what would you do if you don''t like the meal you ordered in a nice restaurant?

[scarleta]

Would you return it? Would you ask your company to swap the meal? I am talking about the dish that you simply won''t eat ,because you don''t like the taste of it.Maybe something you never had before, so you ordered and it arrives nothing is wrong with it you take a taste and you know you are not going to eat it.
This is what I do in this situation I eat everything around what I like like vegies , rice etc, but I won''t return it, unless something is wrong with it and not just because I don''t like it. Sometimes I will swap it if someone else wants to, but generaly I won''t complain if nothing is wrong with it.I would never order it again , of course.Please let me know ..

 

[Munchkin]

I would also eat everything around the particular item I don''t care for. The only time I would send something away is if it turned out that one of the foods I am allergic to shows up on the plate.

 

[princesss]

I''d suffer through it and never order it again. I''d also eat as little as possible of the meal and maybe nibble on bread.

 

[Cind11]

If I order something and nothing is wrong with it but I just don''t care for it, I would definitely not complain. I would assume I guessed wrong as to what to order. The only time I complain or send something back is if something is wrong with the dish. I wouldn''t ask a tablemate to switch unless perhaps they offered. (and if I thought they would truly like the meal) So, I guess Iwould just try to fill up on vegies, bread etc.

 

[SeaOats]

Since there is technically nothing wrong with the meal, I wouldn''t send it back. I took the risk in ordering it IMO.

 

[iheartscience]

I do the same thing-I eat around the offending item and I don''t order it in the future! This happened to me once when I was in NYC at one of those super hip restaurants. I ordered sturgeon and it was smoky, greasy and disgusting. And I just can''t eat food that I don''t like...I start to get what I like to call "the slow chew" that comes right before I gag!

Once I went out to dinner with my sister, her friend and her friend''s friend and the friend''s friend ordered paella, which I guess she had never tried before. She wasn''t that into it so she told the waitress she just didn''t like it and sent it back!

I was mortified!

The way I see it, if the restaurant messes up (something''s undercooked or overcooked, a hair''s in your food, etc.) it''s totally fine to politely send the food back. If you just plain don''t like it, too bad! Don''t order it again!

 

[monarch64]

If it were my choice and I had just chosen something because I wanted to try it, I would not send it back and just file it away in my brain under "things not to order ever again." However, if I wanted to try something new and asked the waiter to recommend something and I didn''t care for it, and he/she came back and asked me if I was enjoying it, I would be completely honest and go from there. I''m SO not a complainer/send-backer in restaurants, but if the latter were the case I would not hesitate to share my opinion. I wouldn''t expect to be given anything else, though, for the record, without paying for it if that makes sense.

 

[snlee]

I would not return it or complain. I''d swap with my husband because he''ll eat anything. I joke that he''s my garbage disposal. All the food I don''t like/can''t finish, he will eat it. He will not waste any food!

 

[suzi]

I''d probably try to swap with my husband, too. But if he didn''t want to, I''d probably just suck it up, pick around with it, and order myself a really yummy desset!

 

[WorkingHardforSmallRewards]

Well if it was something that I had never ordered before I would just suck it up and eat some celery when I got home. But if it was something I know how it taste--like beef soup for 13 bucks--and it comes out tasting like it is 2 dollar canned beef soup for from the grocery store, then I send it back and get something else at their expense

Of course that is while I am not living with my gf. Once we are married I will probably just have to eat it....

 

[Munchkin]

Thing:
You expressed exactly what I was trying to!

I was also once with someone who tried to "change my order" and I wanted to crawl under the table. I offered her all my sides to fill her,but she declined as I had ordered a meat dish and she was vegetarian/nothing that has touched meat unless in her home. (She kept a kosher kitchen.)

 

[door knob solitaire]

Scarleta...How did the fly thing work out?

If what you mean by Nice restaurant=Chef instead of crew...

From experience...the management never wants to see a customer dissatisfied. My staff would be trained to watch your plate...if anything was not touched...the staff would ask what replacement would be desired. It would be obtained...and not charged to the customer.

This has nothing to do with being polite on what you ordered...YOU ORDERED IT YOU HAVE TO LIVE WITH IT. Shades of the soup nazi!!! You are paying for it. It is a restaurant. You are to come hungry and are to leave happy and satisfied. If you have to pay for something you didn''t like....and then stop at McDonalds on the way home...who wins there?

A restaurant wants feedback from their customers. It doesn''t always have to be praise. "This rosemary chicken has too much rosemary for my liking...." Too Bad!! You ordered RChick...it came...but it was TOOO heavy in Rosemary. Tell them. So they have to eat one dish...in the grand scheme of things...it is better to loose the expense of one plate...than have you leave and tell your friends about the icky rosemary chick.

