[News] The Great Carvery Debate

[Zeberdi]

I went to that chinese all-you-can-eat jobbie at the bottom of East Street a few years back (Dave's ?). Not my choice, it was my lads birthday.

The place was wall-to-wall SportsDirect.com-clad Karens with buggys, with all their crotch-goblins generally running amok. The food was in trays under heat lamps, and the sheer wastage had to be seen to be believed. Tables and tables of abandoned plates piled high with everything - so much of it had barely even been touched. Once they've paid their £15 (or whatever) some people seem to lose all semblance of self-discipline, and instead become determined to "get me munnies wurf". The staff were literally carrying BINS around, shovelling the leftovers in.

Disgusting. I was revolted, and never even thought of going back. And the food was actually pretty decent, I was mildly surprised. But as for the experience - bleuurgh. Never again.

So yeah, 100% Team Landlord. I could not disagree with a word he said.

Force everyone to eat all they want with chopsticks from a communal bowl - that’ll sort out the gluttons from the big boys

 

[Hugo Rune]

I've been there a few times without any problems. Last time there was 4 of us and my Girlfriend…….

 

[Easy 10]

In an age when foodbanks have become rife and such an essential service for so many, its beyond offensive that this massive wastage is somehow allowed. That landlord speaks for me, and if some gluttonous entitled SPANNER has just loaded their plate up for the dustbin, then the least they should expect is a few quid extra on their bill.

 

[OzMike]

I used to love a good carvery, but I do have a big appetite and to date have never wasted anything.
Coming from a one parent family, wirh 10 brothers and sisters, wastage was not an option and learning the value of what we had was so important.
I still check the dates on everything we get and make sure nothing goes to waste.
My kids make fun, luckily they had a better standard of living when they grew up.

 

[SeagullinExile]

This is standard at a SE Asian ‘BBQ’ joint. You must eat everything you bring to your table, if you don’t , you pay extra for your wastage. Fair enough in my book.

 

[jcdenton08]

I have no problem with this. Only take what you mean to eat - it’s so easy to overload a plate then leave half of it and completely avoidable.

What I do have a problem with is some places - particularly Chinese buffets - who simply don’t refill higher price/in demand dishes or impose unadvertised limits on certain things.

For example one Chinese I went to, I was in it basically for the crispy duck pancakes with seaweed - my absolute favourite Chinese food. They noticed I was solely having these and actually took away the duck!

I’m sure me not filling up on potatoes isn’t ideal for their bottom line, but it’s the only reason I went there in the first place.

 

[John Byrnes Mullet]

The customers paid the £12. What's the problem if it's in the belly or in the bin? If the Landlord is thinking I could have sold the food they wasted to another customer then he needs to stop the all you can eat buffet and then the problem is solved.

 

[Lenny Rider]

Actually the best two I’ve ever been to were the Tollgate at Bramber and the Woolpack at Fishbourne.

Both times, the servers served the entire meal at the hot plate, you just told them what meat and veg you wanted.

Very little waste, as it was effectively portion control, unless your Mr Creosote, maybe this is the solution in this case?

 

[BN9 BHA]

The customers paid the £12. What's the problem if it's in the belly or in the bin? If the Landlord is thinking I could have sold the food they wasted to another customer then he needs to stop the all you can eat buffet and then the problem is solved.

Does it really need explaining?
All you can eat….not all you can’t eat…..not all that you can get the staff to throw away.

Another link for people that don’t want to click on the Mail, worth reading the landlord’s comments.

https://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/2024-10-03/excessive-waste-bothers-me-the-pub-charging-customers-for-leaving-food

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

Not a self service AYCEB but happy to report that the buffet at the China Palace in Worthing is decent and not a pair of Everlasts in sight

 

[Easy 10]

I have no problem with this. Only take what you mean to eat - it’s so easy to overload a plate then leave half of it and completely avoidable.

What I do have a problem with is some places - particularly Chinese buffets - who simply don’t refill higher price/in demand dishes or impose unadvertised limits on certain things.

For example one Chinese I went to, I was in it basically for the crispy duck pancakes with seaweed - my absolute favourite Chinese food. They noticed I was solely having these and actually took away the duck!

I’m sure me not filling up on potatoes isn’t ideal for their bottom line, but it’s the only reason I went there in the first place.

I had a similar experience once at that all-you-can-eat chinese buffet West Street (I think its gone now). I too am a fan of the crispy duck with pancakes and hoi-sin sauce - as was, it seems, almost the entire restaurant.

