Miss.Manners came in a little late so I ended up ordering food that barely satiated anyone's hunger. Eventually we called the waiter and repeated the entire dinner order all over again!
After the fiasco (you should have seen the looks on the hungry faces when the dinner portion arrived. I got half a piece of Naan from someone's plate after I asked for it!), I grilled Miss.Manners for some tips and here is what she had to say:
Gentle Reader:
If you find yourself in a situation where you need to order food for everyone present, don't panic. Use your eyes, head, a dash of humor and save the day.
- As you read the menu, look around and count the number of people at the table.
- Don't assume everyone will share your taste for mushroom soup and scallion pancakes. Subtly call out some dishes that you think are good and see how the guests react. If you get a long drawn out OK, change the dish.
- Keep varying step 2 until you get a good list of dishes that everyone can enjoy.
- Go for the Law of Averages when determining the quantity of food to order. If you know the eating habits of the people you are out to dinner with, simply estimate the quantity that each person may eat of the dish you are planning to order and add it up. If you do not know everyone's eating habits, err on the generous side and order a tad more than you think is the right quantity.
- Strike a balance between variety and quantity. If there are more than four people at dinner, go in for two or three different items in suitable quantities instead of ordering a portion each of six different items.
- Make sure that every dish can go around the table atleast once with a generous tablespoon helping for each person. If it is breads, make sure everyone gets atleast a piece or two (depending upon the size of the piece) with a couple of pieces to spare on the plate after everyone has been served.
- Never assume everyone is terribly hungry because you are.
- Never assume everyone is not hungry because you are not.
- If you are bad at estimating quantity of food, get help from the people seated on either side of you.
- Get the waiter to help you understand the serving portion in the restaurant. Don't assume that one portion of Malai Kofta has just two Koftas floating around. Ask.
- Establish a rapport with the waiter so that he can replenish dishes that you nod at.
- Don't yell across the table and wave around to get your point across. Try the passing-the-message approach to communicate/clarify your choice of items.
- Make sure your estimate has some room for dessert.
- Ideally, let people make their own dessert choice. If not, you cannot go wrong with Vanilla ice-cream, a variety of sauces and nuts for flavor and fruit salad.
- Finally, keep the conversation about the dinner items flowing. You will get loads of feedback on how you fared at your choice.
There! Loads of tips from Miss.Manners. I am looking forward to the next time I need to do the ordering.
While on food, check out what Jason's post had to say about ordering food.
7 comments:
Echo after reading this immediately
feel like going to some restaurant
and have a "BLAST"..but in the
begining u have mentioned as
"informal" dinner:-))
I read this beautiful quote at Eroteme's blog. It talks about treating life as if it were a feast.
WOW looks like you had great fun. I had never been in this situation before. I will try to follow the tips if I encounter one.
Ordering food for 9 people is hell of a task, but how about choosing a place to eat when each one has different taste?
A likes Indian, B likes Indian non-veg, C likes Mexican, D likes Chinese and so on. And when they ask you to go ahead and choose the place it gets a bit difficult. Say I like Indian and if I choose Indian, C and D would never agree to it. Then it comes down to, “I am ok guys to anything”. Huh of late I have been in this situation.
hey anonymous - that is a good question. Let me see what Miss.Manners can come up with on this topic.
This surely is one spot you were in. You had mentioned about variety and quantity - was there a dimension of budget to consider as well? If not - I guess - the easiest is to order the stuff you(as the person who has the onus on ordering the food) like and make the waiter to suggest chef's special food sufficient for 8 people with the right mix of starters and main courses! If the food is not sufficient for the group - then you can join with the others to stare at the waiter! ;-)
I have had situations where the chef's specialities or waiter's recommendations are probably not suited for our taste buds! But most of the times its ok! But thats a rish worth taking at such times...
Well here are my tips... before i start at the list, why is there so much distance between the title and the content for your blog entry? I thought for a while that the entry was missing :(
I always order the food on the table....if no one else takes the lead...
the Questions i ask are:
1. How many want to go for Non-Veg and how many veg? 9 people total 2 vegetarians and 7 non-vegetarians. okay. I have decided 2 main course vegetarian dishes (the non-vegetarians also will have some) and 3 non vegetarian.
2. would anyone like to have soup? 3 yes and remaining nos, one of the 3 yes is really eager the others dont mind not having it, so i order 2 soups and divide them into 3.
3. Starters people? Yes. Order 2 veg starters (its always safe to order more veg and less non-veg, as only few are purely non-vegeratians) and 2/3 non veg starters. Ask waiter, how many pieces in each plate. If 4 pieces of chicken wings in one plate, order two plates of those.
4. Ask each one clockwise, what bread would you like, naan, roti, paratha. I take a tissue paper write it down. get my total. I order 1 of each and ask the waiter to repeat as we are half way.
5. anyone interested in rice? 4 yes and 5 nos... i order 1 dish of rice for the four.
6. Usually when ordering for a group, dont experiment too much. Ask "Anyone would like to try something differnet?" Check the responses, 1 yes and you means 2 in a group of 9. Let one of your dishes be that experimental something. otherwise play safe.
If you order 1 dish of peas and veggies, order the other with tofu or paneer (for variation). If you order 1 dish of chicken, order another of sea food, (prawns or fish are most common likings) and order another mutton. So that everyone has something that they like.
7. I agree with the creating a rapport with the waiter. Tell him if something is not enough you might need another portion of it, and he surely will get the hint. He'll come by halfway and inquire. You're safe!
This is an estimate for 9 people and will usually leave enough space for the dessert. Trust me your friends will respond when you ask now for something sweet...what can we have?
Let them initiate. otherwise you decide.
yeah perspective - noticed that a couple of days ago and fixed it on IE but it apparently is still spaced out on Firefox.
Am going to use this chance to get rid of this rather ughhh template
Post a Comment