Majority of diners happy to be served food on slates and wooden boards

By James Beeson

- Last updated on GMT

Surprise: 69% of Brits think it is OK for pubs to serve meals on slates
Surprise: 69% of Brits think it is OK for pubs to serve meals on slates

Related tags British people Food

It is the question that has long divided a nation of food lovers, and the source of many an argument on social media. Is serving food in pubs and restaurants on anything other than a good old-fashioned plate acceptable?

According to a recent YouGov study, the answer is very much a yes, with 69% of Brits believing it to be acceptable for restaurants, cafés and pubs to serve meals on slates.

A further 64% of diners also gave the thumbs up to food served on wooden boards.

The survey was conducted by showing 2,030 British people a series of increasingly unconventional eating vessels (drawn from the We Want Plates Twitter archive​) and asking them whether they thought it was acceptable to serve food on them.

Unsurprisingly, the standard circular plate was the least controversial vessel, with pretty much everyone (99%) believing it to be an acceptable way to serve food.

Plant pot surprise

This was followed by square plates (96%) and slates and wooden boards (69% and 64%).

Somewhat surprising was the news that just over half (52%) of British people believed it was OK for restaurants, cafés and pubs to serve food in a plant pot, compared to 45% who considered it unacceptable.

No to footwear

The least acceptable means of presenting food was footwear, with less than one in 10 people (9%) saying they thought it was OK to serve food in a shoe (even if it was clean). This was followed by a dog bowl, with one in 10 people saying eating from the same type of dish as man’s best friend was acceptable.

Three other vessels also failed to gain the support of a majority of British people: shovels (17%), jars (18%) and flooring panels (28%).

Earlier this month, The Morning Advertiser​ looked at 11 ways in which pub food should definitely not be served.

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