Quote Originally Posted by Buffalobiian View Post
We don't get food served like that here.

It's all either packaged uncooked foods (bags of chips), prepackaged cooked foods (pies in a plastic wrapping, sausage roles in a paper bag, or handmade foods put into takeaway containers (pastas, curried rice, sandwiches). Everything is take-away and self-paid. Nothing gets washed, and tables for eating are limited, let alone designated undercover eating tables. In fact, rather than "canteens which imply food being served with washable utensils and an area to sit, school eateries here are called tuck-shops where you just buy, leave and eat somewhere.

edit: that said, I think I like the option of having one single large serving of something instead of having bits of everything. I'm not really one who likes to have bits and pieces, but would rather eat one thing today, and another tomorrow. Maybe I'm just weird like that, but not having a full serving of something makes me feel like it's incomplete, even though I can fill myself with another half of something else.
Strange how habits and culture can vary so much across continents.
I like having multiple things to eat in small quantities.
I love those restaurant where you get like 10 to 18 (yes 18) different dishes, in very small quantities.
You start thinking you'll never have enough to fill yourself, but around 2 third of the dishes, you start getting full... and it keeps coming and is delicious.

Now we are only talking school canteens.
I have to say that quality varies a lot depending on schools and cities. But there's really a full course and they try their best to give a balanced meal.
Also, tables are often organised to help socialisation, talk and eat is very important here in France, so much that many work meetings are in fact done at lunch time.