I have a strange obsession with platters. The premise is simple, just combine a complete meal (greens, starch and meat) and stuff them all in one plate. While any buffet plate can qualify as a platter, it all boils down to how thoughtful the combination is.

It all starts with breakfast. The Full English is a combination of bacon, sausage, baked beans, toast, a fried egg, half a tomato, mushrooms and a hash browns.

I first encountered Full English via a Flickr group created in 2005 (via lomokev). It’s still active, with a modest community of 346 members.

Photo via John Logan/Flickr

Here’s a sad interpretation of Full English, Pinoy style.

Office workers, in the Flatiron area help themselves with lunch platters sold in food trucks. You can get an inexpensive meal of side salad, protein and rice all cramped in a styrofoam container. The vendor finishes the dish with a generous drizzling of garlic sauce. All for five dollars.

They more or less taste the same (except for the 53rd and 6th Halal guys, The Trini Paki Boys Cart in Midtown West). Due to its proximity to where I work, I go to Rafiqi’s with its toppings and their Italian Sausage/Chicken combo.

Photo via Lulun & Kame/Flickr

To complete our platter day, allow me to introduce you to Colombia’s Bandeja Paisa.

Colombia’s national dish combines white rice, pork and beans, ground meat, deep fried pork belly, fried eggs, plantains, chorizo, arepa, hogao sauce, black pudding, avocado and a lemon. Oh and let’s throw some steak in there while we’re at it.

Photo via Columbia Travel/Flickr

While good for hangovers, I wouldn’t mind having this for dinner. There are a couple of Colombia restaurants in Queens that serve pretty authentic versions of this. As soon as I get clearance from doctor, I’m there.