Burgers on boards and a trolley of fries? No way, we just want a plate

Round plates are favoured by diners, according to a UK survey. Photo / AP

It is the curse of modern dining: order a meal and it arrives not on a dinner plate but artfully arranged on a piece of slate, a wooden board or worse.

Diners across Britain are being presented with chips in plant pots, fried breakfasts in kilner jars, and even food in dog bowls.

However, chefs should take note. A poll by YouGov has found that customers are overwhelmingly in favour of round plates.

The survey asked 2030 people to rate various means of presenting food.

The circular plate met the approval of 99 per cent, while 69 per cent said they like eating from a slate and 64 per cent said it was acceptable to eat from a wooden board.

The least favourable receptacle was a shoe, even if the shoe is clean and has never been worn.

It might sound an unlikely means of serving food, but it is by no means rare.

The Twitter account @wewantplates has been collecting photographic evidence of restaurant "crimes" for the past two years, with its 136,000 followers sending in the most heinous examples. They include squid rings served in a clog and bread rolls in a metal stiletto.

Other examples collated by the site include gravy in a beer can, chocolate pudding on a garden trowel, waffles in a dog bowl, mushy peas in a latte glass, and baked beans on a shovel. One restaurant also serves its cheese on a skateboard.

Jamie's Italian is one chain that serves food on a slate, while wooden boards are favoured by many gastropubs.

The survey found that working class and middle class opinion differs on this matter.

Those in the ABC1 social grades (middle class) are 12 percentage points more likely to consider slates acceptable than those in the C2DE social grades (working class), and eight points more likely when it comes to wooden boards.

Age also plays a role.

A YouGov spokesman said: "While this selection of unusual culinary conveyances may cause some to raise their eyebrows and roll their eyeballs, we may see more of them in future.

"The results show that younger Britons are generally more likely than their elder peers to consider it OK to serve food on or in unconventional items."

Presenting the very worst of #WeWantPlates in one handy collection. You're welcome. https://t.co/F9MlHoSlgT pic.twitter.com/vc7t6JYoXk

— We Want Plates 🍽 (@WeWantPlates) December 24, 2015

Square plates proved popular, with 96 per cent of people saying they were acceptable.

William Sitwell, a MasterChef judge and Waitrose magazine editor, has led the charge against them.

He has said: "Square and rectangular plates are an abomination. Food should be served on round plates and not a right angle in sight.

"A square plate is at odds with nature. Mother Nature produces ingredients that are many shapes - including round, but never square.

"The square plate is too frequently part of an armoury of a cook who is hoping to divert attention from their own inadequacy, in the mistaken belief that the squareness will lend the cook some kind of fashionable vibe."