Toby Carvery Experience

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njspratt
njspratt Posts: 23
in Health and Weight Loss
I just feel the need to vent after our afternoon and thought here would be a good place for it! My husband and I have just been to a local Toby Carvery for dinner. He's never been to one before and I've only been once before (about 15 years ago). What an experience! We knew it would be busy, which is fine, but what we weren't prepared for were the absolute mountains of food that people were serving up for themselves! We were in the queue for a good 30 minutes and we watching people walking back past us to their tables with their plates piled high with food that, realistically, was just far too much for them. Then there's the "go large" option where you get an oval plate and some other extras like sausages and extra Yorkshire Pud. We just could not believe our eyes! A lady in the queue behind us was telling her mate that she went to Canada, they had similar restaurants there, BUT the difference was as well as paying for the food that you actually eat, you also pay for any food that you waste. I think this is a really good idea. It's easy when faced with a buffet to go all out and pile your plate high, but I am sure that there would have been such a lot of food just going to waste.

I felt guilty when I asked for turkey and a "normal" sized Yorkshire Pud, rather than the large ones that cover half of your plate. The guy serving actually said, "that looks a bit small, would you like another one?". I refused and stocked up on veg and potatoes. I had a very modest meal compared to most people there. I was just amazed at how much food people envisage they can actually eat.
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Replies

  • Tillyecl1
    Tillyecl1 Posts: 189 Member
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    I had a similar experience today in a Harvester. There is an all you can eat salad bar. Fine you would think. I had some lettuce and cucumber, sweet corn and tomatoes and low fat vinaigrette. I was watching what everyone else chose.Quite honestly it made me a little sick. People were obviously thinking salad = healthy, but the amount of people I saw loading up with coleslaw, pasta salad, potato salad etc and then piling on masses of mayonnaise and other dressings. Most of the bowls of "salad" must have been 600 calories and a lot of people were grabbing 2\3 bread rolls and butter. This all before their HUGE meals. No wonder we have problems with portion sizes that distorted.
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
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    People like good value. If it's all you can eat for a certain price, they're going to make the most of it. I'm personally not keen on carveries anyway. Not my cup of tea. The Harvester salad bar's ok, but I just have one bowlful and I try to keep a good balance of the actual salad items and the calorie dense add-ons. You just have to be mindful of how much coleslaw, croutons, mayo etc you're tipping on the top. I have a good idea of how many calories the salad I make at home is, so I just try to have something similar. It's not the kind of place you go for the amazing gastronomic experience anyway.
  • itsfruitcake
    itsfruitcake Posts: 146 Member
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    It kind of makes me uncomfortable to see people stuffing themselves with so much food (and that's coming from a binge eater...). I don't get the "value for money" thing either, since I find normal size portions in restaurants big enough already, and I'm pretty sure in most pubs or restaurants they're big enough, or even bigger than what most people should be eating in one meal anyway.

    On the other hand, the one nice thing about buffet places is that you can try out different dishes, but getting the balance right between trying out everything and piling your plate way too high is difficult But yeah, I totally agree that it's a shame to let so much food go to waste :(
  • njspratt
    njspratt Posts: 23
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    I definitely felt uncomfortable watching it all. I thought I could eat a lot sometimes, but some of those plates of food were just shocking! Would people really notice if the plates were a little bit smaller? Maybe they wouldn't feel compelled to fill every empty centimetre of white ceramic! Have a "normal" plate of food and IF you're still hungry, then go back. Some were easily eating enough for 2 or even 3 people!
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
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    I had a similar experience today in a Harvester. There is an all you can eat salad bar. Fine you would think. I had some lettuce and cucumber, sweet corn and tomatoes and low fat vinaigrette. I was watching what everyone else chose.Quite honestly it made me a little sick. People were obviously thinking salad = healthy, but the amount of people I saw loading up with coleslaw, pasta salad, potato salad etc and then piling on masses of mayonnaise and other dressings. Most of the bowls of "salad" must have been 600 calories and a lot of people were grabbing 2\3 bread rolls and butter. This all before their HUGE meals. No wonder we have problems with portion sizes that distorted.
    Oh the horror, a 600 calorie salad. And if they were having piles of mayo covered prepared salads, my guess is that it's a lot higher than 600 calories.