When the wait staff comes and asks shortly after you have received your food..."Is everything alright"...they do that for THIS VERY REASON!! They are not beign polite...they are really asking if it is ALRIGHT.

One more thing...Chefs have photographic memories. They will spot you next time you come in...and odds are they will personally work harder to win you over...and slather you with their attention. They appreciate a refined palette. Dont be affraid to request a replacement! No matter who ordered it, who was to blame...leave satisfied.

DKS

Oh if there is a Hair in it~ I am outta there. Bug...I am outta there faster, but screaming. No polite send it back with me!

 

[diamondfan]

If I chose something and decided I just did not like the preparation or it was new to me and I did not like it, I would eat all I could otherwise. If the server noticed I had not eaten it and asked, I might nicely say I did not care for it. Of course that is personal, someone else might love it. Hubby always gets things and decides it was not what he was anticipating (usually too many veggies on it for his taste!) so he picks at it. If something is off or ill prepared or not cooked right, that I would send back, but nicely. I have heard some yuck stories about sending food back.

 

[kcoursolle]

If I simply don't like it...and there is nothing wrong with it, then I do my best to fill up on the sides and I don't say anything.

If it's not cooked right, cold, or otherwise bad, I will send it back with really nice language (so they don't spit in my food!).

 

[Kaleigh]

No I wouldn't send it back. I'd try to eat everything on the plate that appealed to me, If I was still starving, I'd hit Wendy's on the way home.

 

[diamondfan]

K, that is the yuck thing I was referring to! Hope it is not true but have friends that worked in the restaurant field and sadly think it might be!

 

[scarleta]

DKS: How did the fly thing work out?
So you remember the" fly thing" I am trully impressed...Well as I was told the wet weather had to do with it and they were gone as soon as the weather changed..Thanks for asking...No more drain flies in my garden..or around my compost bin...

Now about the question re food ordered in a restaurant..
Thank you , thank you for all replies now I know that what I do is what most would do.For sure I will stick to the dish I know I like in the future...From time to time I like to order something new and often can''t eat it. Should learn from it way back, but now with all your comments I can say: " I GOT IT"
Thanks to everyone who replied...

 

[door knob solitaire]

DF and K,

I heard those storied too.

I had a friend who went out to a casual popular restaurant with a large group of people. (Italian and named after a Root Vegetable) I think the Table was over 16. All ordered at the same time...but were served in seperate ticket groups. The first group began to eat...someone in that group ordered something like...veal parmigana...but what they were served was chicken. Sent it back with a bite taken out of it. Got what they ordered. Then the rest of the table was served...they noticed the person who ordered the chicken alfredo was served a piece of chicken that looked as if it had a bite taken out of it...

Yes, that is right...The kitchen just flipped that patty onto the next outgoing chicken dish...(It had the parmigana sauce on one side...alfredo on the top!!!) They covered the missing bite with a lemon...the person hated lemons and wouldn''t have noticed it until later-but they removed the lemon. They all 16 sent their food back...called the manager had a ''group love fest''...and then ALL got up and left. There were several adjoining tables that overheard and also walked.

Just a thought: If we are eating in a restaurant and fearful what may be put in our food on a return...I think we shouldn''t be eating there at all. If you can''t trust the kitchen...don''t.

DKS

 

[Lorelei]

I wouldn't eat it and fill up on bread and pudding!

But THERE IS NO ONE ELSE IN THIS WORLD as fussy with food as me!

Hey Rascal - good to see ya! Is that a new baby in your av?

 

[scarleta]

Door knob Solitaire:: How did the fly thing work out?
So you remember the" fly thing" I am trully impressed...Well as I was told the wet weather had to do with it and they were gone as soon as the weather changed..Thanks for asking...No more drain flies in my garden..or around my compost bin...

 

[chiefneil]

Usually I don''t say anything unless, as door_knob_solitaire pointed out, the waiter asks how I liked my dish or if there was something wrong with it. If it''s a generic "how''s everything" I might not say anything, but sometimes I''ve had waiters notice that I didn''t eat much. If they ask why, then I''ll just say something mild like "Oh, I just wasn''t crazy about the dish". Most every time I''ve received an alternate dish or a refund.

It''s interesting to hear that chefs remember customers. Once my party sent back a couple orders of foie gras because they were really overcooked. They were replaced and we weren''t charged. The next time we went back and ordered foie gras again, the same manager came by to apologize again and said they were on the house. The chef also came out to chat and ask how they were, which was kind of cool since he''s one of those local "celebrity" chefs.

One really funny time at an Italian place in NYC, my DW wasn''t especially hungry and didn''t eat much. Despite her protestations that everything was fine and she just wasn''t hungry, we were treated to a parade of at least another three or four dishes with the exhortation "Try this one instead bella! You''ll like it!" followed shortly after by "You''re still not eating! What''s wrong? I''ll bring you something else!"