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This goes a long way to further convince me that it is portion sizes in the US. Having traveled, it is quite absurd to see the difference in standard order siz

by taeric 2y ago

This goes a long way to further convince me that it is portion sizes in the US. Having traveled, it is quite absurd to see the difference in standard order sizes. Even for zero calorie things like water and unsweetened teas/coffees. You just get smaller cups. I'm not even sure you can get a US large in Japan for most drinks?

zeroonetwothree 2y ago
I don’t see why it would be bad to get more water to drink
- taeric 2y ago
  I didn't mean to imply it was. My point was that everything is smaller.
- zahlman 2y ago
  There's actually something of a stereotype that Japanese places will give you unreasonably small portions of water with meals. (Dogen plays off this in some of his videos.) But then, I think it's only been Americans I heard this from, so.
  - taeric 2y ago
    Ha! I hadn't heard of this before, so it caught me completely off guard. The coffee was the one that really surprised me. Order a coffee and get a 6-8oz cup. With nothing on the menu to indicate you can get a 12-16oz. Was surprising. (Not bad, mind. Just surprising.)
  - dfxm12 2y ago
    In both my trips to Japan (one recent, one 20yrs ago), I never noticed this, and I think I drink a lot of water in general, and especially as a tourist because I'm doing much more walking.
  - kjkjadksj 2y ago
    The free water cup in a lot of places in the US is like a 6oz slosh now.
vladvasiliu 2y ago
Probably depends on where you go. I don't know about "the US", but as a "European" I thought serving sizes were comparable to what I get in restaurants at home. Drinks were an exception, since basically all restaurants had unlimited soda for next to nothing. This was actually great, since I was riding a motorbike in the desert in July. For reference, I live in France and visited LA and random towns in the western states.
- taeric 2y ago
  I'll be visiting France soon, so will be able to compare on that front. But I think it is an understatement to say that things are universally smaller. And on the drinks, even places in Japan that had free refills still gave, at largest, an 8oz cup. Usually, I think they were even smaller. Even getting popcorn at Universal, the bags were large, but nothing compared to what I'd expect over here. Some of this, I'm sure, is having gotten used to ordering the larges. For a time, it was not unheard of to get a 32oz soda at any given convenience store. May still be normal? I don't know. (And, of course, this isn't getting in to the sizes of vehicles.)
- vidarh 2y ago
  It absolutely varies a lot within Europe too, but my feeling at least is that the difference between European and US portion sizes gets bigger as you move towards low-end places. High-end restaurants are pretty similar in portion sizes almost everywhere I've been, presumably because they're not competing on portion sizes, while lower-end places are much more susceptible to local expectations of what is good value.
- ellisv 2y ago
  I'm a big fan of European serving sizes compared to U.S. for food – but when it comes to beverages, particularly water, I can't believe how much they charge you for how little they give. I understand everything comes in bottles with VAT but even asking for tap water I found they'd only bring a very small glass.
  - jeltz 2y ago
    In some European countries water is free. I am from Sweden where all places have free tap water and fancy places often have free sparkling water.
stevesimmons 2y ago
Portion sizes in the US are ridiculous... often 2-3x larger than here in Europe. When I regularly visited New York for work, and we'd get takeaway sandwiches, I'd have to open them and remove half the filling. I just couldn't physically eat that volume of meat, cheese or especially mayonnaise. For all drinks, I'd order small.
- lotsoweiners 2y ago
  New York deli sandwiches are certainly not representative of what you get everywhere in the US. They are famously large.
  - taeric 2y ago
    They may be famously large, but I don't think they are abnormally large for most of the US nowadays? I certainly didn't think they were particularly big when I visited.
    - jacobr1 2y ago
      Katz serves roughly 3/4 lbs of meat. That is particularly big. You can get triple hamburgers which would be similar is size - but most people are ordering singles or doubles. And you can find other kinds of large sandwiches around the country ... but it is not the most common of sizes.
      - taeric 2y ago
        I think what made them not seem excessively large to me, is that it didn't really come with much else? Yes, it was more meat than I would get on a sandwich, typically. But... that is about it? Maybe I got too used to some of the obscure burrito places around Atlanta that would put way too much on them?
  - dfxm12 2y ago
    And expensive to match the size! A pastrami sandwich at Katz's is ~$30. A croque madame at a similar place in Paris is ~€15. People generally split a Pastrami sandwich over a couple meals or with someone else.
WheatMillington 2y ago
>I'm not even sure you can get a US large in Japan for most drinks? I've seen what large US drinks look like, and you definitely can't get that here in New Zealand. Like a litre of soft drink at a fast food place, it's absurd.

