Hotel breakfasts, lunch on the go, eating out for supper or the occasional BBQ or picnic are becoming pretty much the norm for us.
A few observations of the challenges we face in our quest to eat a nutritionally balanced diet to fuel our cycling. Also, a few interesting observations comparing eating out UK style to USA style.
Choice
🇬🇧 There is usually a wide choice of places to eat out from fast food to the best cuisine.
🇺🇸 Fast food diners are EVERYWHERE and it can be hard to find good quality, nutritionally balanced food.
Breakfast
🇬🇧 Hotel breakfasts offer a wide variety of food options and there are usually a range of healthy options.
🇺🇸 It is almost impossible to find anything with any nutritional value for breakfast in a hotel. Rarely any fresh fruit. Think heavily processed sausages, waffles, pancakes, maple syrup and powdered eggs.
(The one notable exception was at The Carter Inn, in Ten Sleep where we enjoyed a fabulous fresh berry salad and home made scones for breakfast).
🇺🇸 Breakfast at hotels is invariably served on paper plates with plastic cutlery and there is never any facility to recycle any waste.
Lunch / Supper
🇬🇧Dining out can take hours and fulfils a social as well as nutritional function.
🇺🇸 Dining out feels like a race to consume as many calories as quickly as possible in the shortest space of time.
Service
🇬🇧 Service is variable but we rarely feel rushed.
🇺🇸 Service is fast. Food arrives within a couple of minutes of ordering. Main courses arrive before starters are finished and sometimes before the starter even arrives. Dessert orders are requested while we are eating our main course. Plates are whipped away even before we are finished and the whole event feels rushed.
Language
🇬🇧 Chips are chips and crisps are crisps.
🇺🇸 Chips are crisps, fries are chips.
Portion Sizes
🇬🇧 We order sufficient food for ourselves.
🇺🇸 Portion sizes are enormous. What you don’t eat is boxed up to take away.
We have started ordering one dish for two of us to share, sometimes for all four of us to share.
Clearing Up
🇬🇧 Plates are removed only once all diners in the party have finished the course.
🇺🇸 Plates are removed the second you put your knife and fork down, sometimes before, regardless of anyone else in the group who may still be eating.
Paying
🇬🇧 We request the bill when we have all finished eating, have sat and chatted over coffee and are ready to leave.
🇺🇸 The bill is presented to us before requested and usually while we are still eating.
Tipping
🇬🇧 Tipping is usually optional at around 15% for good service.
🇺🇸 Tipping is required/expected/non-negotiable. It is not related to the quality of service or food you have just received. It ranges from 20-30%. This is calculated for you for your convenience and you can choose to add another tip for good service should you wish.
Missing my kitchen at home!
Challenging Times 
Lovely summary. I’ve never considered USA as a destination for a gastronomic tour. Quite happy to leave the experience to my imagination!
We experienced all of these too when we lived there. Malc used to stop them clearing the table & we didn’t always pay service if it was terrible.
When we dined at friend’s houses food was often brought in by a deliverer & still served on paper plates with plastic glasses, especially at parties. Then everything went into a bin liner at the end of the evening 😬.
I suspect that the Canadian dining experience is closer to that in the US than the UK. However, with any luck, your ride across southern Ontario in a few weeks will prove me wrong.
Hmm, you’re not tempting me to want to go to America!
The whipping away of plates before everyone is finished is the most jarring difference.