The WEIRDEST ways restaurants have served the bill

No one really likes receiving the bill at the end of a meal, but some restaurants seem to go to extreme lengths to soften the blow by presenting your bill in a novel way.

First of all, restaurants tried to become ‘edgy’ by serving food on a variety of strange things from shovels to slates, and now it seems they’re taking giving you the bill to theatrical new levels. Do they think it will take your mind off the pain of paying the check, or do they hope you’ll leave a bigger tip because of their ingenuity?

Check out some of the weird ways a bill has been put on the table after a meal. We have to ask – what’s was wrong with putting it on the good old plate?

• Books seem to be very popular in hipster eateries for serving the bill in, but maybe they copy of the New English Bible, and another got one in a child’s Ladybird book about swimming and diving!
• An extension of the book trend seems to be placing the bill inside an old video game case or old audio cassette cases. To be fair, it’s probably the only use a cassette case will ever see these days.
• Another favourite seems to be using mini frying baskets and small zinc buckets. It’s bad enough when your chips come in one of these baskets or buckets, but the bill?
• Shoes. Whoever thought that was a great idea? You’ve just finished a good meal, and the server comes over and plonks a glittery stiletto on your table with the bill inside. You just hope that the shoes weren’t pre-loved.
• How about a huge lump of rock with the bill underneath? Or an empty and (hopefully) clean can of sardines?
• Another strange way is having a vintage typewriter put on your table with the bill stuck in the roller – that must surely be the very height of hipsterish bill presentation.
• Possibly the strangest bill presentation has to be in the restaurant where the bill came rolled up, set on fire and buried beneath some edible rocks in a sort of ‘campfire’ way. Go figure!

The weird trends in serving food on unsuitable things, and bills in bizarre ways seem set to continue, at least for a while, although there is a growing movement of dissatisfied diners who want old-fashioned plates back.

There is a Twitter account called WeWantPlates, which shares photos of the ridiculous ways restaurants serve food and bills – it’s a real eye-opener.