35 People Who Got Some Of The Most Ridiculous Food Servings In The Restaurant Business (New Pics)
The competition in the restaurant industry is brutal. So, it's only natural that establishments want to offer people something the joint down the street still doesn't have on its menu. But if the sole purpose of standing out is simply to stand, it can quickly lead to something hilarious. Or ridiculous. Or even worse, both.
Bored Panda already wrote about restaurants trying to impress their customers too hard here, here, and here but people continue posting pictures of absurd food servings, so we continue covering them. From eating spaghetti off the fricking table to receiving your starter in a sink, continue scrolling to check out the newest batch of Gordon Ramsay's nightmares.
More info: wewantplates.com | Reddit | Facebook | Instagram |Twitter
This post may include affiliate links.
Here's My Cocktail. With Ducks. In A Bath
Most of these pics were featured on We Want Plates, a community of regular people and dedicated foodies who came together to get restaurants to serve food on actual plates, not on “bits of wood and roof tiles, chips in mugs and drinks in jam jars.”
“I started the campaign in 2015 after a friend posted a picture of an average-sized steak on Facebook, which had been served to him on a large chopping board," Ross McGinnes, the founder of the We Want Plates said in an earlier Bored Panda interview. "It was captioned, unironically, 'That is a big meal!' It wasn't a big meal — he'd fallen for all this style-over-content hipster gastropub nonsense. I searched Twitter for an account which would allow me to vent my spleen with like-minded people, but found nothing. We Want Plates was born. Four years later we have over 150,000 followers on Twitter, and three quarters of a million across all social media platforms."
This Whole Thing Is Just Wrong!
"So I went on a date today and we went to a nice restaurant before going to the movies and I ordered the “iced grape popsicles” for dessert because I love grape Popsicles so why not right?…..so the waiter brings out the “iced grape popsicles” aND THEY WERE LITERALLY 3 FROZEN GRAPES ON STICKS…..I HAVE NEVER BEEN MORE OFFENDED IN MY LIFE…SINCE WHEN ARE 3 [FRIGGIN] FROZEN GRAPES IN A [FRIGGIN] VASE AN ACCEPTABLE SINGLE DESSERT ORDER..ITS NOT EVEN FROZEN GRAPE JUICE OR SOMETHING ITS LITERALLY JUST A 0.02$ GRAPE THAT WAS PUT ON A STICK THEN FROZEN…LIKE SOMEONE ACTUALLY WROTE THIS DOWN ON THE MENU THINKING “OH YEAH PEOPLE [FRIGGIN] LOVE COLD GRAPES” AND SOME OTHER ASSHAT SAID “BRAH. HEAR ME OUT, HOW ABOUT WE PUT THEM ON STICKS AND SERVE THEM IN A VASE WITH NOTHING ELSE” LIKE YOU COULDNT EVEN SERVE IT WITH A [FRIGGIN] SECOND FRUIT OR EVEN [FRIGGIN] LEAVES OR WHATEVER… IM SO MAD. [FRIGGIN] FROZEN GRAPES ON A STICK.
AND THEY WERENT EVEN SEEDLESS GRAPES…"
Did you read the fine print under the description of the item you ordered? That was the exact fricken comment I got from a waiter once.
As We Want Plates continues to grow, McGinnes said the worst food serving he has ever encountered was when he got a piece of cake on a table tennis bat in Barcelona around 2008. "It still gives me sleepless nights," he said.
It's style over content, and McGiness thinks too much time is spent faffing around balancing six chips in a mini wheelbarrow. When these stunts become the focus, the flavour becomes secondary. And that's not a good thing.
Though This Really Is The Stairway To Heaven
Most Expensive Restaurant I've Ever Been. Chef Literally Made The Starter In Our Hand
My Friend Was Served A Single Potato On A Tiny Chair
The One Vegetarian Entrée At This Restaurant Is Served Inside The Shell Of A Dead Sea Creature
Carrot Served On A Telephone
Saw This On A Friend’s Instagram. The Horror
Saw A Bird Nest Post Here And Thought This Was Comparable
Spaghetti Bolognese In A Bread Cone
Our Sharing Starter Came In A Sink
It’s Getting Out Of Hand
“Don’t Eat The Rocks” - Waiter Upon Serving
This would be better if the waiter whispered 'they're not rocks' after his warning, then walked away and left you guessing what they are.
