What winds me up? Being unable to get a table at a decent restaurant because it's booked months or years in advance. Worshippers at the alters of fashion and wealth get served while true disciples of good food are left out in the cold. And if you are fortunate enough to be granted a table the cost is prohibitive for us mere mortals. We are worthy, honest.
At least Gordon only allows booking 2 months in advance.
I really hate it when you're in a restaurant that is overstaffed when it's not busy and they keep annoying you all the time or staring at you. I hate having 3 waiters hovering over me, one doing wine, one doing water and another taking plates away. Service should be friendly and efficient, not constantly there. I go to restaurants to talk to my husband, not be gawped at by waiting staff all night.
Too right. I can pour my own wine, thanks and I'm the better judge as to when I want more.
The thing I hate most is when the waiter feels the need to place the napkin in your lap. Yes I know it's an expected level of service in fine eateries but really, just let me be.
Cold Plates / salad bowls of side plates dirty and greasy. Cold Food Rushed service - Stuffy service Tiny portions of food that cost a months shop at waitrose, only to find it is pre cooked Dirty cutlery Wet tables Over prices wine that sounds good but is corked giving it a nice watery taste waiters with body odour or bad breath greasy hair. - all of it!
quote:
Deep fried seafood platters and microwaved food - the menu looks great you sit down and eat and its all that gunk! Send it back and you look like a nutter with no social skills - I dont care when i am paying good money DO YOUR WORK Hidden cost's 12% additional service charge - i'll be the judge thanks unwashed salad leaves that taste packaged or have loads of grit Muddy smelling seafood - that resturants have a cheek to charge a bomb for Reservations mucking up your table - i could bite thier nose off That will do it for now if i think of anything else - will post more
Greasy plates bowls, dirty cutlery Unwashed salad leaves Sauces brought to your table with a layer of skin Wet tables / sticky/ stains on table cloths/ horrid seats Waiting staff with poor hygiene Seafood that smells off .Horrible livebait and the ruination of a 30th birthday treat. very poor and overated the seafood was really bad. Worse of all i had to smile and say thanks appearing to not look ungreatful. cramped seating reservations messing i up waiting staff hovering and gawping Hidden service charges - why the small print
I know some of my comments won't go down that well but here goes anyway.
Hot plates for salads Cold plates for hot meals dirty; cutlery, plates, glasses, table cloths, table tops, staff, floors, toilets, condiment sets Too much noise, over loud music, or (sorry about this guys) screaming children, (I know, I just don't think it appropriate in some restaurants to take children. During the day I don't object to it but not evenings after about 7pm) Over hot/cold and draughty tables, fixed chairs, I like to be able to adjust my distance from the table so I am not keen on fixed banquette type seating. Over attentive or under attentive waiting staff, I don't want to be under the steely gaze of the staff but I would like it to be relatively easy to attract their attention should I need something. Over priced wine and over complicated menus. Waiting staff with superior attitudes, service charges, I would like to decide for myself if the service warrants a gratuity and I know how much I can afford so I also object to it being "acceptable" that it is 10% of the bill, again it is up to me what I believe is a reasonable tip. I like to leave a reasonable time between courses and don't want the waiting staff harrying me to take the next course, sorry if you have time limits but my digestion also has time limits, sitting with empty plates in front of you for too long. I hate that lots of places are reluctant to provide a jug of water, I am not asking for bottled stuff, just a jug of simple tap water, I know this may reduce your takings but it helps me as if I am driving I would like to have a drink and I don't do soft drinks like coke or lemonade this often spoils the taste of the food. I don't want to hear conversation from the kitchen or too much kitchen noise. I hate plastic/silk flowers on the table, I would rather do without anything at all than that crime. I am I suppose the customer from hell. I cannot afford to go out that often but when I do I expect good food and good service and to be treated with respect. And should I have reason to complain that the the staff treat the critisism with good grace. I don't ever complain unneccesarily and I usually offer a full explaination of why I have felt the need to complain or make a critisism and sometimes suggest what could be done to resolve the problem. To explain that, I recently had a meal which had a side salad, the meal was OK but the side salad was over dressed, in fact swimming in dressing, I quietly advised that perhaps less dressing next time would be appropriate and if diners wished for more dressing then they could offer it rather than spoiling the salad, you can after all add more but you cannot take it away once applied. Perhaps I am just a grumpy old woman but I know what I like.
"Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain - and most fools do" Benjamin Franklin "Some cause happiness wherever they go - others whenever they go" Oscar Wilde
a. I would rather wait an extra half hour than be served microwaved food or recooked food b. Not being able to get the attention of the staff c. and when you do they are so put out when you bring things to their attention
Why do we go out to restaurants with this large and growing list?
Will restaurants ane eateries ever take the hint and get an outsider to look into their kitchen and service?
So few tables for singletons: just because you are on your own it doesn't mean you don't deserve good food in pleasant surroundings. We could become regulars if treated right and we'll often eat up and leave quicker than two or more, so the table could be 'turned' three or more times in a service. Oh! and if there are tables for singles, we don't want to sit by the doors to the kitchen or the toilets any more than anyone else. The odd look you get if you ask (before ordering) if it will be possible to have a bottle of wine resealed to take home (if the next day is a workday and you'll have to drive, it's not a good idea to sink a bottle on your own). Being expected to pay extra for vegetables to accompany the main course: this would be acceptable for some seasonal veg., but honest to god, a serving of potato and two run of the mill veg (carrots and broccoli say) costs pennies in the overall scheme of things. Lack of care with cutlery, glasses and crockery: don't blame the dishwashing machine, equip the bod unloading it with a linen/ union linen teacloth to buff off the water marks and return insufficiently cleaned items to the washer for another go.
My idea of dining delight was a few years ago at the Bistro in Padstein: two single ladies (marginally less despised than a single one), Friday evening of a summer bank holiday weekend. A great wine suggestion, offered to us before we were taken to our table (and we could have had it in the garden, but we felt that would be putting the waiting staff out on a busy night), a table big enough for at least four, crisp napery, fresh flowers, no being rushed - and wonderful food explained in english in the menu. The service was excellent - our waiter appeared as if by magic only when needed, checked that we had a pre-booked a taxi to get us back to our hotel, then rang to postpone it a little when we decided that his suggestion of stroll down to the harbour was a darned good one (as I said, the food was excellent...).
