Chipped plates at restaurants?

[uncle tom]

Most of the cheaper eateries in Thailand possess a grand assortment of crockery, and are not usually too bothered if it's chipped..

- Does that bother you?

[Khundon1975]

Most of the cheaper eateries in Thailand possess a grand assortment of crockery, and are not usually too bothered if it's chipped..

- Does that bother you?

Many Ming Dynasty plates are chipped and they sell for thousands, so no, it doesn't bother me.

[johnnyk]

Why should it bother me? I don't pretend to be a hi-so paying 150 baht for pad thai. A chipped plate might bother me in an over-priced falang-friendly place.

[Siani]

Yuck! Chipped crockery...horrible! All those germs lurking in the cracks
I would probably eat anywhere, within reason, but not off anything chipped.
Slightly different with Ming...they don't eat from it these days

cracks.jpg (70.17 KiB) Viewed 1538 times

[STEVE G]

- Does that bother you?

To be honest, I've never noticed. I'm back working in Luxembourg at the moment and where I live here in the city there are several Michelin starred restaurants and what they charge for a meal bothers me a whole lot more than the odd chipped plate in Thailand.

[hhfarang]

Yuck! Chipped crockery...horrible! All those germs lurking in the cracks

^ Correct. I never concerned myself with chipped or cracked plates as we even have several of those in our own kitchen. But, oddly enough, I just read a health news article yesterday (sorry, just searched and tried to find it to post the url but couldn't locate) that said eating off of cracked or chipped plates was dangerous for the very reason mentioned by Siani. Viruses and bacteria live in those cracks and chips. When a plate is manufactured it is glazed with a coating that seals it against these organisms. Chips or cracks open the glaze to let them thrive within the dishes themselves and infect the food eaten from them. Washing, unless in a very high temperature washing machine, will not remove or kill these imbedded microbes. Add to that the generally less sanitary conditions in a country like this as most dishes are simply washed or rinsed in cold unfiltered tap water and you may find the reason for your monthly case of the runs... ...or more serious health problems.

Also, I have read articles that said a lot of crockery, especially from China and other Asian countries still contains a fair amount of lead, which can leach into the food from cracked dishes and mugs, especially if they are used in a Microwave oven. Before you search and disagree, I've also read opinions against that, but it seems to still be an open issue, so why take the chance?

[barrys]

Don't most of the cheaper restaurants here use plastic or melamine ware, anyway?

[hhfarang]

^ If they do and use a microwave to heat or reheat, that also is supposedly dangerous (from recent articles I've read). Plastic ware, even melamine leaches carcinogenic materials from the dishes into the food when used in a microwave. That article stated that the safest option was microwave safe glassware like Corningware (not with cracks or chips of course )

[richard]

I survived after 1 year in Isaan eating off banana leaves and all sorts of utensils. The whole issue of food cleanliness etc is a pain in the butt IMO. My father lived until 99 eating salted meats (no fridges in those days) cold left overs on cracked plates etc

We are becoming wimps with no resistance to inbound germs

[Takiap]

I chose option number four since I agree with Richard on this one. I have been in this country since !997 and apart from one case of food poisoning at an expensive restaurant in Bangkok, I've never encountered any problems. There are times when I might get the runs, but they are so far and few between that I can't even remember when the last time was.

When I sit down at some place on the side of the road, I see flies; I see people using one cloth for everything; I see dishes being washed in water that is quite filthy and so on, so I can't exactly pretend to be concerned about a cracked or chipped plate. And, we haven't even considered all the dust in the air, along with tons of exhaust fumes.

Like Richard has suggested, I think your body builds up a great deal of immunity if you give it a chance to. I'm of the same opinion when it comes to colds and flu, and it seems to have worked extremely well for me.

Saying all that; if I went to a proper restaurant where I was going to be paying a decent amount of money for my meal, then I wouldn't want a cracked or chipped plate simply because more upmarket places should take care to make sure it doesn't happen.

[Somchai Turdsak]

Yes it bothers me. That's why I ask the chef to spoon my meal out onto the sidewalk where I eat in on all fours. The cutlery here, if not sanded down with an angle-grinder between servings, is full of germs, too.

[BaaBaa.]

Can't say I've ever noticed chipped plates, plastic type plates don't bother me if it's cheap as chips.

I voted option 3, you get what you pay for.

[BaaBaa.]

Yes it bothers me. That's why I ask the chef to spoon my meal out onto the sidewalk where I eat in on all fours. The cutlery here, if not sanded down with an angle-grinder between servings, is full of germs, too.

What a load of shite, I find Thais to be clean people no matter their earnings. The
first rule of trolling is don't go straight for the jugular.

[Somchai Turdsak]

What a load of shite, I find Thais to be clean people no matter their earnings.

whoosh. Maybe I should have ... never mind.

[Siani]

I survived after 1 year in Isaan eating off banana leaves and all sorts of utensils. The whole issue of food cleanliness etc is a pain in the butt IMO. My father lived until 99 eating salted meats (no fridges in those days) cold left overs on cracked plates etc

We are becoming wimps with no resistance to inbound germs

Banana leaves, now you are talking Free, hygienic, disposable, environmentally friendly etc. In the olden days of your Dad, people had very cold larders with marble slabs in them. I suppose germs would not multiply in such a cold place. also maybe his plates were not cracked. Cracked crockery is not "life threatening" but it can cause stomach bugs, gum disease, just to name a few things.

I really hate it when I am given a cup of tea with a black old crack in the cup. I hate it more if the old cracked cup has brown stains all around the handle I also think it disrespectful for the café or restaurant to serve it in this way. I do not think the standard of the establishment comes into it. It could be a roadside café/stall or Fortnum & Masons....same for me.
I don't think there is such a problem with things like Pyrex, it is not so porous.
I don't think it's a case of being a wimp...we don't see half what goes on in kitchens anyway, just as well we don't IMO.