To be angry at DH for ruining Father’s Day lunch out

Better than leaving the restaurant though, surely?

If more people complained about shit food, maybe service would improve. It costs a fortune to eat at a decent restaurant in the UK, the least people should insist on is getting the food they ordered.

I’m torn on this and without knowing how under / over done it was can’t say if I agree with you or him.

I like a medium / rare steak. I’d tolerate medium but anything over that and I would not be able to eat it and certainly would not be paying for it.

He’s also within his right on Father’s Day to want to eat with his family. A 5 min wait to get a new meal is reasonable, 20 is not.

So swaying to team DH unless it was barely different to what he asked for

Oh fgs - sometimes mistakes happen. It's irritating but there's no need for him to behave like a whiny child

For the record I also hate the cop out by restaurants of just offering whatever they screwed up for free. I get it… it probably does pacify the people who complain just for the free meal. But it does suck for those that want to enjoy their meal out.

I think service levels go down when this is the default solution.

I’m so envious that sweeping meals away from your dc, and making them wait even seemed like a possibility to him.

I always get paranoid with sending food back like are they spitting on the food doing gross stuff etc 😂😂 I think id have just left it not paid for my meal let my family eat and grabbed myself a burger or something on way home rather than everyone else suffer better one person hangry than the whole lot of you.

I do think your DH was selfish on this ocassion, although it would have been a big disappointment either way so in a way I understand his anger and his reaction.

I think the standard of cooking at pubs and restaurants has deteriorated significantly since covid. I have had a lot of bad meals recently and I don't think it is helped by customers accepting poor food without complaint. The price of eating out has shot up, so I don't think the customer is getting good value for money in many places.

i bet he complained deliberately because he didnt want to be there

Right, who does that fucker think he is. He’ll eat plate garnish and like it!

My god, what a brute.

Well, is not like they are out to celebrate him, screw him, who does he think he is to eat steak with the reat of us?

Yes 'hand on heart' absolutely, well i wouldnt be eating manky steak as im a veggie but even so. You make it sound like such a tragic hardship, he needs to get over himself.

They are teenagers.

Team DH.

The restaurant fucked up and ruined it. If I go out to eat with my family I want to eat at the same time as them. We are so used to crap service here, but it shouldn't be acceptable.

Why on earth did you eat something that doesn't agree with you?

Was he asking for them to be remade or just kept warm? I think both he and the manager were being unreasonable.

Yes I think he’s a selfish arse.

Obviously it’s not great but I probably would have just either eaten the steak (it’s the same dish), or chatted whilst they redid it with a few donated chips, then enjoyed my re-cooked dish whilst the kids had an ice cream.

If he felt so strongly he could have suggested leaving, but not made the decision unilaterally. Especially with hungry kids to contend with.

Drink his free drink and make conversation?

So he gets a nice fresh meal, and everyone else gets something dry that’s been sitting under a warming lamp for 20minutes? No thanks

He wasn't wrong in principle but I think ruining a special meal out was selfish.

Social convention when this happens or you’re at a big table and some food hasn’t arrived is to gesture to everyone else and say please start without me. Not to demand that everyone else’s food is removed until the head of the house is served.

who does he think he is?

Please tell me hand on heart: would you be able to look at the father of your kids eating vegetables wile you eat steak on father's day? I, for one, could not. Yes he could have handled it better by talking to wife about it, this I agree. To walk out, Im with him, the chef should have offered to recook his steak in a reasonable time, it does not take 20 minutes to cook a steak.

Wow he’s a prick

At the end of the day, the meal was spoiled regardless of whether the OP's DH accepted the free meal & drinks, or whether he walked out, as while some people might have been happy to accept a free meal and drinks, the event was meant to be about him as a Father. If his meal wasn't right, then he had every right to complain, and asking for the other plates to be taken away too, didn't mean the other's didn't get to eat, simply that they would have all eaten together 15-20 minutes later. To me, it totally spoils the atmosphere if someone has to sit and wait for their meal to be re-cooked, while others sit there stuffing their faces, and then when the unacceptable meal, is eventually returned, the rest of the group, then have to sit there, twiddling their thumbs, while one person eats their meal, and that person always ends up feeling left out, and either leaving half of their meal, or rushing because they feel under pressure. If people are prepared to accept this, then restaurants will continue to serve up sub-standard food, and personally, if I'm paying for a meal to be cooked for me, I expect it to be better than I can achieve at home, otherwise it's simply not worth it. Therefore in my opinion the OP's DH did the right thing.

Seems mumsnet is full of pushovers, unless it's marital disagreements, where if your husband didn't say good morning to you, you are told to LTB 🤣