It could very well be the case that places that don't send home boxed leftovers result in less overall waste than places that do. Especially when you consider the boxes sent home as well. No system is perfect and a culture of taking home leftovers does not necessarily reduce waste overall.
  - rovr138 3y ago
    > I assume people would just adapt to the culture by generally not ordering more than they will eat. How do you adapt and order less than 1 thing?
    - CogitoCogito 3y ago
      Is this a serious question? Order the smaller food items?
    - diggan 3y ago
      Restaurants are sometimes OK with splitting a dish in two/half if you ask nicely. Sometimes I do this for lunch when I'm not very hungry, and can't remember a single time someone said no.
  - hk__2 3y ago
    > No system is perfect and a culture of taking home leftovers does not necessarily reduce waste overall. Well not being able to take home leftovers does increase waste, because as others have pointed out there will always be cases where you will have leftovers, no matter how careful you are.

That's kind of tedious to do when a single menu item here in America is usually, to describe it aptly, infamously yuuuuuge.

CogitoCogito 3y ago
We're not talking about America, we're talking about the UK.
- Dalewyn 3y ago
  Apologies, the original story was about Simon getting overwhelmed by American servings so that context stuck.
  - lnxg33k1 3y ago
    If anything, it shows us that life is short, and can end at any moment, and maybe we shouldn't fill it with non-problems, like calculating the size of the food we order in order to don't have to take it away .-.
- Jochim 3y ago
  Outside of fine dining/small plates, portion sizes are fairly large in the UK if you're planning on eating three courses.

pjc50 3y ago

Indeed - this goes along with other cultural values of clearing your plate and not wasting food. Some pubs offer "senior" portions for adults who don't eat much. It is definitely rare, but not completely unheard of; more common if you're in a sitdown place that also does takeaway/delivery. I've done it a few times. One memorable incident was in Bradford where we arrived late at a curry house after interminable faffing around, were all extremely hungry, ordered more than we usually would, and halfway through the starters and giant naan realized that we'd overdone it. Think we got more than one meal out of the leftovers.

lnxg33k1 3y ago
Leftovers happen (semiquote)

znpy 3y ago

Very bland reply. Portion sizes vary by restaurant, and also you’re not always the same level of hungry. Just yesterday i tried a new restaurant, the meal was delicious and the portions were unexpectedly large (and i had a single dish, a single course). I happily took the leftovers away.

CogitoCogito 3y ago
What's your point? That there might sometimes be leftovers even if you plan to finish it? So what? People also take left overs home and sometimes never eat them. It could very well be the case that places that don't send home boxed leftovers result in less overall waste than places that do. Especially when you consider the boxes sent home as well. No system is perfect and a culture of taking home leftovers does not necessarily reduce waste overall.
- rovr138 3y ago
  > I assume people would just adapt to the culture by generally not ordering more than they will eat. How do you adapt and order less than 1 thing?
  - CogitoCogito 3y ago
    Is this a serious question? Order the smaller food items?
  - diggan 3y ago
    Restaurants are sometimes OK with splitting a dish in two/half if you ask nicely. Sometimes I do this for lunch when I'm not very hungry, and can't remember a single time someone said no.
- hk__2 3y ago
  > No system is perfect and a culture of taking home leftovers does not necessarily reduce waste overall. Well not being able to take home leftovers does increase waste, because as others have pointed out there will always be cases where you will have leftovers, no matter how careful you are.