When Shopping Malls Meet Bizarre Dinnerware: A Cultural Look at “Eating”
I saw this video. A server wore gloves. They carefully piled sea urchin and caviar into a customer’s palm. The caption said “sophisticated goodness.” I thought it was a joke at first. Turns out it was real. A fancy restaurant actually does this.
Where are the plates?
The Bizarre Dinnerware We’ve All Complained About
On Reddit’s WeWantPlates community, over 16,000 people went crazy over this “hand as plate” video. Someone said “I give up.” Others joked “the restaurant probably just hates washing dishes.”
This reminded me of weird dinnerware I’ve seen in shopping malls. Wooden boards, stone slabs, tiny shovels, miniature shopping carts. Everything except normal plates seems fair game. Someone on Quora asked “why do restaurants use weird things for food?” Top answer was blunt: for Instagram effect.
Pretty much true.
But here’s the thing. You spend hundreds at a “trendy restaurant” in the mall. Then you have to scrape pasta off a wooden board. That experience is awkward.
The Dinnerware World of Mall Restaurants
Walk around a food court. You’ll notice something interesting. Chain restaurants use standard dinnerware. But places trying to seem “upscale” get increasingly fancy with their plates.
A restaurant owner shared on Reddit. Food court cost control is extreme. Dinnerware gets used constantly. Each fancy piece means higher costs. More cleaning difficulty. More breakage. Smart businesses choose sturdy, practical commercial dinnerware.
What’s interesting is this. Consumers buying dinnerware at home think differently than businesses. On Reddit, someone asked for recommendations. Most people suggested Corelle. Light, durable, dishwasher-friendly. One user said: “I tried many sets. Always came back to Corelle. It’s boring enough. But practical enough.”
This contrasts sharply with mall restaurants chasing “visual impact.”
The Shift from “Practical” to “Performance”
Speaking of practicality, tableware manufacturers have a headache now. Restaurant demands have changed. Used to be about durability. Now it’s about “having a story.”
A restaurant supplier on Quora revealed this. Orders keep getting stranger. Some restaurants want book-shaped plates. Some want antique teacup replicas. Others literally request “dinnerware that doesn’t look like dinnerware.”
But is this “performance dining” what consumers actually want?
The WeWantPlates community exists for a reason. When restaurants make “no plates” their selling point, attention shifts from food to dinnerware. You spend time taking photos. But the eating experience suffers.
One comment was brutal: “Spent $100 to lick food off my hand. What kind of operation is this?”
The Dinnerware Philosophy of Shopping Centers
After observing various mall restaurants, I found a pattern. Really good places have simple dinnerware.
The busiest small shops often use plain white porcelain. Places with fancy dinnerware usually hide mediocre food behind “ceremony.”
A Reddit thread discussed “why fine dining uses huge plates for tiny portions.” A former chef answered: “Big plates are like canvases. Food is art. But if the food isn’t good, no canvas helps.”
Sounds reasonable. But sitting in a mall restaurant, watching servers bring plates bigger than your face with a few lonely pieces of meat, I just want to ask: can we get something real?
Real Consumer Voices
Forum discussions show consumer attitudes clearly. We don’t want performance. We want functionality.
On Quora’s “how to choose dinnerware” question, top answers are practical. Dishwasher safe, durable, proper weight, easy to clean. Nobody mentioned “Instagram appeal” or “unique dining experience.”
A Seattle user shared their shopping experience. Visited Macy’s, Crate & Barrel, various malls. Ultimately chose plain white porcelain. Simple reason: “Food is the star. Dinnerware should be understated.”
This brings up an interesting contrast. At home we want practical dinnerware. Dining out we pay for restaurant “creativity.”
Back to Basics: The Original Meaning of Dinnerware
What’s dinnerware really for? Holding food, enabling eating, maintaining hygiene.
When restaurants use customers’ hands as plates, all three functions disappear. Food touches skin directly. Eating becomes awkward. Hygiene is questionable.
Maybe real “sophisticated goodness” isn’t making guests lick their palms. It’s making good food, choosing appropriate dinnerware, making dining enjoyable instead of performative.
In the fast-paced mall environment, people probably want simple, clean, efficient dining. Fancy dinnerware gimmicks work better as online discussion topics. Not actual dining choices.
After all, when you’re hungry after shopping all day, you don’t want photo material. You want a genuinely good meal with functional dinnerware.
If you have any questions or need to custom dinnerware service, please contact our Email:info@gcporcelain.com for the most thoughtful support!
