Daisy wrote:

> >US Readers please read as starter size?...
>
> In the US I find the entree sizes are what we call mains and the
> starter sizes what we call entrees. I also find US starter serving
> sizes generally almost the size we call mains, in other words quite
> big. We use European terminology.

I am confused about the terminology. When I was in France, an entree was, I
think, what you call a starter and what we call an entree was the main
plate. So I get a little confused when restaurants use French terminology
for something different than the French do.

Never the less, the size of various dinner courses varies with the
restaurant and the dish. I am reluctant to order anything with smoked
salmon here because the size of the serving is so pitifully tiny that is is
just a teaser. But if I order Calamari, I usually get enough that I don't
need a main course. Salads can be a small bowl of greens with some
interesting accompanying veggies and garnish, or they can be huge bowls, the
size I would make for 2-3 people.

During several trips to Europe I was often surprised as the size of the
appetizer servings. At one meal in Verdun my wife ordered a shrimp and
avocado salad, and we expected half an avocado with a scoop of shrimp
salad. What arrived was a huge pile of shrimp salad, which was mostly
shrimp rather than mostly filler, a dozen whole shrimp on top and an entire
avocado sliced up and arranged around the pile of salad. I had ordered a
Tourte Lorrain, expecting a slice or tart sized mini quiche. It turned out
to be small pie, about 6 inches across and almost 2 inches deep, a huge wad
of sausage meat underneath the the custard.

By the time we got through our appetizers we wondered how we were going to
manage the steaks that had been ordered for the main course. We thought
that perhaps they would be the tiny servings of beef that some people report
from their journeys. This was not he case at all. They were 12 oz strip
steaks, accompanied by a huge serving of potatoes and fresh green beans.
Not bad for a 99FF ($22 Cdn) three course fixed price meal.

It wasn't much different in most of the other places we visited. I had a
Sunday night special at our hotel in Denmark. The fish course was enough
for a meal. In Breda , Holland, my appetizer was a pate platter, and once
again, it was enough for a meal. There were 2 huge slabs of pate. Luckily,
the salmon filet that followed was not so generous or else I never would
have managed to eat it all. In Paris, the appetizers were slightly smaller,
but the main dishes were quite ample. There was only one restaurant in Paris
where the servings were small, and in that place the food was not very good
at all. It was extremely disappointing, and also the most expensive.

>