9 best serving dishes for everything from Sunday roasts to nibbles

Adding a touch of class to the kitchen or dining table, this beautifully illustrated serving dish is just at home holding a week’s worth of fruit as it is displaying the roast potatoes on Sundays. Hand-cast from English earthenware clay at Middleport Pottery, it offers an artisanal edge despite its regal appearance. The peacocks and florals come via Burleigh’s age-old technique of tissue transfer printing, which ensures a tangibly high-quality finish. We loved the octagonal shaping – this one’s become a permanent fixture at our kitchen table.

Streamlined and elegant, this vibrant serving plate in fine stoneware doesn’t take up much space on the dining table but it does offer big impact. Designed by Christian Tortu, whose inspiration comes straight from the landscapes of southern France, it is delicately shaped like a natural leaf with a subtle upturn and realistic-looking veins. And the devil’s in the detail: we loved the patina of the emerald crackled glaze, which runs the length of the platter. A versatile and lightweight piece suitable for dishwasher, freezer, oven and microwave.

This dish demands centre-stage in any entertaining set-up – and you’ll want to keep in on permanent display once your guests leave. At 36cm wide, it is a statement piece, and we loved its painterly and artisanal design. The inky black illustration stands out against the cream, while a soft beige patterned with florals runs around its edge, ensuring it’s a thing of craft-driven beauty, even when the face is covered up with fruit.

Offering a utilitarian take on tableware, this elongated stoneware platter is all about stylish simplicity. Designed to reflect the interiors of the celebrity chef’s Union Street Café, the dish is part of a wider range of covetable matching crockery. We loved its streamlined flatness and curves that make it versatile as a serving dish to offer around the table. The teal glaze comes with a subtle speckling, giving it a hand-crafted look, while the soft grey edging affords it a charming rustic appeal.

Dutch brand PiP Studio offers a fresh take on granny chic with eye-popping patterns and prints across its ceramics range. Bold botanicals meet colourful animals in candy brights, and it is a heady mix. This is a delicate serving dish made for afternoon tea. Note: this one is hand-wash only. But we loved its subtleties – the flora and fauna illustration is backed with a geometric print, giving it a layered, textural look, while attention to detail is seen in the plate’s understated, glinting metallics.

This highly creative Portuguese studio is having a fashion moment, with its quirky food-shaped earthenware finding its way onto the best dressed dining tables. From sculptural cabbage leaf plates to watermelon salad bowls, the range is a veritable feast for the eyes. The peapod-shaped server proved quite the conversation starter at our soirée. With its trio of recessed bowls, it is perfect for sharing the nuts, dips and crudités. A fun and affordable addition to your serving arsenal.

OKA’s offering might seem a little extravagant as a serving dish but it is far from merely decorative. Vase-like in shape, it proved economic on the dining table surface, leaving more space for larger dishes. Crafted from terracotta, it is a heavyweight product that works best at the centre of the table for all to dip into rather than passed around. And, of course, it is perfect as a centrepiece fruit bowl. Its craft-driven makeup is what we loved best: each petal of the artichoke has been individually placed, while its off-white glaze cracks in all the right places for a country kitchen rustic look.

Our honorary serving “dish” comes in the shape of this nifty little board that’s both easy on the eye and highly practical. Made from acacia wood with a naturally grained marble tip, it’s ideal for serving appetisers, cheese and antipasti. A snip at just £16, it’s a durable product that looks much more expensive than it is. It also comes with an integrated loop for hanging it up among other natural wood accessories for a cool Scandi aesthetic.