The Jello Tasted Alright, Nothing Special
Not Shown: The Sauce Proceeding To Spill Onto My Lap
Just Why??
Not A Plate, But An Actual Glass Would Be Nice
Cheese Served On A Mouse Trap
We Demand Plates
This literally is box mac and cheese with dinosaur chicken nuggets. You can do this at home with a plate.
I'm Gonna Swing From The Chandelier, From The Chandelier
Steak And Mashed Taters In A Sombrero
This Broccoli On Barbed Wire
Just 4 pieces? That better be gold flakes on the sh*t if I got to pry it off of Bob wire.
Sorbetto With Foam Served In A Lightbulb On A Bed Of Dried Grass
Famine - the Terry Pratchet and Neil Gaiman version from "Good Omens".
Load More Replies...
How about serving it in a nice little gohan (Japanese rice) bowl? Easier to eat from and you can still be stingy with the serving since that seems to be your aim.
Don't know what this is but it looks like raw chicken. Salmonella much?
? Can't food just be served on a plate or bowl? These "creative" forms of serving food probably cost 2-3 time what it would cost on a plate too.
Plus, after dessert, you can smoke some crack in it? Chef certainly has been.
That's one way to dispose of the dried grass your lawn mower leaves on your lawn.
How do they clean that? And aren't a lot of sea grasses because they prevent erosion?
Dinner At A Corporate Christmas Party. Mashed Potatoes, Roast Beef, And Peas In A Martini Glass
I have a friend who cannot stand it when her food touches each other. This is her nightmare.
Didn't Expect My Appetizer To Be Served Inside A Dresser But Ok
The Syrup Is Already Going Down His Arm
My Friend's Ramen Was Served In A Beer Mug
Nah! Just a really big worm in the tequila bottle. (Okay maybe a tapeworm).
Gordon Got Served A Steak On A Roof Tile
Burgers As Garnish In A Bloody Mary
Lol Excuse Me?
$500 Tasting Menu, And This Is How Dessert Was Served...
At A Conference In Houston
Not In Need Of A Plate, But A Bowl Would Have Been Nice As Opposed To This Wine Glass For My Soup, Which Was Poured At The Table Out Of A Wine Bottle
This Is Not Acceptable.
Scrolling Through Instagram This Morning And Found This
Note: this post originally had 94 images. It’s been shortened to the top 35 images based on user votes.
Apart from being ridiculous and disgusting, these are all very unhygienic. I cant understand how a restaurant who serves food over an old VHS can remain open.
most of these "serving plates" are extremely hard to wash or clean so I was thinking the same.
Load More Replies...
They're trying too hard to be edgy and forward, but food is all about taste. Simplicity in styling wins every time (for me at least!)
Exactly. Plain white plate, let the food just be food!
Load More Replies...
I’ve seen this before and I’ll say what I did then; I would get up and walk out. This is just plain disrespect and I’m not paying a lot of money in expensive restaurants to be disrespected.
I would walk away if it was unsanitary. Not because I felt entitled.
Load More Replies...
A lot of these are so unhygienic and even more poorly presented. Where are these places? Do they bribe the health inspectors or are there none?
Not sure where the pics are from, but apart from being unappetising, many of these serving solutions would be illegal at least in the EU, as items used to store or handle and serve food has to be tested, approved and labelled as usable for foodstuffs.
Is there a competition in who can create the most bizarre and preposterous meal experiences or something coz most of these are just plain ridiculous. Or are they trying to overcompensate to try and divert your attention away from either the c**p food or the portion sizes?
Yes there is a competition: people put the on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter etc, and name the restaurant, and get presto, free advertising
Load More Replies...
I scrolled through a few of the photos, and realized that most of them were going to be the same: Some restaurant trying to be on the forefront of 'haute' cuisine, when all they are doing is serving pedestrian food in the most gimmicky and unhygienic way possible. There is nothing wrong with a plate, bowl, or glass. Concentrate on refining your food please.