    I will have a salad a lot that is about 600 calories with chicken, spinach, onion, tomato, avocado (or guacamole if avocado is out of season), black beans, corn, and a homemade vinaigrette. Would you care to tell me exactly what is so wrong with my salad?
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
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    I had a similar experience today in a Harvester. There is an all you can eat salad bar. Fine you would think. I had some lettuce and cucumber, sweet corn and tomatoes and low fat vinaigrette. I was watching what everyone else chose.Quite honestly it made me a little sick. People were obviously thinking salad = healthy, but the amount of people I saw loading up with coleslaw, pasta salad, potato salad etc and then piling on masses of mayonnaise and other dressings. Most of the bowls of "salad" must have been 600 calories and a lot of people were grabbing 2\3 bread rolls and butter. This all before their HUGE meals. No wonder we have problems with portion sizes that distorted.
    Oh the horror, a 600 calorie salad. And if they were having piles of mayo covered prepared salads, my guess is that it's a lot higher than 600 calories.

    I will have a salad a lot that is about 600 calories with chicken, spinach, onion, tomato, avocado (or guacamole if avocado is out of season), black beans, corn, and a homemade vinaigrette. Would you care to tell me exactly what is so wrong with my salad?
    Nothing wrong with your salad. Nothing wrong with the Harvester one either. Of course, it does tend to be a side dish that goes along with a huge plate of fish & chips or whatnot. Which there's nothing wrong with either if it fits into your goals! :smile:
  • KarenJanine
    KarenJanine Posts: 3,497 Member
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    If I go to an all you can eat place, it's because I want a blow out and I will eat as much as I want. It certainly doesn't mean I eat like that all the time. Toby Carvery is not somewhere one goes for fine food and wine.

    It's unfair to judge people on their choices at a restaurant when you have no idea what they are eating the rest of the week.

    ETA. I agree that the waste is annoying. Smaller plates which people can refill once they've cleared may be a better option.
  • triskaidekaphile13
    triskaidekaphile13 Posts: 92 Member
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    There's an all you can eat Chinese buffet in Birmingham that charges you for what you don't eat. We stayed in a hotel on Friday night and on Saturday morning had the buffet breakfast. People were piling up their bowls with fruit or cereal, eating half and then leaving it to move onto a piled plate of cooked breakfast. They were then leaving half and moving onto the pastries and hot pancakes. All washed down with glasses and glasses of fruit juice.

    It is the waste that is frustrating although I've struggled to tell myself that I can stop when I'm full. I was brought up to clear my plate whether I wanted it or not. Now I stop when I don't want any more but try hard to be more realistic about what I will eat.

    This isn't new. I remember as a student in the nineties people trying to get as much as possible from their single visit to the Pizza Hut salad bar. There were techniques involving building walls with lettuce to increase the capacity of the bowl. I also remember a classic episode of Alan Partridge where he turned up at a buffet with his own large plate as those provided were too small. You can even buy your own Alan's Big Plate as official merchandise.

    When I stopped smoking I noticed smokers far more. I think it's the same with portions now I eat less.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    i love toby carvery! nice to know i am so judged for eating a big plateful!
  • adorable_aly
    adorable_aly Posts: 398 Member
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    Honestly waste is annoying, but what gives you the right to judge what other people eat? For all you know they busted their *kitten* at the gym all week for that 'cheat meal' or you know, maybe they just have different priorities in life from you. At the end of the day mind your own buisness and if it matters to you watch what goes into your own gob.
  • Tillyecl1
    Tillyecl1 Posts: 189 Member
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    I had a similar experience today in a Harvester. There is an all you can eat salad bar. Fine you would think. I had some lettuce and cucumber, sweet corn and tomatoes and low fat vinaigrette. I was watching what everyone else chose.Quite honestly it made me a little sick. People were obviously thinking salad = healthy, but the amount of people I saw loading up with coleslaw, pasta salad, potato salad etc and then piling on masses of mayonnaise and other dressings. Most of the bowls of "salad" must have been 600 calories and a lot of people were grabbing 2\3 bread rolls and butter. This all before their HUGE meals. No wonder we have problems with portion sizes that distorted.
    Oh the horror, a 600 calorie salad. And if they were having piles of mayo covered prepared salads, my guess is that it's a lot higher than 600 calories.

    I will have a salad a lot that is about 600 calories with chicken, spinach, onion, tomato, avocado (or guacamole if avocado is out of season), black beans, corn, and a homemade vinaigrette. Would you care to tell me exactly what is so wrong with my salad?

