Menopause Matters Forum

General Discussion => This 'n' That => Topic started by: Pennyfarthing on August 12, 2016, 09:06:58 AM

Title: Eating off slates and lumps of wood
Post by: Pennyfarthing on August 12, 2016, 09:06:58 AM
I know this has been "trendy" for some time but I hate it!  Went for lunch on Tuesday to a nice small hotel, ordered food (a posh sandwich with side salad and a few chips)  and it arrived on a flipping piece of slate.  Hubby accepted his but I asked for them to put mine on a plate which they did with no problem.

It sets my teeth on edge scraping  your knife against rough slate and puts me off my food.  Wooden boards aren't quite so bad but I still don't want to eat off one. Just give me a plate please!!!

There's also this trend for mismatched crockery in tea shops which is now old hat but is supposed to make us think they're fun and quirky!  I also ate at a pub and they brought our chips in tiny little mini baskets like you'd put in your deep fat fryer.  The chips were OK but you only got about a dozen!
Title: Re: Eating off slates and lumps of wood
Post by: Scampi on August 12, 2016, 09:10:18 AM
There's whole websites and social media pages dedicated to naming and shaming the worst offenders!  At least your food was solid - there are examples of puddings with custard or cream served on slates ... that works well  ;D
Title: Re: Eating off slates and lumps of wood
Post by: Pennyfarthing on August 12, 2016, 09:26:12 AM
There's whole websites and social media pages dedicated to naming and shaming the worst offenders!  At least your food was solid - there are examples of puddings with custard or cream served on slates ... that works well  ;D

IVe seen one of those sites Scampi on Facebook .. Some of the things they use instead of plates are ridiculous!  What gets me is that food providers could even imagine that people will be impressed by their daft ideas. 

I noticed at one place daughter and I went to that they just wiped over the wooden board with a damp cloth which someone had had their sandwich on before reusing it. Don't like that at all!
Title: Re: Eating off slates and lumps of wood
Post by: Scampi on August 12, 2016, 09:40:00 AM
What about those miniature wicker picnic baskets - can't even wipe those out!  Yuck.
Title: Re: Eating off slates and lumps of wood
Post by: Pennyfarthing on August 12, 2016, 10:30:07 AM
What about those miniature wicker picnic baskets - can't even wipe those out!  Yuck.

Don't think I've seen those ..... Yet!
Title: Re: Eating off slates and lumps of wood
Post by: Dorothy on August 12, 2016, 11:59:33 AM
Our ancestors would be shaking their heads in disbelief if they could see us now.  They used slates and bits of wood when they didn't have anything else - but as soon as anyone could afford it, they had 'real' plates.  And here we are, with all the plates we could ever want to use, insisting on going back in time a few hundred years!
Title: Re: Eating off slates and lumps of wood
Post by: CLKD on August 12, 2016, 02:02:19 PM
Nowt wrong with slate or olive wooden boards but they are NEVER large enough  >:( and I've found that places serve grub on small plates too …….. I'm a messy eater anyway so don't need any help to spread my food over the table or worse!

Slate and olive wood can at least be cleaned ……….. I'm fussy about crockery and always give it the once over in case it isn't clean  :-\.

Picnic baskets were in the 1970s, scampi and chips in a basket ……… soup is more difficult.

Mini baskets for chips are OK as long as there are enough in the basket  ::). 

My gripe of the day is that places are too dark >goes away muttering<
Title: Re: Eating off slates and lumps of wood
Post by: Pennyfarthing on August 12, 2016, 07:17:11 PM
Nowt wrong with slate or olive wooden boards but they are NEVER large enough  >:( and I've found that places serve grub on small plates too …….. I'm a messy eater anyway so don't need any help to spread my food over the table or worse!

Slate and olive wood can at least be cleaned ……….. I'm fussy about crockery and always give it the once over in case it isn't clean  :-\.

Picnic baskets were in the 1970s, scampi and chips in a basket ……… soup is more difficult.

Mini baskets for chips are OK as long as there are enough in the basket  ::). 

