Reasonable to fine diners for taking too much food at a buffet or not?

[Jingthing]

2 minutes ago, DipStick said:

Many years ago in Singapore it was common policy to weigh left over food and charge by the gram .. So it's nothing new 

That's OK if they tell you coming in and I would probably go to such a place IF their food was really something special. Otherwise, no. It's too anal. 

I don't really feel I abuse buffets. If I leave food, it's for rational reasons. They would lose people like me but that would be their business decision. 

[jobwolf]

1 hour ago, Jingthing said:

Another thing with the sushi.

Many people are on low carb or no carb diets. 

So they're not allowed to take any sushi if they don't want to eat the rice?

Again I think this moralizing about finishing all the food on your plates is very destructive and promotes obesity.

People going to buffets aren't people with a food scarcity problem. Buffets by definition are more of a food abundance environment which I reckon for 99 percent of the people reading this forum, is their lifetime reality. 

 

Just now, Jingthing said:

That's OK if they tell you coming in and I would probably go to such a place IF their food was really something special. Otherwise, no. It's too anal. 

Jingthing ,over eating has nothing to do with forced Obesity, it is greed.

Do you know where the key is to activate your brain, or is it hidden under a sparrow's knee cap,

and you can't find the right sparrow.

[jobwolf]

57 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

I don't agree.

Not going to be shamed by buffet church lady moralists to stuff calories in my belly I don't want there. 

I've left the rice and got some dirty looks but never a fine. 

But I don't take much because usually the fish isn't very good either.

If you don't like fish stay off sushi. If you do take sashimi if you can afford it otherwise don't talk.

[harrry]

6 hours ago, Johnnyngai said:

 it is a sin to waste food.

And it is sp nice to sin.

If the food is delicious it will be eaten and not left on the plate.  

With many foods you cannot tell whether they are suited to your palate and not too hot etc until you try them.  TO try them they have to go on the plate.  

Charging means no return.

[Khon Kaen Dave]

There used to be a BBQ all you can eat in Trat years ago.It was quite openly stated that you paid 1.99 bhat for what you could eat,but you paid 100 baht over for what you wasted by over ordering and leaving food untouched.The price of greed i suppose.

[Pattaya28]

The very nature of a "Buffet" is, 1 price, take, and, or eat, as much as you like. 

Restaurant owners should take into account all eventualities for their profit.

Although I accept the system will be abused by a minority, as is in all walks of life.

[Rayk]

10 hours ago, AlphMichaels said:

If it's an "all-you-can-eat" buffet, and you decide to arbitrarily decide when a table takes too much and doesn't eat that you'll penalize them on the check..., you better state it up front.  

It's called "all you can eat" not "all you can bring to your table".

If you don't eat it, you should pay for it.

[Jingthing]

Again, the church lady morality preachers of shame would have us put something that looks interesting on our plates and then when tasted, realizing we hate, and we're supposed to finish off food that's either disgusting to us or we realize is very unhealthy, to meet some ridiculous irrational standard of never wasting any food.

Dudes, buffets are kind of about wasting food. What do you think happens to the food in the trays at the end of the day? Hopefully they are either given to the poor (sadly not often enough) or tossed in the trash. 

[Jingthing]

1 hour ago, jobwolf said:

 

Jingthing ,over eating has nothing to do with forced Obesity, it is greed.

Do you know where the key is to activate your brain, or is it hidden under a sparrow's knee cap,

and you can't find the right sparrow.

Rubbish.

People get brainwashed by ignorant parents to clean their plate and feel guilty ("people are starving in Europe") about it.

It's so misguided in today's calorie abundant environment (for most people reading this anyway).

 

Quote

 

“Clean your plate or else!” and other authoritarian approaches to parenting can lead to overweight children, a new study finds.

Strict mothers were nearly five times more likely to raise tubby first-graders than mothers who treated their children with flexibility and respect while also setting clear rules.