I'm glad I've never been to one of these pretentious restaurants. I'd tell them to take it back and put it on a plate or I won't pay.
But where is this happening? I travel the world constantly, I go to good and bad restaurants and I have never encountered this s#it. Sometimes the portions are ridiculously big or small, but I have not seen this anwhere.
Oysters served on a platter, with a liquid nitrogen fog bank. fog-5edb76...75cf9c.jpg 
I’m having my lunch whilst looking at these monstrosities. They have put me off completely. How on earth can this rubbish be served up to people? Like some of the other readers here, I would just walk out. How unsanitary and just downright idiotic! This is my rant for the day.
My husband once was taken to a “fancy” restaurant by his former employer. He ordered a meat dish that sounded normal in the description but it came out puréed and pressed into a cylindrical shape. He said it looked just like a can of cat food. The restaurant only lasted a few months before going out of business.
All of this seems like trying to hard. Some look dangerous, all kinds of choke hazards, unsanitary, etc. Just bad news
To be honest, I'm so desperate in quarantine I might eat some of this stuff
Anyone remember the old "Trough & Brew" from, IIRC, Saturday Night Live? I'm pretty sure that's the next step.
In my country, this wouldn't be allowed by the health department. You would be forced to close immediately, they do regular controls.
We can all count our lucky stars, the one silver lining of Covid_19; we will have our plates in restaurants once more ! #hygiene
These 'food designers' are dangerous people. Wouldn't touch this at gunpoint.
I feel like they wanted to be unique and creative, but ended just being gross, dirty and unhygienic. And weird. Just put it on plate like anyone else!
"It is sometimes said, common sense is very rare." Voltaire, Dictionnaire Philosophique (1764)[
I hate it when restaurants get creative with my food and try to turn it into 'art'. Don't pile my food on top of each other. Don't drizzle sauce or gravy that is supposed to go on top of something on the plate. Don't put my meat on top of my mashed potatoes. It's my dinner for cripes sake not an friggin art project! Put it on a friggin plate!
Come on, some of these must be from actual art exhibits and not just restaurants. Some of these things are just completely ridiculous.
In general culinary restaurant, and clever cook lives off snobbish idiots feeling VIP.
YOU STUPID PEOPLE ARE DUMB ASF STOP OT RIGHT NOW OMG EWW WTF HAHA YOU STUPID PEOPLE
I am all for new ideas in cuisine, (I love to cook and experiment in the kitchen. My husband is completely game & our attitude is: if it doesn't work, we can always order pizza) but this s**t is ridiculous - and MOST of it is not only unappetizing, but unhygienic as well. Please explain how you ensure food safety when serving on a freaking VHS tape. You want to what on my hand? Buh bye.
I don't know what they are complaining about it's there fault to go to a restaurant to eat. After seeing how they make foods, u should only visit in case of emergency. And why would someone go to a fancyy a*s restaurant. The food they serve is so small. What they trying to prove , I m not a baby bird.
I hope all these pretentious poseurs get the reviews they deserve on places like Trustpilot.
Fortunately, NONE of the places where I eat perpetrate any of this c**p. The one time I was served an appetizer of "Homemade Potato Chips" on an olive dish (six chips lined up in a dish that looks like a long miniature canoe), I yelled for the server who tried to scurry away: "This won't work. Take it back and remove it from my bill."
The people who came up with the presentation of these food and beverage should have their licenses and permits and whatever revoked, and permanently banned from working in the food and beverage industry
The picture on this food list is getting grossier and grossier the more I read.
Just goes to show that no matter how utterly ridiculous something is, there's always somebody out there who'll pay good money for it.
Good grief! The whole lot is disgusting! And they charge money for this?
After viewing these I can't imagine how COVID-19 spred so quickly.
These are ALL the most ridiculous and disgusting...and probably grossly overpriced.....poor excuses for originality that I've ever seen.
I never seen such weird things. I hope these are not from high end restaurants?
I have relatives who are currently professional cooks, or have been in the recent past who would look at all of these abominations and say: "What.... the ... fu.....?"
I hope I'd get a clue seeing what was on the other tables as I was being seated. If there was no one else in the place, that too could be a clue. Failing that, I would just walk if served any one of those monstrosities.