by taeric 2y ago

zeroonetwothree 2y ago

I don’t see why it would be bad to get more water to drink

taeric 2y ago
I didn't mean to imply it was. My point was that everything is smaller.
zahlman 2y ago
There's actually something of a stereotype that Japanese places will give you unreasonably small portions of water with meals. (Dogen plays off this in some of his videos.) But then, I think it's only been Americans I heard this from, so.
- taeric 2y ago
  Ha! I hadn't heard of this before, so it caught me completely off guard. The coffee was the one that really surprised me. Order a coffee and get a 6-8oz cup. With nothing on the menu to indicate you can get a 12-16oz. Was surprising. (Not bad, mind. Just surprising.)
- dfxm12 2y ago
  In both my trips to Japan (one recent, one 20yrs ago), I never noticed this, and I think I drink a lot of water in general, and especially as a tourist because I'm doing much more walking.
- kjkjadksj 2y ago
  The free water cup in a lot of places in the US is like a 6oz slosh now.

vladvasiliu 2y ago

Probably depends on where you go. I don't know about "the US", but as a "European" I thought serving sizes were comparable to what I get in restaurants at home. Drinks were an exception, since basically all restaurants had unlimited soda for next to nothing. This was actually great, since I was riding a motorbike in the desert in July. For reference, I live in France and visited LA and random towns in the western states.

taeric 2y ago
I'll be visiting France soon, so will be able to compare on that front. But I think it is an understatement to say that things are universally smaller. And on the drinks, even places in Japan that had free refills still gave, at largest, an 8oz cup. Usually, I think they were even smaller. Even getting popcorn at Universal, the bags were large, but nothing compared to what I'd expect over here. Some of this, I'm sure, is having gotten used to ordering the larges. For a time, it was not unheard of to get a 32oz soda at any given convenience store. May still be normal? I don't know. (And, of course, this isn't getting in to the sizes of vehicles.)
vidarh 2y ago
It absolutely varies a lot within Europe too, but my feeling at least is that the difference between European and US portion sizes gets bigger as you move towards low-end places. High-end restaurants are pretty similar in portion sizes almost everywhere I've been, presumably because they're not competing on portion sizes, while lower-end places are much more susceptible to local expectations of what is good value.
ellisv 2y ago
I'm a big fan of European serving sizes compared to U.S. for food – but when it comes to beverages, particularly water, I can't believe how much they charge you for how little they give. I understand everything comes in bottles with VAT but even asking for tap water I found they'd only bring a very small glass.
- jeltz 2y ago
  In some European countries water is free. I am from Sweden where all places have free tap water and fancy places often have free sparkling water.

stevesimmons 2y ago

Portion sizes in the US are ridiculous... often 2-3x larger than here in Europe. When I regularly visited New York for work, and we'd get takeaway sandwiches, I'd have to open them and remove half the filling. I just couldn't physically eat that volume of meat, cheese or especially mayonnaise. For all drinks, I'd order small.

lotsoweiners 2y ago
New York deli sandwiches are certainly not representative of what you get everywhere in the US. They are famously large.
- taeric 2y ago
  They may be famously large, but I don't think they are abnormally large for most of the US nowadays? I certainly didn't think they were particularly big when I visited.
  - jacobr1 2y ago
    Katz serves roughly 3/4 lbs of meat. That is particularly big. You can get triple hamburgers which would be similar is size - but most people are ordering singles or doubles. And you can find other kinds of large sandwiches around the country ... but it is not the most common of sizes.
    - taeric 2y ago
      I think what made them not seem excessively large to me, is that it didn't really come with much else? Yes, it was more meat than I would get on a sandwich, typically. But... that is about it? Maybe I got too used to some of the obscure burrito places around Atlanta that would put way too much on them?
- dfxm12 2y ago
  And expensive to match the size! A pastrami sandwich at Katz's is ~$30. A croque madame at a similar place in Paris is ~€15. People generally split a Pastrami sandwich over a couple meals or with someone else.

WheatMillington 2y ago

>I'm not even sure you can get a US large in Japan for most drinks? I've seen what large US drinks look like, and you definitely can't get that here in New Zealand. Like a litre of soft drink at a fast food place, it's absurd.