# Would you like to see restaurants offer small portions? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [April 30, 2026, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-see-restaurants-offer-small-portions/1029669 "2026-04-30T15:45:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-see-restaurants-offer-small-portions/1029669/121 "2026-05-04T19:27:18Z")
Thank you. Vaguely akin to the SoCal “Chili size” (**[Chili burger - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chili_burger)** and not one of wiki’s better efforts) in that it was an obscure working class restauranteur who improvised a pile-o-workin-class food on a plate and it caught the local imagination. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-see-restaurants-offer-small-portions/1029669/122 "2026-05-04T19:43:53Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > The pictures of the endless courses at the top-end restaurants make me think of them as buffets rather than meals. It’s not a buffet, because the courses come one at a time, you get exactly one of each course, and the remains of each course is cleared away before the next arrives. To me, a buffet is about the diner’s choice. What to take, how much, what order to eat it in. A tasting menu is about the chef offering a set experience to the diner. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-see-restaurants-offer-small-portions/1029669/123 "2026-05-04T19:51:32Z")
You’re completely missing my point. I know what a tasting menu is. My contention is that 18 courses more resembles a Gilded Age dinner than specialized tastes still memorable afterward. You may disagree, but you can’t factually negate my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-see-restaurants-offer-small-portions/1029669/124 "2026-05-04T19:55:48Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > My contention is that 18 courses more resembles a Gilded Age dinner than specialized tastes still memorable afterward. I’m not sure what this sentence is supposed to mean. Is a word missing? 5 courses is not a tasting menu. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-see-restaurants-offer-small-portions/1029669/125 "2026-05-04T21:51:15Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > You’re completely missing my point. I know what a tasting menu is. My contention is that 18 courses more resembles a Gilded Age dinner than specialized tastes still memorable afterward. You may disagree, but you can’t factually negate my opinion. Yes, because you didn’t actually make that point above. This comment makes sense, unlike your prior comment, comparing it to a buffet. I do disagree, because that 18 course dinner probably has 7 “real” courses interspersed with little things intended to amuse, cleanse the palette, etc. but at least i think you are presenting an arguable opinion here. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-see-restaurants-offer-small-portions/1029669/126 "2026-05-04T23:07:49Z")
Yeah, “buffet” strikes me as a strange term to use for a formal Gilded Age banquet with zillions of courses in _service à la Russe_. Those were very highly regimented affairs, no getting up from the table to help yourself to some more of the chicken wings! Although in some respects even a formal _service à la Russe_ dinner was more laid-back than some modern _haute cuisine_ tasting-menu experiences, because back then it was considered nobody’s business if you chose to pass up one or more of the offered courses. Superchefs nowadays rather expect you to be following their playbook. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-see-restaurants-offer-small-portions/1029669.md?page=6)