Ramsay is the personification of these food presentations. Could have been good, but is instead a screaming a**e.
Load More Replies... 
Many of the "dishes" cannot be sanitized. There is nothing depicted that I would even think about eating. Some of it looked so gross it looked like something you would get from kids playing house out in the back yard. The "food" served in you hands was especially disgusting, the first one looked like raw chicken livers that someone had spit out of their mouth into their hand because it tasted so awful. And people actually pay money for this?
There was a restaurant here in my town called White Squirrel that just closed because of Covid19 it was freakin delicious. But they served all the food on big chunks of wood. They would bring actual ceramic plates out of asked but I always wondered how effectively they were cleaned...
They better not charging us these covid taxes with these disgusting foods, and these kinda restaurant are Gordon Ramsay kitchen nightmare claim they are executive chef, and that muthafucka chef serve the menstrual pad with that jelly is yuck!! He need to be fired and call the health department on him.
this list of nightmarish disasters is way too long-i can't even read past 16 and surprised i got that far
All of these places are trying so hard to be "unique" and "weird" with their food presentations.
Yeeeeeah I think I'll stick to McDonald's and Taco Bell... At least there I'm only paying $12 or so to get food poisoning rather than $50-200...
Apart from being ridiculous and disgusting, these are all very unhygienic. I cant understand how a restaurant who serves food over an old VHS can remain open.
most of these "serving plates" are extremely hard to wash or clean so I was thinking the same.
Load More Replies... They're trying too hard to be edgy and forward, but food is all about taste. Simplicity in styling wins every time (for me at least!)
Exactly. Plain white plate, let the food just be food!
Load More Replies... I’ve seen this before and I’ll say what I did then; I would get up and walk out. This is just plain disrespect and I’m not paying a lot of money in expensive restaurants to be disrespected.
I would walk away if it was unsanitary. Not because I felt entitled.
Load More Replies... A lot of these are so unhygienic and even more poorly presented. Where are these places? Do they bribe the health inspectors or are there none?
Not sure where the pics are from, but apart from being unappetising, many of these serving solutions would be illegal at least in the EU, as items used to store or handle and serve food has to be tested, approved and labelled as usable for foodstuffs.
Is there a competition in who can create the most bizarre and preposterous meal experiences or something coz most of these are just plain ridiculous. Or are they trying to overcompensate to try and divert your attention away from either the c**p food or the portion sizes?
Yes there is a competition: people put the on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter etc, and name the restaurant, and get presto, free advertising
Load More Replies... I scrolled through a few of the photos, and realized that most of them were going to be the same: Some restaurant trying to be on the forefront of 'haute' cuisine, when all they are doing is serving pedestrian food in the most gimmicky and unhygienic way possible. There is nothing wrong with a plate, bowl, or glass. Concentrate on refining your food please.
I'm glad I've never been to one of these pretentious restaurants. I'd tell them to take it back and put it on a plate or I won't pay.
But where is this happening? I travel the world constantly, I go to good and bad restaurants and I have never encountered this s#it. Sometimes the portions are ridiculously big or small, but I have not seen this anwhere.
Oysters served on a platter, with a liquid nitrogen fog bank. fog-5edb76...75cf9c.jpg
I’m having my lunch whilst looking at these monstrosities. They have put me off completely. How on earth can this rubbish be served up to people? Like some of the other readers here, I would just walk out. How unsanitary and just downright idiotic! This is my rant for the day.
My husband once was taken to a “fancy” restaurant by his former employer. He ordered a meat dish that sounded normal in the description but it came out puréed and pressed into a cylindrical shape. He said it looked just like a can of cat food. The restaurant only lasted a few months before going out of business.
All of this seems like trying to hard. Some look dangerous, all kinds of choke hazards, unsanitary, etc. Just bad news
To be honest, I'm so desperate in quarantine I might eat some of this stuff
Anyone remember the old "Trough & Brew" from, IIRC, Saturday Night Live? I'm pretty sure that's the next step.
In my country, this wouldn't be allowed by the health department. You would be forced to close immediately, they do regular controls.
