When it comes to dining out, many of us are consumed by etiquette. Some people find themselves impeded by the childhood rule of eating what they're given (or they won't get dessert), some are willing to take up the food fight if they haven't received what they ordered, while others are quite prepared to send their waiter to and fro until their plate meets the fickle whims of their palate. When do you think it's acceptable to send food back to the kitchen in a restaurant? Consider the scenarios below and let us know.
Image credit: Andreas Praefcke
Finding a foreign object in your dinner is usually unpleasant. We say 'usually' because although there's the possibility of discovering a two-carat diamond in your risotto or black truffles in your standard scrambled eggs, it's more common to fork up a rubber band, an unidentifiable piece of plastic, or a human hair.
A real-life story:
Customer: There's a hair in my tagliatelle. Can I please send this back?
Waitperson: (Peers at tagliatelle). Oh, no, that's just some string from the basil.
Customer: So can I get one without string?
Waitperson: Certainly.
Would you just eat around the offending object? Would you be more likely to put up with the offending object if you knew it to be string rather than hair? Would you send it back? Or would you leave and go somewhere else?
"My mutton is dressed as lamb."It all sounds so great on the menu, and then it arrives and you find that the fresh prawns are rubbery little shrimp, the seared tuna has been charcoaled or that the 'tropical side salad' is in actual fact a piece of wilted lettuce and a ring of tinned pineapple. Do you put it down to a lesson learned and make the most of it, or do you send it on back? You're unlikely to find this kind of fare coming with a high price tag, but does that change the principle?
"My salmon is dressed as bacon."What happens if you order one thing and get something completely different? Sometimes, it can be an error in delivery. Sometimes it can be something more annoying.
Another real-life story:
Customer: I'll have the salmon stack with hollandaise.
Waitperson: (Serves dish).
Customer: This salmon appears to be… bacon.
Waitperson: Oh yeah, we ran out of salmon. Is bacon OK?
Obviously, it is not. Or is it? What if you receive something you are quite happy with, but which is different from what you ordered? Would you bother to let the waitperson know? What if you distinctly
order steak cooked in a particular way and have your request ignored? Or if you ask for no lemon and still get it?
"I'll have what she's having."This is where things get a little bit trickier. If you receive your order perfectly prepared, with nary a thing out of place, but find yourself overtaken by sudden food envy for what your dining partner has ordered, would you expect the restaurant to change your meal, at their loss, just to please you? What if your meal arrives exactly as it should, but you decide, after sampling, that you just don't like it? Would you likewise return it for something else and anticipate only the second meal appearing on the bill?
A lot of people would find this last scenario to be unreasonable. Indeed, if you were at the local pub, you'd probably have two chances of getting your new-dish wish (the chances being Buckley's, and none). But what if you're at an expensive fine-dining establishment? There are quite a few that will gladly take a one-off loss in order to retain a certain standard of excellence, and to ensure their patrons are entirely happy with their experience. While some waiters may ask if everything is to your liking purely for the sake of it, others are trained to act upon it if you're unhappy with the meal, no matter the reason. After all, you'll definitely go back and spend a mint again if you know the staff at the restaurant will go to great lengths to please you.
When do you think it's acceptable to send food back in restaurants? Would you rather put up with something you don't like than complain to the staff? Does the quality of the restaurant affect your expectations? Leave a comment with your food for thought.