When I got there, the duck tub (for want of a better word) was empty. So, mildly disgruntled, I got some other stuff and mooched back to my seat. Then a waiter came out of the kitchen door with a NEW tub of duck, and it was like the Pied Piper of Beijing. About a dozen diners immediately sprang up, and followed him in a line round the restaurant till he deposited it under the hot lamps. The tension was quite palpable as the line of people waited in turn to fill their plates. The muttering / dirty looks at those who were 'filling their boots' made for quite a fraught atmosphere.

This and the fact we were all sat along BENCHES around big long tables made it an experience to forget. No wonder its gone now.

 

[Brent Partridge]

They should have used the big plate scam.

 

[Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo]

Last time there was 4 of us and my Girlfriend.

I think I’ve seen that video on Porn Hub.

 

[The Clamp]

This is the problem of course. When you offer cheap roasts, you’re going to get ghastly council estate types attending.

Fat Gary and his roly poly family are going to pile it high as if Mum’s just got back from Iceland. And being poorly raised and part of the “me first” generation of dole moles, they’ll take more than they need.

I’ve been to these carvery places before and they closer resemble a famine relief centre than they do a restaurant.


Not for me, Clive.

 

[Zeberdi]

The customers paid the £12. What's the problem if it's in the belly or in the bin? If the Landlord is thinking I could have sold the food they wasted to another customer then he needs to stop the all you can eat buffet and then the problem is solved.

Why should he? The notice was quite clear that if people took the piss, they would be charged extra. He also made it clear his reasoning for the extra charging policy was to limit foodwaste not to make money. He even offered foil so people can take meat waste home to eat.

The Landlord has got widespread support and with very good reason imo;

• About a 1/3 of all food produced globally is lost in the process of getting to our table in the first place. Through over-production (food expires) or rejection because it doesn’t look ‘right’ etc. Good edible food wasted.
• Some people think excessive foodwaste is morally wrong on those who toil with hard labour to ensure we are fed
• Of the 263 million tonnes of meat produced every year globally, a fifth (53 million tonnes) is wasted – that's equivalent to 75 million cows.
• What we waste at home makes up almost 50% of the UK‘s total food waste - We grow, manufacture and buy more food than we need resulting in huge environmental impacts (from landfills to monoculture from mass produced foods/intensive farming)
• Obesity is an global epidemic - harmful to human health and harmful to healthcare provision services
• It is fundamentally unjust that piles of uneaten food on people’s plates are chucked in the bin while some people simply can’t afford to eat.

 

[BN9 BHA]

This is the problem of course. When you offer cheap roasts, you’re going to get ghastly council estate types attending.

Fat Gary and his roly poly family are going to pile it high as if Mum’s just got back from Iceland. And being poorly raised and part of the “me first” generation of dole moles, they’ll take more than they need.

I’ve been to these carvery places before and they closer resemble a famine relief centre than they do a restaurant.


Not for me, Clive.

I quite enjoy being a non meat eater, i never have to visit these places

 

[jackalbion]

I've been there a few times without any problems. Last time there was 4 of us and my Girlfriend was giving the other 2 a bollocking for piling their plates up.

Been closed for about 10 years I reckon, its now the CHALK music venue.

 

[The Clamp]

I've been there a few times without any problems. Last time there was 4 of us and my Girlfriend was giving the other 2 a bollocking for piling their plates up.

If you look around the Chinese buffet and you can’t spot the idiot….

 

[The Clamp]

I quite enjoy being a non meat eater, i never have to visit these places

I eat meat and don’t visit them.

For only £18 I can go to Wild Lemon and get just the right amount of food served by friendly staff in a lovely environment.

And they bring food to your table. One doesn’t have to go and stand in a queue with a plate in your hand. Like a bastard.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

This is the problem of course. When you offer cheap roasts, you’re going to get ghastly council estate types attending.

Fat Gary and his roly poly family are going to pile it high as if Mum’s just got back from Iceland. And being poorly raised and part of the “me first” generation of dole moles, they’ll take more than they need.

I’ve been to these carvery places before and they closer resemble a famine relief centre than they do a restaurant.


Not for me, Clive.

Just the sort of person you see before Christmas at the supermarket with 3 or 4 trolleys overloaded with crap and you think "It's only one day, two at a push". How much of that goes in the bin too.