We can all count our lucky stars, the one silver lining of Covid_19; we will have our plates in restaurants once more ! #hygiene
These 'food designers' are dangerous people. Wouldn't touch this at gunpoint.
I feel like they wanted to be unique and creative, but ended just being gross, dirty and unhygienic. And weird. Just put it on plate like anyone else!
"It is sometimes said, common sense is very rare." Voltaire, Dictionnaire Philosophique (1764)[
I hate it when restaurants get creative with my food and try to turn it into 'art'. Don't pile my food on top of each other. Don't drizzle sauce or gravy that is supposed to go on top of something on the plate. Don't put my meat on top of my mashed potatoes. It's my dinner for cripes sake not an friggin art project! Put it on a friggin plate!
Come on, some of these must be from actual art exhibits and not just restaurants. Some of these things are just completely ridiculous.
In general culinary restaurant, and clever cook lives off snobbish idiots feeling VIP.
YOU STUPID PEOPLE ARE DUMB ASF STOP OT RIGHT NOW OMG EWW WTF HAHA YOU STUPID PEOPLE
I am all for new ideas in cuisine, (I love to cook and experiment in the kitchen. My husband is completely game & our attitude is: if it doesn't work, we can always order pizza) but this s**t is ridiculous - and MOST of it is not only unappetizing, but unhygienic as well. Please explain how you ensure food safety when serving on a freaking VHS tape. You want to what on my hand? Buh bye.
I don't know what they are complaining about it's there fault to go to a restaurant to eat. After seeing how they make foods, u should only visit in case of emergency. And why would someone go to a fancyy a*s restaurant. The food they serve is so small. What they trying to prove , I m not a baby bird.
I hope all these pretentious poseurs get the reviews they deserve on places like Trustpilot.
Fortunately, NONE of the places where I eat perpetrate any of this c**p. The one time I was served an appetizer of "Homemade Potato Chips" on an olive dish (six chips lined up in a dish that looks like a long miniature canoe), I yelled for the server who tried to scurry away: "This won't work. Take it back and remove it from my bill."
The people who came up with the presentation of these food and beverage should have their licenses and permits and whatever revoked, and permanently banned from working in the food and beverage industry
The picture on this food list is getting grossier and grossier the more I read.
Just goes to show that no matter how utterly ridiculous something is, there's always somebody out there who'll pay good money for it.
Good grief! The whole lot is disgusting! And they charge money for this?
After viewing these I can't imagine how COVID-19 spred so quickly.
These are ALL the most ridiculous and disgusting...and probably grossly overpriced.....poor excuses for originality that I've ever seen.
I never seen such weird things. I hope these are not from high end restaurants?
I have relatives who are currently professional cooks, or have been in the recent past who would look at all of these abominations and say: "What.... the ... fu.....?"
I hope I'd get a clue seeing what was on the other tables as I was being seated. If there was no one else in the place, that too could be a clue. Failing that, I would just walk if served any one of those monstrosities.
Ramsay is the personification of these food presentations. Could have been good, but is instead a screaming a**e.
Load More Replies... Many of the "dishes" cannot be sanitized. There is nothing depicted that I would even think about eating. Some of it looked so gross it looked like something you would get from kids playing house out in the back yard. The "food" served in you hands was especially disgusting, the first one looked like raw chicken livers that someone had spit out of their mouth into their hand because it tasted so awful. And people actually pay money for this?
There was a restaurant here in my town called White Squirrel that just closed because of Covid19 it was freakin delicious. But they served all the food on big chunks of wood. They would bring actual ceramic plates out of asked but I always wondered how effectively they were cleaned...
They better not charging us these covid taxes with these disgusting foods, and these kinda restaurant are Gordon Ramsay kitchen nightmare claim they are executive chef, and that muthafucka chef serve the menstrual pad with that jelly is yuck!! He need to be fired and call the health department on him.
this list of nightmarish disasters is way too long-i can't even read past 16 and surprised i got that far
All of these places are trying so hard to be "unique" and "weird" with their food presentations.
Yeeeeeah I think I'll stick to McDonald's and Taco Bell... At least there I'm only paying $12 or so to get food poisoning rather than $50-200...
