Another example:
Gigantic cannoli takes up whole plate? Actually, its a medium sized cannoli on a salad plate. Zoomed in looks quite large.
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My first visit to America was in 1980 (we returned from that holiday on the day of the presidential election that year). We come back every few years since then - always for a three week strip. Last time was in 2018.
Back in the day, before the internet, a tourist only knew of the restaurants that you could see from the hotel, or had driven past (or, in major cities, may have noted in a guidebook). We did not eat well in those early trips - but we did eat big. That was because what we often saw from the hotel was the chain restaurants, with their big portions and help yourself buffets. You never got to know of the great little place round the corner where all the locals went.
How the internet has changed things! Now I can research - sometimes easily, soemtimes not so easily (for those times, there’s always Tripadvisor). But now there’s no excuse for the tourist not finding good food. I can still enjoy an “all you can pile on” buffet - but they would now be a rare meal for our trips. So much more enjoyable to find that little “farm to table” place round the corner - serving sensible portions of lovely local food. I really hope that sometime soon, I’m going to be able to come back.
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Barca has caused me to review plates from the last several months. I really don’t see the excess that she describes except for our holiday feast photos which do not represent a year of cooking or eating. I would also ask her to post some photos of dinner plates FROM HER KITCHEN. I have seen several lunches but most dinners seem to be from restaurants or professional venues.
“Stacking” has been a de rigeur style of plating in France for some time, sometimes to the disadvantage of the diner who becomes in fact a miner. I would add that there is actually a lot more food in an average French meal than in one of our HO plates when you account for an entree (starter) plate which may contain a decent sized portion of protein or carbs, then the plat (main) which may feature steak and potatoes with or without a bit of green, ignoring dessert. It is our service that makes the meal look larger, as you say, all on one plate. Overeating comes not from service style but from “seconds +”.
And it has to be said that from our travels it is very noticeable that Europeans have caught what they used to snidely call the “American desease”.
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This is more if you eat in a bistrot (not a fancy one) stacking is expected vs fine dining.
Actually Pierre Hermé (the fame French pastry chef) ate at the Ferran Adria’s El Bulli, he finished the tasting menu, he left the restaurant saying to his friends, ok we have finished the appetisers, where are we going for the main course?
I worked a year in Italy. In restaurants at lunch, people start their meal with a whole pizza or pasta dish followed by a meat dish (example a steak) or a whole fish and then a dessert with 2 of those @gcaggiano cannolis!
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Where I grew up it ( in NY) it felt more like “snack”; either the noun or verb.
Another though that came to me folks frequenting HO might be less attracted than others to restaurant reviews with "large portion sizes!, or “all you can eat”. "Large portion sizes is not something I want to see, and order off the menu, with some very special exceptions, when at restos with buffets. I assume t here is a trade off of quality for quantity. Anyone have an opinion about that?
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I don’t want to get on this thread but re portion control: use small(er) plates. Not only that, use obnoxious coloured plates (blue, red, orange, purple ect). The size and colours of the plates have an effect on the amounts of food you consume. I learnt of this in a BBC documentary series called Secret Eaters.
In France
Spain
Portugal
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Belgium
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Hungary
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Germany
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Yes, but those chocolate chips piled on the ends! …sorry. couldn’t resist.
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Do folks love paper plates like Americans (me) love paper plates?
Because I hate washing dishes, especially because I don’t have kids around to put to work.
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I look forward to pizza nights for this very reason! 
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Are those mostly restaurant or home cooked meals?
All restaurant. But I usually eat at local or simple restaurants and that’s how they serve the food.
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That’s a hot question in my inlaw family, my BIL’s family doesn’t really cook, and hates washing, he and his family with 3 kids, I believe they only eats in paper plates, that creates a lot of friction with my MIL, she hates that and believes in food should be served in proper dining wares (a porcelain or ceramic plate). It may be even a generation issue.
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No, because I hate throwing things away even more! Bid deal here. I semi-catered an annual retreat for years, where the person at the venue wouldn’t let us use hardly anything that would be thrown away.
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Oh, I cook plenty.
I just don’t wash dishes. At least willingly.
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I don’t like that particularly. So I decide to cook instead! 
We have always things staking up in sink even we have a dish washer, h isn’t passionate about cleaning either.
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Hands down I’m over my head. Those luscious meals are large enough sized portions, in some cases sauced and on one plate… good heavens, what am I missing?
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The normal “menu del dia” lunch serves rice or pasta as a starter verses a main course.
The meat would be a main course, or fish or shellfish or bean dish or eggs, a common Spanish penchant for eggs …
Paella, Fideua (a noodle paella), a risotto or arrìs meloso (a rice that incorporates mushrooms, veggies or proteins that is not a risotto and is not prepared with Carnaroli rice in a Spanish Restaurant or at home) is not served as the above photo.
Greg: Looks very nice.
It it cultural … It is how we are taught by our mothers or grandmothers and / or culinary academies.
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Same as Italy. France have a smaller portion starter and a big main course.
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I live in Canada, and depending on the type of restaurant, portions can be similar to American portions. That said , it varies a lot depending on the type of restaurant. I am overweight and have been for 16 years, so I don’t seek out places with large portions intentionally. When I visit a restaurant with large portions, I try to order 2 appetizers or take half my main home, which tends to be more socially acceptable in North America than it is in the countries I visit in EU.
I spent around 2 weeks in the north of Spain and Madrid in 2009, and 3 weeks in Andalucia and Madrid in 2001, so anything I would have to say about portions in Spain is out of date. I do remember large servings of bean stews in the North, which I could not finish. In the south, we mostly had shared meals of tapas, and the larger portions called raciones, if I remember correctly.
I have spent a fair amount of time in the UK , France , Germany, Austria and Italy.
It seems to me that portion sizes are smaller at upscale restaurants in the UK, Europe and North America. If I eat at an upscale restaurant, I usually have 2 or 3 courses. If I eat at a pub, I’m more likely to have 1 larger meal and occasionally share a dessert.
What I like about some restaurants in some European countries (I’ve seen this in Germany, Greece and Czech Republic, I’m sure other countries do the same), is the mass of the meat or fish in the dish is included on the menu, so you have a good idea how much food you will be getting.
My most recent visit to EU was to Munich and Tyrol in 2019. The portions in the Alps tend to be very generous unless you visit an upscale restaurant.
I learned a long time ago, that soups and salads in German and Swiss restaurants can be meal- sized, whereas they are often treated as an appetizer here in North America.
I’m hesitant to generalize about entire countries. I’ve had small portions at some restaurants in France and Italy, and large portions at others. Portion sizes at rustic restaurants in Alsace, Lorraine and Brittany are much more substantial than what one finds at a tourist trap restaurant or an upscale restaurant in Paris, Nice or Rome. If you eat at an ethnic restaurant in Italy or France- such as a Moroccan or Chinese restaurant, portion sizes tend to be larger than one finds at an upscale French restaurant.
Also, in most EU countries, there are different levels of restaurants
(Ristorante vs osteria vs Trattoria vs bar vs cafeteria, restaurant vs auberge vs bistro vs brasserie vs cafeteria, estiatorio vs taverna, etc)
- and that has an impact on portion size and the formality of the restaurant. North America doesn’t have the same formal structure.
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