Sharing is caring and sharing food is even better.
More and more restaurants picked up on this hot trend, which has become very popular.
Gone are the days when you worry that your plus one's plate will look better than yours when it arrives. The sharing options allow guests to order different meals, usually served in bigger portions. Once the food arrives, each guest can dish from the selection of meals in their own plate.
Here are some of our favourite restaurants with great sharing menus:
Addis in Cape:
Located on the corners of Church and Long Street, Cape Town this restaurant offers the best in traditional Ethiopian cuisine. Here the food is served in a big platter and guests eat with their hands- no utensils and no plates needed.
Restaurant owner Senait Mekonnen says: “we don’t use utensils and we don’t serve individual plates, all our meals are served on a big platter because what better way is there to share a meal?”
The meal options include spicy and non spicy dishes and meat divided into individual portions of the platter.
“On the plate we have the, Doro Wot (chicken) and chicken parts and the (hard boiled) egg. We also have the lamb, stir fried beef (Tibs), we have lentils, spicy chickpeas, yellow chickpeas, pumpkin, tomato salad, stuffed chilli, for people who want to have it a little hot, and mixed vegetables which is potato carrot and white cabbage. We also do fish and prawns which is something we do here because Ethiopia doesn’t have prawns,” Mekonnen says.
The Mess
The Mess is all about sharing. In fact the word mess refers to a group of people eating together at one big table and sharing meals.
The owner, Carlene de Gouveia, picked up on this culture of sharing during her travels and introduced the concept when she opened her restaurant in Napier Street, Green Point.
"The one thing I loved about places like Italy and Spain is there are always big tables with families and friends eating together,” says De Gouveia.
“The Mess is all about different flavours, trying to make the place welcome to all types of cultures and families and a place where everyone feels comfortable. The play on the word mess comes from different cultures and cuisine so I tried to make a structured, beautiful mess of it.”
Sharing in small plates at Makaron Restaurant
Picture: Instagram
Makaron House
Stellenbosch is home to some of the trendiest restaurants in the Cape. Situated in the very trendy and elegant Majeka House in Houtkapper Street, Paradyskloof, Stellenbosch offers a small plates menu which is great for sharing. Meals are served in small bowls and guests enjoy their meals directly from the bowls or in separate plates.
Head chef Lucas Carstens says: “globally there is definitely a trend towards small plates tapas-style dining with people sharing flavours and textures around the table.
“The idea here is flexibility and we want guests to decide for themselves how they discover the menu.”
The menu offers 18 small plates inspired by Carstens’ culinary discoveries.