This is why my PIC and I prefer places with small plates / sharing plates, and tend to order heavier on the apps than the classic app/main/dessert thing.
It is also why I prefer to take a group out so we can try more dishes than just the two of us ever could.
I donāt remember which restaurantās menu I saw recently that offered smaller portions of its dishes for children under mumble years and people over 65. Iāve often felt like the childrenās menu portions are about what I want.
I needed the childrenās portions well before I turned 65. Now that Iām 69, it seems like I am able to eat less and less at one sitting.
My PIC and I were walking down a popular street in a popular hood in Berlin, and discovered a new (to us) ice cream place. They had āKinderkugeln,ā i.e. kid-sized scoops that are smaller and cheaper. When I tried ordering two the girl asked me where my children were. I shouldāve just walked out then and there, but settled for one scoop of whatever underwhelming flavor I chose.
Where are my kids? Nonya bidned, chica. Maybe I live up the road and am taking it to a sick child? Or the one I kidnapped, locked up in my basement?
Or, maybe I would simply like to sample more than 1-2 flavors & donāt want full-sized scoops?
That reminds me, I never reviewed the place. Our favorite ice cream slinger in Berlin gives you the choice of smaller scoops (also 80 cents cheaper), and nobody gives a damn whoās ordering them for whom.
#endrant
I once knew someone, a 25 year-old-woman, who routinely would order a Happy Meal at McDonaldās for herself, when she was by herself. She said no McDonaldās every challenged her. She had a reply prepared: āIām on my way to babysit.ā
And I recently asked at a restaurant if I could order the cheese naan flatbread from the childrenās menu. It was the only thing on the menu that appealed to me (first time weād tried that restaurant, and we wonāt return). It was ārealā naan crust with house made tomato sauce and good quality mozzarella and the perfect size for me. I was grateful that the restaurant was so friendly and kind about it.
Thatās why calling it kid-size is just dumb. People have different appetites, that why lunch combos like 1/2 soup & 1/2 sammich or 1/2 soup & 1/2 salad have been around for a while.
I generally find the concept of a ākids menuā ridiculous. Plenty of cultures where kids eat pretty much the same as adults do (perhaps slightly modified if possible to adjust heat or leave out an ingredient thatās easily left out). I think kids can & should be given a little more credit than the seemingly broad assumption that the only thing theyāll eat is chicken fingers, buttered noodles, or french fries ā unless that is what is served to them at home, which I suppose is possible.
But I donāt have kids, so I really donāt a horse in this race 
I do applaud the option of 1/2 or smaller servings of mains (if possible).
I agree. I have one kid who doesnāt like childrenās menus in general but my main issue is that if there seems to be ārealā food on the childrenās menu, as there was on this menu, and it appeals to me, I want to be able to order it.
I would buy the larger amount and bring the leftovers home and eat them over a couple of days.
I donāt āconstant snack.ā As I said in my original post, I canāt eat much at one sitting. What I eat over a course of a day is less (probably by far) in volume and calories than one typical American restaurant meal.
Some food items (sushi, steak, ramen or pho, etc.) and some situations (traveling for leisure or work) do not really allow for leftovers to be taken āhomeā.
Oh, I agree about how bringing leftovers home wouldnāt work for people in many situations and for many foods. And so smaller portions would be welcome by many. Itās likely many restaurants post covid are trying to demonstrate āvalueā in portion size.
Iād only do the larger size if it was a dish where leftovers can be eaten later and still be tasty and convenient. I should have made that clear.
Iāve mentioned my nephews & nieces in this context before. One nephew is half Spanish and spent his early years in Spain. He pretty much always ate what the adults were eating and, as a child, was always happy to try new things. Another nephew and niece spent several early years living in the States where they basically ate ākids foodā. When they returned to live in the UK, they didnt want to try new things and would always stick to the same dishes at the same chain restaurants. It was a striking difference between the cultures in which the three had been raised.
FWIW, place we went to for dinner is a fairly high end place. They say that āwhilst we do not have a childrenās menu, we do offer half plate portions for half the menu costā.
Steak can come home. I made some fantastic fried rice with leftover restaurant steak earlier this week. I agree about the other items though.
But, I would imagine that diners who know they are inclined to have leftovers they will bring home plan accordingly when they order 
More than once while traveling weāve squirreled away worth-saving leftovers in the hotel room mini fridge, with DIY room service breakfast in mind.
Itās not only kids menu but I have never met so many parents as in the US who often cook extra dishes for their kids at home because they are not āused to adult foodā - the food culture here is often strange
This is right up my alley. With a family of 6, we always got to taste each otherās dishes.
That is strange to me, too (and Iām in the US). Iām thinking on it but canāt think of any parents I know who did precisely that.
I do know one couple who basically built their fairly limited (to me) meal rotation around their daughterās food preferences. Not sure, but that may be worse, or at least just as bad.
As a Gen X kid, I never had special food as a kid at home. I ate what my parents ate. A few restaurants would have kidsā menus for kids under 12, with small versions of mains. Some restaurants had or continue have a page on the menu for seniors or those with smaller appetites, with smaller portions, too.
Iāve seen a Kleine Gerichte heading on some menus at ordinary family restaurants in Germany, so Iād think thatās an equivalent, although less tied to age than in North America.
Itās the Baby Boomer parents in my extended American and Canadian family that let their kids get away with being this fussy.
My cousin who was born in California in 1990 was especially spoiled by this type of parenting. At a home-cooked family dinner with a dozen people, where she had requested chicken for dinner, and dinner was chicken, she refused to eat any because the chicken was on the bone. Apparently her parents let her get away with only eating boneless chicken breast. No one passed along that message to us.
In our Silent Generation and Gen X household, we generally only cook chicken thighs, quarters or whole chickens. Poor little 14 yo Katie had nothing to eat. 
For me, itās gyros meat and eggs. Perfect leftover for my gut.
