Why In Dutch Restaurants If 2 People Order 1 Big Pizza They Get No Plate And Only 1 Set Of Cutlery?
(I say no plate cos you have to eat the pizza straight from the tray!)
The other person is supposed to eat nothing? Where are the nice manners? And i don’t mean in fast food places, but in nice restaurants!
Well, I live in the Netherlands; when you go to a restaurant, this is usually a luxury thing, about enjoyment. Unlike in America where many people go to eat food.
So the restaurant allows you to relax, do your thing and choose what you like to order. They will allow it if just one of you would like to eat something, and your partner might only want a dessert or coffee.
Usually in this country you order your own individual meal, so the pizza is not served in a tray, this is your own plate. We usually do not share one meal between two people.
We customary do not take home leftovers. It is very acceptable to not finish your pizza completely.
They are probably aware the other person might like to share the pizza, and yes it would be nice if they asked you if you’d like an extra dish and cutlery. Feel free to ask for these.
However, beeing the custom to order for your own, this might be their way of showing you it is not very customary to share one meal. Especially when you are in a nicer restaurant, please order your own meal – this is considered good manners around here.
And, by the way, it is also considered nice manners to eat with a dish and utensils. Pizza included. So, if you need to share, no problem. If you don’t use a dish or utensils they will think you are beeing rude.
As for fast food places, it does not matter that much. Do as you like. But, please, the restaurants like to be respected a bit more
I hope you did have a good time around here anyway!
It is usually considered acceptable to eat pizza with the hands
Do you eat pizza with “cutlery”? Do you eat popcorn with a knife and fork? Give me a break. Pick it up and eat it like 99.9% of the people do.
Well I am Dutch, and I have never had something like that in a restaurant. Never seen it too.
If people order 1 pizza for 2, they get both a plate. But maybe this incident you are talking about was because one of the two wanted to eat with his fingers? That might be possible, and pizza is accepted to eat with your hands in the Netherlands.
So I can imagine that there might be restaurants that only serve with one plate and one knife to cut the pizza, but again, I have never seen it that way here.
This is one of those cultural differences that we all hope to discover while traveling. It’s not that they don’t have manners (in fact, they probably think you don’t), but it’s just the way they do things. We can’t expect to go to other countires and have them treat us the same way we are treated at home. (Oh I just realized that I read this as if you were in the Netherlands)
Okay, so if your in America, eating at a dutch restaurant, then it’s because they are serving you the traditional Dutch way. I’ve been to the Netherlands and this is customary. Be thankful you have found an authentic restaurant!
because it’s how it’s done there.. a cultural thing.
I find the pizza there is different then here.. it’s thinner less toppings.