Our Place Set the Table Dinnerware Review

From a romantic at-home dinner for two to a casual omelet for brunch, dinnerware helps set up the atmosphere. Whether it is choosing the colors or shapes or deciding the material with which it is made, dinnerware helps you set the scene just the way you want it. It is so much more than plates and bowls you serve food in; it is an expression of your style.

Fortunately, there are many choices of tableware styles and materials available these days that can fit your budget, space, and lifestyle and help you express yourself and tell a story through them. The Our Place Set the Table Dinnerware is made by the same company that also makes the Always Pan.  And before it even arrived, it came with a story—a sustainably made collection with many cultures, places, and lifestyles in mind. To truly test it for versatility, ease of use, durability, and ability to express a story with each meal, I made meals that spanned from elegant to rustic and from careful plating to tossing in everything together.

Keep reading for my review of the Our Place dinnerware.

Packaging: Exceptional in every way

I love shopping online, but I detest bubble wrap and all the plastic that it comes with. To sort and dispose of it responsibly at the recycling center in another town that intakes bubble wrap and other such plastic is a chore I could do without. I was thrilled that the dinnerware arrived without a single thing of plastic on it. All the plates and bowls were packed securely in extremely well-designed cardboard boxes. Three different boxes, all packed into one large box. All the packaging is recyclable.

One thing I noticed about the shipping, though, is that the notification that your shipment has been delivered came at least a day before the shipment actually arrived. I had to look up the reason for it and found out that there can be a lag between the physical delivery date and tracking delivery date.

Material: Holds up well

Taking their sustainability mission one step ahead, the company makes this dinnerware set with part recycled ceramics and part virgin porcelain ceramic. The dishes are not crash-proof, but they will hold up pretty well in daily home use. You can mix and match pieces from other colors to add variety. The only limitation is that you can’t buy just one or two pieces, you will have to buy a set of each product as they are only sold as a set.

Design: Minimalistic and appealing

The modern minimalistic design with neutral tones was more beautiful in person than in the photos I had seen on the company’s website. The hand-painted base and speckled top make it look very artisanal. It’s slightly rustic, yet slightly edgy. The unique color tones not only will suit any organic modern home styles and casual gatherings but are also suitable for chic dining. The entire set is made for easy stacking and it did stack very well.

The raised straight sides provided an edge to keep the food from rolling off the plate. This was really helpful on the porch where guests were just moving around with their food and didn’t sit down to use a fork and knife. The main plates are 9.75-inches in diameter, which is a good size to fit into any cupboard. The side plates follow suit with a 7.5-inch diameter and are a nice size for salad, breakfast omelet, or dessert.

While the bowls worked well for serving pasta salads, Buddha bowls, and even smoothies, a portion of tomato soup looked scanty inside the bowl. Even a couple of scoops of ice cream in the bowl felt inadequate. In short, the side bowls are large and measure 6 inches in diameter, are 2.75 inches deep, and have a capacity of 3.5 cups. At times, I found myself using them as serving dishes for curries and they did work well for that. Furthermore, with the weight of each bowl at about 1 pound 6 6 ounces, small plate at 1 pound 1 ounce, and main plate at 1 pound 7 ounces, this set is not light compared to similar dinnerware sets available.

The hand-painted matte base provides a neat contrast to the top. However, the base felt rough to touch and some of the plates and bowls did not have a smooth finish and resulted in some scratches on my table. While this was not the case with all the pieces in the set, it is certainly something to look out for.  

I (like many other busy parents) like to meal plan or use leftovers and use a microwave to reheat some of the food. While the set is microwave safe for any room-temperature food, it gets super-hot when reheating for longer than a minute. I heated a cup of soup for about 2 minutes and the bowl got very hot while the soup was only warmed through. I highly recommend wearing oven-safe gloves while using this set in the microwave for anything you want to heat straight from the fridge.

All the pieces in the set are dishwasher safe. Even for someone like me who doesn’t really like to load a dishwasher, they were really easy to load up. Who knows they might change the way I think about dishwashing chores! They stand upright, or in the case of the bowls, lie flat, eliminating any risk of chipping. They also dried off without any stains or watermarks when I hand-washed them.

Price: Moderate

Retailing for about $135, this set is moderately priced, but in appearance, they look very artisanal and pricier. They can go from casual eating while watching the game to a proper sit-down dinner and not be out of place in either situation.

Competition: Some more options

While I liked the Our Place Set the Table Dinnerware for its clean lines and thoughtful packaging and fun color tones, it may not be the set for all homes. For an organic, free-formed look, the Crate and Barrel Mercer Open Stock (view at Crate & Barrel) offers an artisanal design and a table-safe unglazed base. Since it is open stock, you can also buy the pieces individually to mix colors.

Or you could choose the Lina Blue Stripe 16-Piece Place Setting, which we also tested, that is hand-painted and has that artisanal, organic vibe. One thing to note, though, is that it is available only in a single color and design. It is a fun set for casual and somewhat elevated dining with family and friends.