 

 

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2006/06/05/child-obesity-linked-to-c_n_22215.html

[jobwolf]

1 hour ago, harrry said:

And it is sp nice to sin.

If the food is delicious it will be eaten and not left on the plate.  

With many foods you cannot tell whether they are suited to your palate and not too hot etc until you try them.  TO try them they have to go on the plate.  

Charging means no return.

That's why you can go back many times, so you start with small portions to try it and then return for what you prefer.

This is not rocket science. Well for lot's of you it is I see.

[Jingthing]

I agree. You return a reasonable amount of times if you want. But there is a balance between taking a chance on a portion of something you THINK you will want to finish and returning to the buffet multiple times. What would the moralists have us do? See some meatballs, thinking we will probably want to eat five, and take only one "just in case" we realize they're  gross? 

Sure it's not rocket science but there is a degree of obsessive anal behavior being pushed here by the "clean your plate" society that defies rationality. 

Here's another perspective. If somehow some food got on your plate and you end up eating food that tastes gross to you, that you know is unhealthy for you (and you're eating it ONLY to meet the rules of the buffet, imposed or self imposed), or that is eaten after you feel you don't want to eat ANY more food ... I think that's deviant self hating and self destructive behavior. 

[DipStick]

15 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

I agree. You return a reasonable amount of times if you want. But there is a balance between taking a chance on a portion of something you THINK you will want to finish and returning to the buffet multiple times. What would the moralists have us do? See some meatballs, thinking we will probably want to eat five, and take only one "just in case" we realize they're  gross? 

Sure it's not rocket science but there is a degree of obsessive anal behavior being pushed here by the "clean your plate" society that defies rationality. 

Here's another perspective. If somehow some food got on your plate and you end up eating food that tastes gross to you, that you know is unhealthy for you, that is eaten after you feel you don't want to eat ANY more food ... I think that's deviant self hating and self destructive behavior. 

It seems as if you are trying to justify your life style re food etc. Let's turn this slightly, let's say you held a BBQ for six friends and you provided six steaks, one for each of your guests, but one guest decided he was going to help himself to three of the steaks, cut them up put the condiments on them then not eat them. Would you as the host not be shamed and embarrassed.

now how about this, way back in the 70,s when I was serving in HK, a group of us booked a five star hotel buffet Christmas lunch for our families. All was well until the hotel replenished a full tray of prawns, to everyone's amazement one patron rushed to the buffet and took the whole tray back to his table... And yes he was Chinese, but his actions certainly deserved the furore it caused.

surely it's all about good manners, breeding and etiquette .

[bazza40]

A reasonable person would try a small quantity of a particular dish before loading up their plate with it. Unfortunately, reasonable people seem to be in short supply.

Perhaps buffets are superfluous in America, where you get so much on your plate ordering a la carte it's difficult for most non-Americans to eat it all. On the other hand, some of the nouvelle cuisine offerings are insulting in their meagre portions.

[Jingthing]

29 minutes ago, DipStick said:

It seems as if you are trying to justify your life style re food etc. Let's turn this slightly, let's say you held a BBQ for six friends and you provided six steaks, one for each of your guests, but one guest decided he was going to help himself to three of the steaks, cut them up put the condiments on them then not eat them. Would you as the host not be shamed and embarrassed.

now how about this, way back in the 70,s when I was serving in HK, a group of us booked a five star hotel buffet Christmas lunch for our families. All was well until the hotel replenished a full tray of prawns, to everyone's amazement one patron rushed to the buffet and took the whole tray back to his table... And yes he was Chinese, but his actions certainly deserved the furore it caused.

surely it's all about good manners, breeding and etiquette .

I find your comment ridiculous. I've already addressed outrageous and blatant abuse and said the business should tell such people, don't ever come back. There is an area between being an anal nutcase that licks their plate clean even if they aren't hungry or hate the food to outrageous abuse. A happy middle ground. I'm certain in real life most buffet business structure their business for a happy middle ground including averaging out of light eaters and also the reality that sever abusers are not really very common. 

