To not want him to complain in restaurants?

@JemimaTiggywinkles We have had atrocious food when out with friends. I tend to want to keep the peace, so we keep quiet but we don’t go back! In a high quality restaurant, we’ve never had a bad meal.

We also have friends who pick food apart to put on one side ingedisnts they don’t like. I just hate it! DH and me tend to be busy and only do light lunches now! Except the weekend now looming. High blood pressure guaranteed. The won’t pay but expect Michelin food group! Or their own menu! It’s not relaxing.

So by telling a chef how he can "improve" a recipe is just him being allowed an opinion. Aye, right so does that give him the right to give his opinion to a brain surgeon about how he is operating on patient? Or maybe telling firefighters they are putting out the fire wrongly..

I don’t think it’s cringe, I think it can be cultural, and you are being uptight to object.

So if the OP's DH is in the UK and failing to follow UK customs that's okay because it is cultural but if the OP would prefer her DH to fall in line with local customs that is uptight?

I really wouldn't eat out with someone who was critiquing food when asked "is everything okay?" in a restaurant. Too embarrassing and it would spoil my enjoyment. But then I'm a fan of the custom of politely lying to keep things cheery in these situations.

And it would be See you next Wednesday, not Tuesday. As it’s Wednesday today and I assume it would be see you same time next week.

I think you need to look at your reading comprehension skills. She didn't say that most kitchen staff would be a Spanish speaker. What she actually said is if YOUR husband came wading into her kitchen to offer some unsolicited advice then she would pretend to only speak Spanish so she didn't have to converse with him. Totally different to your interpretation.

Nope. This one is on you @Zooks. Or rather your rude DH. But you seem pretty rude yourself tbf. No school or therapy can help you with that.

It surely depends on the restaurant! Would you really tell Raymond Blanc or Simon Rogon your DP can do it better? (As suggested several pages ago!). If it’s a shepherds pie at the pub that could be true. If you are dining at L’Enclume, probably not.

We try and go to top notch restaurants less frequently and cut others out altogether. Then paying more gets us the best. I have never been able to fault a top restaurant.

Goodness me, you’ve got some anger issues and
very poor
Reading comprehension skills.
Racist too assuming any kitchen staff must be a Spanish speaker.

Back to therapy & and school for you. C U Next Tuesday.

I think you’re being terribly British about this.

If someone asks you what you think of the meal it is not unreasonable to give an honest response. They shouldn’t ask the question if they don’t want the answer.

In my experience, ask a Frenchman what he thinks about a meal and you will get a lot of feedback in response!

I don’t think it’s cringe, I think it can be cultural, and you are being uptight to object. I don’t think he’s doing anything wrong.

Nice one!

I don't see a problem here either. He is simply stating his opinion and nowhere in her post does she say he says it in a rude manner or shouts at them. Personally think OP is being unreasonable to want him to never give his opinion

I agree with you, OP. If it's a question of something really being wrong with the food it’s reasonable to say so, but if it’s just a question of taste and preference it isn’t. Some people like their carrots hard, others like them soft. Some people like their gravy seasoned with a lot of herbs, others don’t. A chef who knows they’re already good isn’t going to change things just because one customer would prefer something done a bit differently. The fact that your DH does it so frequently shows that the problem is him rather than them. It's a form of one-upmanship - he’s implying "you may think you’re a Michelin-starred chef but I know more about how to cook carrots than you"!

Tell him he's making you dread going out for meals with him, and spoiling your enjoyment of them.

Make a bingo card of all the likely complaints and ostententatiously tick them off as he makes them. Of course when you get a completed line, you'll shout, "BINGO!"
If that doesn't stop him, then go out with a friend instead.

My husband cooks as a hobby. Last night we chose an Italian. His meal was delicious. Mine, however, chicken pollo risotto was tasteless even the parmesan couldn't save it. I asked him to taste it in case my taste buds weren't working. His opinion it was rice pudding with some chicken cubes added.

He did complain very politely about that saying that it needed, onions, garlic, herbs, seasoning at the very least. So please inform the chef of that.

Never heard back from the chef. 😂

Ah you have what is know in our house as a Food Wanker. I have one too. Sympathies

If it helps, having teenage children take the piss out of him for being a FW is quite a good way to stop it happening 😉

This. Every single one of those things are cringe. Even of the other guests are laughing or whatever judst shows they have enough social skills to be polite.

he sounds right cringe.

walking out because the (often young and female) waitstaff can't tell you every ingredient in a dish.

marching up to the pass to bother the chefs when they are trying to do their jobs - I might also pretend I could only speak Spanish in that situation, though doesn't seem to put your DH off.

and badgering other tables, I would tell him what I had if he came up to me, but his intrusion would be unwelcome, I can't stand those people who find their partners so boring they insist on making another table their entertainment.

Yanbu

My ex used to complain to get free food... he was so embarrassing! He'd eat most of the steak for example, then complain it was too fatty or grisly so they take money off the bill. He even complained about the metal tray some food was on once (the food was on some greaseproof type paper on the tray) saying the type of metal was poisonous and could contaminate the food. This is after he ate said food of course!

I've got a friend who does this and it's so embarrassing. She's ridiculously critical - she once sent a pizza back as it was the wrong shape! TBF it's just how she is, which is a massive perfectionist, but for her nearest and dearest this particular habit is cringe. She often gets free drinks etc for making a fuss, but I never want them as by this point I generally want to leave or hide!

Dear god.

Read Roald Dahl's The Witches to see what chefs do when a customer complains about food.

Consequences OP!

’What, the new Italian place? Oh sorry I’d rather not, I think I might go with Sue for a friends catch up actually. Sorry, you’ll only complain at the end of the meal and it spoils it really, so if you could just go with someone else maybe -?

The only way to get results. Consequences for bad behaviour!

Well you need to be brutally direct with him.

Either he cuts it out, or you won’t eat out with him again.

OP, I think you should have used the word Critique instead of complain in your title, then I think it would make more sense what he is doing. Yes if the meal is sub standard you should complain but what you are explaining is that the meal is generally fine but he is suggesting tweaks or changes to the meal to (in his opinion) make it better.

If that is what he is doing then yes it is totally cringe worthy and makes him look a tool. I would want the ground to swallow me up if my husband did this.