Have you ever used a Monkey Dish?

[RubyK]

I was looking through the documents on my computer and found this:

The Monkey Dish - a small dish used for restaurant sides. The two lines indicate the amount of food. The bottom line is at approx. 1/4-1/3 cup and the top rim line is approx. 1/2-2/3 cup. The lines were important for food workers to be able to judge portion sizes quickly without actually measuring.

Some people believe that the term originated in the homes of important people that actually used live monkeys to test their food for poison.

Another theory is that it came about with the Italian American organ grinders that would ask diners/restaurants for a small portion of food for their monkey. A portion similar in size to the little tin cup that the monkey used to beg for change.

 

[JustBonee]

Learn something new everyday.

 

[Murrmurr]

That's interesting.

My daughter-in-law has been a waitress for 15 years. The restaurant she works at calls that very top line the Thumb Line....when you set it down in front of the customer, you can't let your thumb cross that line. The line right under that one is the Soup Line, and the very bottom line is the Dessert Line. But her restaurant doesn't use those bowls for soup, only for some of their side dishes, like coleslaw or beans, and for a single-scoop of ice cream, in which case, if the customer wants syrup on their ice cream, you use the bottom line.

 

[Jace]

Learn something new everyday.

Me, too.
Have bowl(s) like that... thought it was just ( in the) design!

 

[Sassycakes]

It's funny my Mom had those dishes and we ate our soup out of them.

 

[Aunt Bea]

Yup!

I use them almost every day.

 

[Tish]

I have never heard of that term before.
Live some, learn some

 

[Jules]

Interesting, I’ve never heard that term. When I worked in restaurants 50 years ago, dinner was served with two sides - both in little white bowls. When I think of the nuisance of balancing those extra bowls and the extra dishwashing involved, I can understand restaurants getting rid of them if they could.

 

[Fyrefox]

In a restaurant one time, my partner ordered a meal listed as coming with Cole slaw. It arrived on the main plate in a tiny, thimble-sized paper cup. My partner complained, and the waitress remarked, “Oh, you want a monkey dish,” and then brought a proper side bowl of slaw. It was the first time that I had ever heard the term, and we got some yucks out of it…

 

[terry123]

Never heard of it. Like others I learn something new everyday!

 

[Alligatorob]

Monkey Dish

Thanks Ruby, did not know this.

I would have guessed a monkey dish was something like monkey parmesan or curry...

Never knowing had either, the ceramic or the meat dish.

 

[Geezer Garage]

Never had one. Figured the poor monkey needed it more than me. All kidding aside, never heard that one, interesting indeed.

 

[Kaila]

Saw them in use, long ago, in diners and hospitals, but never heard that term nor any of those explanations in the posts. Glad to learn about it.