Also in my experience, in real life, business that do post signs saying you will be charged for waste RARELY actually enforce that except in cases of severe abuse. It helps people get the message to keep it reasonable. Again, it would be bad PR to actually enforce it on normal amounts of wastage. 

[dontoearth]

5 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Yes.

Maybe you don't go to buffets.

People who do have had the experience where they put a portion of something on their plate and then don't find it appealing enough to eat all of it.

Yes, that can be dealt with by taking smaller portions, but sometimes food look better than they are.

Or you get them back and they are too rich, too salty, too sweet, and you realize if you finish it you won't want to eat other foods on the buffet that you'd rather eat.

This is more of a problem when the portions are set and you need to take a whole portion instead of a small amount.

An Italian buffet I go to sometimes has lasagna. The portions are precut. If you cut that up at the buffet people will look at you in a rude manner, so the polite thing is to take the entire portion. But this is very rich creamy lasagna and I'd never want to eat that much of that one thing in a buffet that has ten other things.

Get it now?

Real enough for you?

Or are you just into insulting people? 

I would ask the service staff to cut it for me into a smaller piece.  There are always service people in most buffets standing at the line and not really doing anything.  Let them help a little!  Or I would ask anyone in my party if they would like a half piece and we could cut it at the table.  

 

3 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Yeah that sushi issue is common. Obviously not an issue for sashimi. Here's where it's not that black and white. Like if the fish is OK but the rice is disgusting and overly sweet. Not only the rice but the sugar fills you up quicker. That's by design. I've had that experience. Buffets often play tricks like that. 

Morality lecturers here, let me know how you'd deal with the precut lasagna issue I mentioned. At the buffet table there is no tool to cut it. You could cut it with the serving spoon but then  you'd leave a BIG MESS of what you didn't cut. Suppose you even know you only want to eat 1/3 of the portion. You paid for the buffet and you want that 1/3. Seriously, you wouldn't take it? Well, I would with no guilt whatsoever.

I do see people cutting up portions that are too big and it would be best for the owners to supply some utensils for that task or pre-cut half and full portions and see what the customer prefers.  I think people wanting a larger portion would be glad to take 2 or 3 small portions.

In general I have been shying away from buffets as you said earlier more and more buffets load their tables with sugary, fatty nonsense (really cheap to make and serve) that I would rather not eat anyway.

[DipStick]

4 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

I find your comment ridiculous. I've already addressed outrageous and blatant abuse and said the business should tell such people, don't ever come back. There is an area between being an anal nutcase that licks their plate clean even if they aren't hungry or hate the food to outrageous abuse. A happy middle ground. I'm certain in real life most buffet business structure their business for a happy middle ground including averaging out of light eaters and also the reality that sever abusers are not really very common. 

You find my comments ridiculous ! So why don't you answer my comments about hoarding food as stated, don't skirt around the issues to justify your beliefs ! I have no intention of entering into an argument with you, we obviously come from different social backgrounds !

[GOLDBUGGY]

The last place that I ate in a place like this was in Singapore and in their they tended to control the plate size and number rather than what you put on it. You could not take 3 plates and fill them to the top as you paid by the dinner plate.

You were given one small to medium sized plate to eat the main course off of, a small plate next to the dessert, a small bowl next to soup, a small cup next to coffee, and a small glass next to juice. There was no rule you couldn't go back for more once you finished, as my wife often did. But I didn't as she usually dumped on my plate what she didn't like the first time around and by then I was full to.

I think in most cases the eyes are bigger than the stomach and if given a chance people will always load up more than they can eat. So the trick to this is to control the size and quantity of plates they can use as I know of no other way.

[fabrizio garbo]

3 hours ago, jobwolf said:

 

Jingthing ,over eating has nothing to do with forced Obesity, it is greed.

