Yeah, I think this is the fundamental problem; I wouldn't expect a more expensive restaurant to serve me larger portions, I'd expect it to serve me better food, which doesn't include paying for good ingredients and skilled preparation time to be wasted. As a rule of thumb I'd expect cheaper restaurants to serve bigger volumes in the UK, to give some incentive to put up with the quality.
Just out of interest, what sort of place could I look for in the USA to find reasonable food, then? As in not too fancy, not blow-out-meal amounts, but not fast-food levels? I mean normally I cook at home, but sometimes you're travelling and just need somewhere to eat. In the UK I'd find a roadside pub somewhere, preferably not a chain one, or perhaps a Chinese or Thai restaurant, and expect to get something fairly quick and not terrible quality for not too much money. What would be the equivalent, or does this just not translate?
Re: Well, this turned out to be really long.... :-D
Just out of interest, what sort of place could I look for in the USA to find reasonable food, then? As in not too fancy, not blow-out-meal amounts, but not fast-food levels? I mean normally I cook at home, but sometimes you're travelling and just need somewhere to eat. In the UK I'd find a roadside pub somewhere, preferably not a chain one, or perhaps a Chinese or Thai restaurant, and expect to get something fairly quick and not terrible quality for not too much money. What would be the equivalent, or does this just not translate?