It turns out if you ask for a takeout container in England, they don't really know what to do, and improvise as best they can. We found this out firsthand when someone wrapped Sumana's leftover pasta in tinfoil (the article describes "a hastily assembled foil 'envelope') and all the oil leaked out into my bag.
Writer Katy Salter dares to suggest that people should not be ashamed to ask for a doggy bag. (The feedback prompt at the end: "Would you ask a restaurant to box up your food? Email food@...") She closes with this bombshell:
While you're at it, take a secondary tip from the States: those aren't euphemisms. They're accurate descriptions of what you want. "Doggy bag" is the face-saving euphemism! It's clearly intended to convey "Of course I wouldn't dream of taking food home from a restaurant, but my precious Alsatian simply adores endive salad." Don't blame the Americans if your euphemisms turn dysphemic!
Bonus tip from article: "Ask for a clean container rather than bring your own." You might want to bring your own anyway, just in case you get a foil envelope.
![[Comments]](/nb//themes/Default/comments.png "1 comment")
(1) Thu Oct 22 2009 21:14 Doggy Bag:
While in England we got a copy of the Waitrose magazine. One of the nice things about England is that the supermarkets have crazy house magazines, and although they don't aspire to Trader Joe's levels of lunacy, neither are they simply flyers telling you what's on sale. Anyway, this particular magazine had a shocking article "In praise of the doggy bag".
But the biggest secret? You don't have to ask for a doggy bag at all. Take a tip from the States and dress your request up in face-saving euphemisms - you want the food 'boxed' or 'to go'.
under a Creative Commons License.