My gripe of the day is that places are too dark >goes away muttering<

Doesn't the cutlery scratching on the slate bug you?  It drives me mad and I also think China plates are more hygienic as they can be put in the dishwasher and cleaned properly. The slates we were given were odd shapes and I can't see them stacking well in a dishwasher.
Title: Re: Eating off slates and lumps of wood
Post by: CLKD on August 12, 2016, 07:21:34 PM
Oh yes, reminds me of chalk on the blackboard  :-X  :  >shudders<

A nicely layed (?) table with white crockery and silver cutlery always looks nice.  Plus nicely ironed napkins …….. and a Chef who comes out to see if the food is OK rather than hiding in the kitchen ;-). 



Title: Re: Eating off slates and lumps of wood
Post by: Hurdity on August 12, 2016, 07:52:02 PM
Haha - we have mismatched crockery anyway mostly and always have done, so going out to eat for a special meal I want to eat from good crocks! As for wooden boards and baskets - fine for dry bread but I agree re the (un)hygienic aspect!

Hurdity x
Title: Re: Eating off slates and lumps of wood
Post by: Dana on August 12, 2016, 09:11:50 PM
The silliest one I've seen recently is when someone's meal came served in a fry pan. They had a hard time trying to work out what direction to point the handle so it either wasn't in the way or wasn't knocking something over on the table.
Title: Re: Eating off slates and lumps of wood
Post by: RedFraggle on August 13, 2016, 06:22:18 AM
And jars for deserts and sides and drinks!!!!
Title: Re: Eating off slates and lumps of wood
Post by: Tempest on August 13, 2016, 03:49:19 PM
Oh man! Hubby and I got deathly ill from eating off chopping boards in a trendy bistro a couple of months back! We ordered different things, so it wasn't as if the food was 'off', I don't think. You could see all the slice marks in them where folk had eaten off them before. I was a bit dubious......and even more dubious and flippin' angry later as we fought over who was getting the lavvy first! >:(
Title: Re: Eating off slates and lumps of wood
Post by: babyjane on August 13, 2016, 04:03:00 PM
forewarned is forearmed.  thanks for the heads up as we will be eating out on holiday so I will make sure I ask for plates.  Better still we will pass by if diners appear to be eating off slates or boards  :(
Title: Re: Eating off slates and lumps of wood
Post by: CLKD on August 13, 2016, 04:17:02 PM
Jars for drinks - that's recycling tha knows  ;D
We've never had a set of anything …… so again, in vogue as we've been mismatched for years   ::)
Title: Re: Eating off slates and lumps of wood
Post by: Tempest on August 13, 2016, 07:11:05 PM
Blimey! I think I have been mismatched my whole life,  CLKD! ;D
Title: Re: Eating off slates and lumps of wood
Post by: CLKD on August 13, 2016, 07:19:18 PM
 ;D …….

I often go to coffee shops where mis-matched cups are used, why throw away a dropped saucer/cup if it can be used with another pattern?  Some girls are making old fashioned cake holder towers, the top is a cup the next is a saucer the next layer is a large plate: all different patterns fixed with a central metal holder …….. they look lovely and each is individual.

Slate should be for roofs.  Lumps of wood can be burnt ;-).
Title: Re: Eating off slates and lumps of wood
Post by: Hurdity on August 13, 2016, 08:28:06 PM
And jars for deserts and sides and drinks!!!!

Yes! I've had this! Went to Hugh FlippinWhitting's place for lunch about 5 years ago (so not recently) - a cafe near where I live and the pudding was a crumble and it was served in a bloody Kilner jar FFS!!!! With its lid to boot!

Hurdity :) x
Title: Re: Eating off slates and lumps of wood
Post by: CLKD on August 13, 2016, 08:29:16 PM
A doggy bag would leak though  ::) - at least you could carry it home.
Title: Re: Eating off slates and lumps of wood
Post by: Hurdity on August 13, 2016, 08:43:57 PM
Doggy bag  :-\ . I ate it all!

The jar wasn't for keeping!!! That was their pudding crocks!

Hurdity x