Originally Posted by
emma69
For me, things being removed / cleared bit by bit as the server passes does drive me slowly nuts. I consider it polite to say thank you as my plates are cleared, and if I am having to do it every time a ramekin, a side plate, a breadbasket etc is removed it is disruptive. But equally I wouldn't ignore the server, so for me, clearing once per course is the ideal - anything else I find unnecessary.
Any more than that and I feel as though the waiter - err, sorry, "server" - is nagging me, and I think that most people would feel the same way. I only feel differently at yum cha (dim sum) where part of the experience of the meal is to feel that the whole thing is a bit chaotic.