When you are in a new restaurant, do you ask the size of the serving before you order? It happened to us many times that the food serving was so large that we have leftovers. It's okay if we are here in our country but when abroad, what do we do with the leftover? So it has been our habit to ask the size of a dish in the menu. In our recent trip to Hongkong last June, we were suspicious of the fried noodles and since the attendant didn't know English so we ordered just 1 plate to be shared by me and my husband. If that is not enough then we order another serving. But when the food came, it was good for even 3 or 4 with a little leftover. Can you imagine the wastage if we had ordered 2 servings?
I generally look around at what others are eating to get an idea of the portion size, or I will ask because I don't like waste. Plus, if I want a dessert then I don't want to be too full. I'm sure people don't mind asking about portion size, but once I was in an upmarket restaurant (Harvey Nichols) and I ordered the ravioli, and I got 5 pieces. I was still so hungry after that, but that's gourmet food for you and taught me a lesson to ask.
I usually stay at a hotel with a fridge, especially for long stays, so having extra food is never a problem. If there is not meat in the food, it'll keep for al little while as long as it doesn't get to warm. But I do tend to look around to see the portion sizes like Theo does. But this can also be deceptive, I was at an Olive Garden and the table next to us had huge full plates. When I got my order , the potion sizes were tiny in comparison to the huge plates. I was still hungry after the free breadsticks and the pasta. Never went back again. So the safest bet is to ask for portion sizes especially in Asia because they're communal eaters and tend to eat with others instead of just themselves.
I usually stay in a room that has a refrig so leftovers would not be a problem. I look around to see what others are ordering, what their plates look like and make my decision from what I see. I think I will start asking about the size of the meal to avoid getting more food than needed.
I have a large appetite, so having leftovers is not too much of a concern for me. I now live in a place where there is a refrigerator, so it's easy to just store it in there if I don't get to eat everything.
In my country, the servings are never too large. It's always too small if anything. But yes, I ask the servings because I would like to make sure that enough food is served to stay satisfied. I once ordered a 5 dollar burger and it was the smallest piece of food I've ever seen for the price.
Enquiring about the size of the food portion is something that I've never even thought about doing actually. To be honest the only thing I usually look for is the price of the meals and then if they come and I can't finish them then that's not really my problem. A lot of restaurants will box up leftover for you to take home anyway, and while in the past it wasn't commonly done, I've been asked if I want to do that a few times recently in all different types of restaurants as well and not just the cheap, fast food ones that you might expect to be asked in.
Yes. We always ask for the size of every serving not because we want to avoid leaving leftovers but because we always get victimized by restaurant people who will tell you that the serving is good for three but after they serve you the food you'll be shocked to see that it's actually good for a single person only.
Usually we ask for one portion of the dishes only in the beginning. After that we see whether we need more or not. The leftovers we ask them to pack it for us if it is substantial. Otherwise, we just leave it.
Good technique! I appreciate your method of ordering foods to avoid wastage of food which goes to left over. You are not only limiting the intake of foods to yourself and with your spouse, but you are helping the restaurant to save foods wastage too. In our place, people usually take foods in excess of what they could consume. If it is to quantify probably, it is a great number of foods wastage.
If anything I do ask for the serving size to make sure it's large enough. Here food usually comes in smalls servings which can be too little to be satisfied. There are those rare occasions when they serve a large amount and those times I feel lucky.