Do you know where the key is to activate your brain, or is it hidden under a sparrow's knee cap,

and you can't find the right sparrow.

For sure he is Autodidact and still doesn't know where is The switch! 55555

[fabrizio garbo]

3 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Are you a Virgo or something? 

Are U a British Humourist or simply narrowminded?

[DipStick]

44 minutes ago, fabrizio garbo said:

Are U a British Humourist or simply narrowminded?

Let's try a fat greedy money pincher ..... Now what nationality does that make him ? My guess is previous posters have hit the nail on the head. He has probably have to listen to his server saying tonight we have blah blah blah and then repulsed in paying a tip for service 

[Jingthing]

In Thailand there are two basic kinds of buffets. 

The serve yourself from a buffet table kind and the order all you like from a menu kind.

I've been addressing the buffet table kind and explained a number of scenarios where you may reasonably and rationally not finish all of your food. 

 

Moving on to the order all you want from a menu kind, here are two examples of where reasonable waste could easily happen with those as well.

Pizza buffet where you must order an entire pizza each time. Not slices.

Say you want to eat 1 1/2 pizzas. Yes that may sound like a large amount of pizza but this is for example purposes only. 

Order one pizza. Eat it. Ask the server, can I order 1/2 a pizza? No, only full pizza, sir.

OK, full pizza.

So we're supposed to eat the last half? Seriously? Come on now.

Another example for a Japanese buffet like that.

You order shrimp tempura.

It arrives. It's a fair sized portion. You start to eat it and although the shrimp is not rotten, the fried dish is dripping in grease. 
Not what you expected from shrimp tempura.

You have a bite or two and that's it. Eating the entire portion would mean filling your stomach with grease, very unhealthy, and losing your appetite for much other Japanese food that might be might better, and healthier.

Seriously. Get a grip. The clean your plate club, are you saying you would eat that entire plate of food that was disgusting to you and not what you expected?

Especially in Thailand with international food, what comes out is so often pretty HORRIBLE. Not only not authentic but GROSS. 

Sure you could complain and send it back. Why? That's how they cook tempura there. It's a buffet. Just order more food. You'd only send it back or complain if it was an a al carte order.

I would leave the uneaten tempura and if they had the nerve to charge for food waste (which, get real, they WOULDN'T) then it would be the time to COMPLAIN.

[Jingthing]

15 minutes ago, DipStick said:

Let's try a fat greedy money pincher ..... Now what nationality does that make him ? My guess is previous posters have hit the nail on the head. He has probably have to listen to his server saying tonight we have blah blah blah and then repulsed in paying a tip for service 

What nail is that, dude? 

The thread isn't about tipping.

If you want to discuss tipping at serve yourself buffets and how that is or isn't different than standard restaurants, maybe start another topic. 

[DipStick]

7 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

In Thailand there are two basic kinds of buffets. 

The serve yourself from a buffet table kind and the order all you like from a menu kind.

I've been addressing the buffet table kind and explained a number of scenarios where you may reasonably and rationally not finish all of your food. 

 

Moving on to the order all you want from a menu kind, here are two examples of where reasonable waste could easily happen with those as well.

Pizza buffet where you must order an entire pizza each time. Not slices.

Say you want to eat 1 1/2 pizzas. Yes that may sound like a large amount of pizza but this is for example purposes only. 

Order one pizza. Eat it. Ask the server, can I order 1/2 a pizza? No, only full pizza, sir.

OK, full pizza.

So we're supposed to eat the last half? Seriously? Come on now.

Another example for a Japanese buffet like that.

You order shrimp tempura.

It arrives. It's a fair sized portion. You start to eat it and although the shrimp is not rotten, the fried dish is dripping in grease. 
Not what you expected from shrimp tempura.

You have a bite or two and that's it. Eating the entire portion would mean filling your stomach with grease, very unhealthy, and losing your appetite for much other Japanese food that might be might better, and healthier.

