Do you send food back when eating out?

[Britpopbaby]

I’ve just sent some cake back due to how dry it was and I am not afraid to do this at all. Do you send food back?

I am trying to remember whether I've sent anything back and I don't think so. The dry cake unless really stale I might think a matter of taste.

But I have asked for more, a couple of times!

Ooh, I actually forgot one. I VERY discreetly took back a salade au chèvre chaud which had dozens of live, wriggling little blood red worms in it. I was given a replacement for the dish which I politely ate, although to be honest I would have preferred to stay there with my glass of wine and actually not eaten the same dish again but without the worms.

I've asked to have drinks replaced too - if they were flat or lukewarm. Nobody seemed to mind - no drama.

I have occasionally. There is a cafe that I go to a lot because the food is good quality and cooked the right way. I often go for breakfast and they make scrambled eggs exactly the way that I like them. Once I sent them back because they just didn't look or taste right, they brought me a freshly made plate and a message from the chef to say that a new kitchen assistant had mixed too much milk into my previous batch. Another time the eggs were cooked perfectly but tasted different from usual, not bad just different and not quite as nice. So I asked if it had changed, the waiting staff didn't think so but the next time I went in the chef leaned out of the serving hatch and beckoned me over to tell me that the last time I was in he had run out of free-range eggs and had bought some from a different supplier as a stop-gap. I was amazed that he remembered that I'd commented.

I can't remember now but I do remember that it was the veggie version of something one of the meat eaters had also ordered - the meat version was twice the size and had an extra (vegetarian) side dish and was exactly the same price!

Twice, in different places, when the "vegetarian" quiche from the menu had ham in it .

Once when the "bruschetta" starter turned out to be burnt toast .

Of course, if there is something wrong with it. You wouldn't put up with faulty goods in any other situation. I love my food and tend to eat in restaurants now where I know the standard is good but if I get anything poorly cooked, yes I send it back.

No.

Never really thought to. But would if things were really bad.

On the other hand, even my quite wealthy friend, now takes food home if there is food she hasnt eaten.

I don’t think I’ve ever done it.
I would if it was completely inedible, I like rare steak, sometimes it
comes out more like medium but I don’t send it back, I can still eat it and what would happen to it? Would be such a waste, plus I would then sit without my dinner with my fellow diners probably feeling awkward about eating theirs while still waiting for mine to be recooked.
I have a couple of friends who seem to be serial food complainers and often send theirs back because there’s a missing ingredient or something on it that wasn’t included or it’s not piping hot or a different shaped pasta… the list goes on. I don’t really go out to eat with them now.
I eat out a lot and don’t think I’ve ever sent something back.
If it came and I genuinely couldn’t eat it because it was mouldy or raw then I’d have a quiet word and would send it back but otherwise I just get on with it.

I do if there’s something wrong with it, for example over-cooked fish or undercooked baked potato, or there’s an ingredient missing. I’ve also sent bad pints of beer back - invariably the landlord has agreed it was spoiled, so no drama there.

I am very careful about where I’ll order fish because of the likelihood of it being badly done, but once in a quite fancy restaurant I ordered sea bass and what arrived was mackerel. I like mackerel, but at the time it was about a quarter of the price of sea bass, and didn’t go with the other accompaniments particularly well. The waiter absolutely refused to believe me (!) and I had to insist on speaking to the manager, who eventually confirmed that the chef had run out of sea bass so had substituted without telling anyone…

But I wouldn’t complain or send something back because I didn’t like it.

I used to work in a coffee shop and the cakes are kept for 3 days. I remember having to point out to a young colleague that you can't just serve the end piece when a cake has been cut the previous day as it will be dry! You go from one slice in and end up wasting 2 slices as they will inevitably be dry. Trouble is that these jobs are often done by young people with no common sense! I had to step in twice (2 different places) where they were decanting something from a large package to smaller containers and labelling them with the used by date from the main package (some weeks in advance) rather than the 'once opened use by' date which was a matter of days.

I have sent back food twice recently where it was cold. One meal was expensive and freshly prepared so I just asked them for something quick to replace it rather than waiting while everyone else ate. The other was a cheap ish chain restaurant so they just microwaved it for me which was a bit Ick but acceptable. I'm not paying ££ to eat cold food.

Yes absolutely I do. The only time I wouldn't was if I was at a wedding or a special occasion for someone. I'm polite and respectful when I do but I'm not paying for inadequate food or service.

I think taking leftover food home is a good thing to do. Wasting it is wrong, unless unavoidable. When we’re on holiday in the USA or Canada it’s almost inevitable that we’ll be asked if we need a bag or tray for the leftovers (yes please!).

Yes, I will politely and discretely complain if food is badly cooked, cold or not what I ordered but thankfully I don't have to do so very often. One of my major gripes though is the restaurant environment. Such as having to eat your meal with coats on because it's bloody freezing. Or being seated right next to the loos, a constantly opening door, the servers' cleaning station or a ridiculously pokey table when the meal involves lots of side dishes. Eating out is a treat and isn't all about the food, so I will ask to be moved if I've been given a rum deal.

Yep, I do these days. Never used to, but nowadays, the standard of food is often shockingly poor so I pull up my big girl pants and make them swap it, especially now that eating out is so expensive.

Undercooked meat is very common, especially chicken which is often still raw/pink in the middle because most of it is frozen, but yes, many places are incapable of cooking steak well done - either it's still pink inside or it's cremated.

And yes, cold food is also too common, especially "sides" where they've clearly been sat on the side waiting for the main element to be cooked. The kitchen staff don't seem to know how to co-ordinate different elements anymore.

I've even taken to insisting that fast food places like Burger King, KFC and MaccyD's replace cold food, especially cold/soggy fries, that they leave out on the side whilst waiting for the burger or whatever to be prepared.

Unless people make a fuss, cafes, restaurants and takeaways will continue to serve up crap!

Was it Zizzi? Because we had exactly the same experience : cold and rubbery.

When the manager came and asked us ( with the bill and the machine , I suppose they were going to ‘suggest’ a gratuity)if we enjoyed our meal , he was quite displeased when we said ‘not really’ .

Costa is awful for dry pastry and cake. Their products have such a long shelf life and get stuck out in the open air all day. I've sent things back several times and I ask how old the product is sometimes, some of it has a five day lifespan. If you're getting it at day five it's on its last legs.

If it is sub standard, or not what I ordered ( eg chicken korma when I wanted lamb)or if it has coriander on it which I would have specifically requested not to be there!!

Very rarely. Although once I had steak and mashed potato and the mash was below room temperature. I suspect (it was in its own bowl) they probably intended to microwave it and didn’t. Which given what a nice place it was is surprising, although perhaps that’s just me being naive…

And insist on new "sides" too! I once sent back a raw steak when I'd asked for it to be well done. Came back a few minutes later, but the veg and chips were stone cold - they'd just left the plate on the side going cold whilst they'd cooked the steak a bit more. So I had to send it back a second time and insisted on new steak AND new sides! Sometimes, they do lack common sense!

I can't remember having to. But real ale, yes, with no issue. And once, wine which was corked. As were the next two bottles they opened to replace it.

I once sent back a Lobster linguine because there was not a trace of lobster in it. The waiter was a bit miffed that I'd pointed it out, but he had to admit that I was right!

It’s only off the back of hearing from people who work in kitchens. General idea is that they only do it when people complain. So that’s my approach. Suits me.

Coffee & cake is so expensive. You expecting nice cake, at least. You did the right thing. Life’s too short for crap cake!