It would be interesting if restaurants cut the portion sizes in half, kept the same prices, but used higher quality products and better care in preparing.
Piper's in Raleigh has a really good fish n chips plate - my wife loves it. However, it's an insanely huge portion. $13.95, but it's more than enough for two people (she split it with a friend last time and they couldn't finish it). Dropping the sizes in half and making it $10.95 would still be a good value (well, in line with the rest of their portions, FWICT). The waitress has said that most people don't finish the fish because it's too much - it just ends up being thrown out. You can't easily reheat fried fish the next day as a leftover (well, I can't - any tips?)
Getting Chinese takeaway always felt a bit expensive (for the good stuff around us). However, we've cut back on portion sizes, and my wife's dinner is enough for dinner, then lunch, then usually another dinner, all from an $11 menu item. In those terms, it's a good deal. But if you tried to eat it all in one sitting, it's too much.
I just do not understand restaurant portion sizings.
Make a sauce for the fish. Here's one that I absolutely love with fish:
Put chopped peppers, onion and garlic with butter in a pan and put it on the stove with a lid. Stir a few times until the peppers get soft. DON'T let anything become brown, turn down the heat. Next put it in a food processor or use a similar device until it's a nice smooth sauce. It can't hurt to process it too long. You don't want bits of pepper skin in it. Next put it back in the pan with a laurel leaf and some cream (optional, but like many sauces and soups, adding some cream makes it taste better) and let it cook for a minute or so. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Goes well with fish and pasta and some parmegiano. Cut the fish in relatively small pieces and mix with the sauce. This hides the fact that it has been reheated.
>I just do not understand restaurant portion sizings.
The food is a very small part of their costs.
They can double the amount of food for a cost of $1, charge an extra $2 AND have many more customers for their great value!
It's like selling home PCs with a 1Tb drive, most users don't need it but it only costs them $5 more than a 500Gb drive.
Why don't European restaurants do it. Is food more expensive there or is it just considered bad form or somehow un-sophisticated to serve giant portions.
I would also guess that it depends on the type of food. High quality, fresh organic produce is a lot more expensive, so perhaps for some food items it really is about the price. For example the fish in fish and chips could be some really expensive fish. Doubling the portion would be a lot more than adding another $1 to the cost.
Culturally food quality is considered more important than quality. Also, higher quality ingredients cost significantly more. So basically it costs them more to do so, and their customers don't care.
> You can't easily reheat fried fish the next day as a leftover (well, I can't - any tips?)
For things like that I suggest a toaster oven. Put it on 350-400 or so and put the food in long enough to get hot. Works well for most fried foods, pizza, and other things that don't microwave well.
Comments
It would be interesting if restaurants cut the portion sizes in half, kept the same prices, but used higher quality products and better care in preparing.
I guess it's wishful thinking.
Just a random anecdote here on portion sizes:
Piper's in Raleigh has a really good fish n chips plate - my wife loves it. However, it's an insanely huge portion. $13.95, but it's more than enough for two people (she split it with a friend last time and they couldn't finish it). Dropping the sizes in half and making it $10.95 would still be a good value (well, in line with the rest of their portions, FWICT). The waitress has said that most people don't finish the fish because it's too much - it just ends up being thrown out. You can't easily reheat fried fish the next day as a leftover (well, I can't - any tips?)
Getting Chinese takeaway always felt a bit expensive (for the good stuff around us). However, we've cut back on portion sizes, and my wife's dinner is enough for dinner, then lunch, then usually another dinner, all from an $11 menu item. In those terms, it's a good deal. But if you tried to eat it all in one sitting, it's too much.
I just do not understand restaurant portion sizings.
Make a sauce for the fish. Here's one that I absolutely love with fish:
Put chopped peppers, onion and garlic with butter in a pan and put it on the stove with a lid. Stir a few times until the peppers get soft. DON'T let anything become brown, turn down the heat. Next put it in a food processor or use a similar device until it's a nice smooth sauce. It can't hurt to process it too long. You don't want bits of pepper skin in it. Next put it back in the pan with a laurel leaf and some cream (optional, but like many sauces and soups, adding some cream makes it taste better) and let it cook for a minute or so. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Goes well with fish and pasta and some parmegiano. Cut the fish in relatively small pieces and mix with the sauce. This hides the fact that it has been reheated.
>I just do not understand restaurant portion sizings.
The food is a very small part of their costs. They can double the amount of food for a cost of $1, charge an extra $2 AND have many more customers for their great value!
It's like selling home PCs with a 1Tb drive, most users don't need it but it only costs them $5 more than a 500Gb drive.
Why don't European restaurants do it. Is food more expensive there or is it just considered bad form or somehow un-sophisticated to serve giant portions.
I would also guess that it depends on the type of food. High quality, fresh organic produce is a lot more expensive, so perhaps for some food items it really is about the price. For example the fish in fish and chips could be some really expensive fish. Doubling the portion would be a lot more than adding another $1 to the cost.
Culturally food quality is considered more important than quality. Also, higher quality ingredients cost significantly more. So basically it costs them more to do so, and their customers don't care.
> You can't easily reheat fried fish the next day as a leftover (well, I can't - any tips?)
For things like that I suggest a toaster oven. Put it on 350-400 or so and put the food in long enough to get hot. Works well for most fried foods, pizza, and other things that don't microwave well.