Seriously. Get a grip. The clean your plate club, are you saying you would eat that entire plate of food that was disgusting to you and not what you expected?

Especially in Thailand with international food, what comes out is so often pretty HORRIBLE. Not only not authentic but GROSS. 

Sure you could complain and send it back. Why? That's how they cook tempura there. It's a buffet. Just order more food. You'd only send it back or complain if it was an a al carte order.

I would leave the uneaten tempura and if they had the nerve to charge for food waste (which, get real, they WOULDN'T) then it would be the time to COMPLAIN.

 

3 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

What nail is that, dude? 

The thread isn't about tipping.

If you want to discuss tipping at serve yourself buffets and how that is or isn't different than standard restaurants, maybe start another topic. 

Excuse me but I am not a Dude nor am I a redneck, if you have issues with a restaurant, can I suggest the obvious way is to resolve the issue with the management. I am beginning to realise why the Trump issue is becoming more and more boring, I also get the feeling that you are competing with the chines food wise ! Well done resident of the year ! 

[Jingthing]

No, I've never done anything like what the famous Chinese tour group video showed. You're just being intentionally baiting now. Shame on you, dude. 

I don't go out of my way to waste food at a buffet ... nor do I get obsessively anal about avoiding wasting any food.

Like I said before, a HAPPY middle ground. Very Thai Buddhist, innit?

We go out to restaurants to ENJOY ourselves. 

Restaurant owners get that too.

No sane restaurant owner REALLY expects you to eat every morsel of food on a buffet deal.

They just want to dissuade EXTREME abuse.

Yes I've been to many many buffets in many nations in the world and honestly I've not even ONCE witnessed an outrageous incident of food wastage. Seriously, not even once.

I'm sure it happens. But it's not common.

I have (many times) seen people take a shockingly large amount of food but then they mostly ATE IT.

So no issues with that right? That's between them and their cardiologist.

I have noticed young Thai men are NUTTY about eating lots of horrible Thai HOT DOGS at breakfast hotel buffets. It makes me nautious just to imagine eating even one of those "mystery meat" appendages. 

 

As far as the management in the two examples I mentioned with a menu buffet, there was no need to speak to the management.

On the pizza deal, the example stated asked the waiter to provide 1/2 pizza and denied ... only full pizzas. End of discussion! That's their idiocy. Not the customer's problem.

On the greasy tempura, I already explained why there would no reason to complain about it. Just don't eat it. With very good reason! It's on them for serving CRAP.

 

Next  ...

[thairay]

If that had been 20 Thai girls, the plates would have been empty. I am judging by my experience with the capacity to eat shown by my wife and friends. Hollow legs i am sure.

[AlphMichaels]

18 hours ago, tuanku said:

Its "all you can eat" They obviously couldn't eat it. It is not an "all you can take" buffet. Perhaps what she should have done is bagged the left over food and charged for it but let them take it away?. Many restaurants are willing to do this if you accidentally over-order.

Like you, I think it's a fine line. Western buffets (Las Vegas comes to mind) post signs everywhere.., even at the tables - "If you plate it, eat it".  It really is a matter of "buffet etiquette" which westerner know (sorta) well.  Asians are still evolving and in the end analysis, weekly forays to these establishments will render the same result as the west - poor dining habits - obesity - over-consumption.        

[adhd]

as if they will not just put that uneaten food back into the trays, when no-one is looking

[1FinickyOne]

I try and avoid buffets - I can no longer eat all I can eat... 

 

but if I were an owner, I would sure hate to see the waste.

[Saladin]

It is the restaurants' responsibility to make the rules clear beforehand, not afterwards.

[jobwolf]

It is the Customers responsibility to use his Brains and common sense.  Etiquette has nothing to do with upbringing  and proper manners. Most people on this forum seem to have no manners and even less brains and all that counts for them is excuses so they can keep going on with their narrow minded way of live. If you can not afford to go to a proper quality Buffet and need to take food home act accordingly and behave nicely.