Tapas
or
one
big plate
of food?
In my experience there are a lot of different kinds of eaters, but two of the most common–and diametrically opposed–are the folks who just want a great big filling serving of one thing and those who prefer to fill up on a variety of different foods.
I definitely fall in the latter category. When I go to a restaurant I want to order EVERYTHING and usually go the route of appetizer, entree and dessert, instead of just the middle one. But I am truly in heaven when I’m at a place that specializes in those smaller plates that the Spanish called tapas for reasons I am too lazy to google at this hour.
But Urban Spoon reviews of some of my favourite restaurants prove that many don’t share my enthusiasm–the common negative review complaining that the portions at these restaurants are too small. Of course, that’s the whole point, but for many folks a meal is one big plate in front of you–one that is often too big for even the heartiest of us to eat.
As a Canadian I’d long heard the myth of American food portions, but during my first trip down south I managed to avoid seeing it for myself–until I went out for breakfast before heading out to the airport to go home. As I looked upon all of the waffles and meat that I left untouched with my food belly, I briefly felt like a failure, until I realized the fault did not lay with the limits of my stomach, but rather with the fact that I had been served WAY too much food.
Still, I never seem to feel the same guilt when I order an appetizer platter for two for my one just because I want to try most of what the restaurant has to offer. In my brain it seems slightly better to waste a little of a lot of things than a lot of just one thing. My brain is weird and does things like that, even when it makes no sense.