    Nothing wrong with a 600 calorie salad, if it's made up of good stuff (I regularly eat salads that are like this). However their salad were effectively a pile of mayo with a potato on the top. Which along with the 1500 cal rack of ribs/meat platter combo things these particular people were scarfing (I could see them as they were directly ahead of me) is a bit wrong. The salad they chose had very little redeeming qualities in terms of nutrition as it was just carbs and mayo. I think one of them put a tomato on theirs though.

    EDIT: That's before I even begin on the deserts they had. OMG, I would have killed for one of those! But all in all not worth the 2 hours of running I'd have to do to get enough cals to not go over my daily intake goal.
  • Tanteee
    Tanteee Posts: 80 Member
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    If I go to an all you can eat place, it's because I want a blow out and I will eat as much as I want. It certainly doesn't mean I eat like that all the time. Toby Carvery is not somewhere one goes for fine food and wine.

    It's unfair to judge people on their choices at a restaurant when you have no idea what they are eating the rest of the week.

    ETA. I agree that the waste is annoying. Smaller plates which people can refill once they've cleared may be a better option.

    Have to agree with this, carvery's and harvester type places are always going to have people piling up their plates ... no doubt thats part of the reason people go. I know I have in the past.
  • allotmentgardener
    allotmentgardener Posts: 248 Member
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    Fully agree, its their choice what they eat - who are you to judge other people!
  • KentWhiteRabbit
    KentWhiteRabbit Posts: 92 Member
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    I wouldn't go to a Toby Carvery for that reason, seeing so much food being wasted seeing parents encourage their older kids to eat so much upsets me.

    Portion sizes in restaurants in general are huge for me. It's no surprise that I put weight on so easily. I have been known on many occassions, since learning how to handle my weight, to have a starter as a main course along with a side salad. Saves money too :-)

    BTW: I'm not sure the OP did judge, just said she doesn't like to see it...thats her opinion, to which she is entitled.
  • Tillyecl1
    Tillyecl1 Posts: 189 Member
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    It's a free country and I can think what I like about other peoples food intake. Mainly because it has no impact on them at all. It's just what I thought quietly to myself in the corner whilst I was people watching.
  • dammitjanet0161
    dammitjanet0161 Posts: 319 Member
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    This isn't new. I remember as a student in the nineties people trying to get as much as possible from their single visit to the Pizza Hut salad bar. There were techniques involving building walls with lettuce to increase the capacity of the bowl.

    Ha ha I totally did this as an impoverished student in the late 80s! I also remember that we went to Pizza Hut rather than Pizzaland (remember them?) because Pizzaland had weird small kidney shaped plates wheres Pizza Hut had normal bowls that you could fit more in.

    I agree with some of the posters above, I think it's unfair to judge. I go to a great independent carvery near my home and I get 2 or 3 meats (always one slice of turkey and one slice of beef, plus sometimes a slice of gammon if it looks good), I go moderate with the potatoes and go nuts with the veg, so my plate looks like it's piled high. I rarely get a Yorkshire because I'm not fond of them and it takes up space on the plate that I could fill with veg. No idea what the calories would be because I haven't eaten there since I started MFP, but I'm not going to stop because it's delicious! When I go there for Sunday lunch I rarely eat anything for the rest of the day. I'd hate to think of someone looking at my plate and judging me because how do they know what I'm eating for the rest of the week, and quite frankly it's none of their business!

    I do agree about the waste issue, though I've seen that much more in Chinese buffet places.
  • laolivabeachbum
    laolivabeachbum Posts: 32
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    When I go out for a meal I really don't spend so much time judging what others eat. In the nicest way possible, mind your own business!
  • lizzyclatworthy
    lizzyclatworthy Posts: 296 Member
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    You would weep if you saw my harvester salad bowl. It's mostly blue cheese dressing and bacon bits ;) maybe some lettuce and sweetcorn to justify it!
  • Tillyecl1
    Tillyecl1 Posts: 189 Member
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    "You would weep if you saw my harvester salad bowl. It's mostly blue cheese dressing and bacon bits ;) maybe some lettuce and sweetcorn to justify it!"

    Lol, I think you rescued it with the lettuce :-P

    The reason I people watch is because I eat out a lot on my own as I am very often travelling for work. But don't worry, I've been told now and in future I shall simply look down at the table just in case I'm thought to be judging people.
  • GertrudeHorse
    GertrudeHorse Posts: 646 Member
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    Who cares what other people are eating? Worry about your own business and lose the holier than thou attitude.

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