wibu or was the manager of this restaurant?

[Itisraining]

Recently went to local restaurant which we go to regularly so know the manager who has a reputation for being a bit tricky. The whole group ordered from the lighter bite menu. I ordered a macaroni cheese with garlic bread (which I have never ordered before). When we came to pay, I noticed I had been charged for the large portion from the main menu(£6.50 more expensive)
When I questioned it,
the manager said, "you didn't say you wanted the small one"
I said "I didn't say I wanted the larger one either and the other one says it comes with garlic ciabatta and I said the one with garlic bread"
Him, " they are both garlic bread, madame and you didn't say which one you wanted, did you not notice that it was the larger one?"
Me, (staying very polite) "No, I have never ordered it before and why did you assume, I wanted the big one when we all ordered from the lighter bite menu?"
You, "you are an adult"
Me, "But surely if there are 2 sizes, it is up to you to ascertain which one?"
Him, getting very exasperated and irritated, "you need to see this from my point of view, oh forget it, i'll charge for the smaller one, I can't be bothered to argue" He strops off.
Left feeling quite troubled. This is somewhere we give a lot of custom to. I now feel awkward about going back.

Was I wrong to question the order? For me it was clear that the one I ordered was the small one with garlic bread NOT the one which was labelled with ciabatta.

The sandwiches were on the LBM - but they weren't on the main menu

I would give the restaurant a break. It's hard work. Little profit and you will know next time. I work two jobs serving people and you soon get disallusioned with people's entitlement . Attitude. My biggest challenge now is getting the trays cleared. It used to be strategies and budgets. But being older it's the only type of job I can get! Just saying. Service isn't valued in this country. People are always trying to get something for nothing! Staff are always at the minimum because to make money with all the costs. Rents, tax, ingredients etc. It's hard. So in the scheme of life it's not the biggest crime and you have learnt a lesson. To be more specific next time or go somewhere else.

It is hard working in restaurants - I know from experience. Still up to the restaurant to make sure that the customer - who don't know the menu as well as they do - are aware the dishes come in 2 sizes, and when confusion arises with a valued customer they don't get into an argument over £7

I'm aware sandwiches aren't on the main menu which is why I clearly stated the the fact the menu is generally sub categorised and the actual hot meals (smaller versions of main courses) on the lite bite are under a different section than the sandwiches ! Having relief managed, therefore many sites and menu varieties, for years in pubs that have 'lite bite' options this has always been the case and tbh I've never once had this issue ... People generally know to state if they are ordering from anything but the main menu

I wouldn't 'know' to state and judging by the responses on here, many others wouldn't either. Given that the rest of the OP'S party was ordering from the LBM the restaurant should have confirmed (or at least put 2 and 2 together) - and when their error is pointed out to them by a customer who has put (and will put) a great deal of money their way , it's ridiculous to argue over £7 when their staff could have clarified.

It would be like me asking for a glass of wine - you wouldn't automatically assume I wanted one particular size of glass, you'd ask me to confirm.

So, two people were involved in this scenario:

1. the manager who took the order and who presumably knows the menu inside out.
2. the OP, a customer who presumably doesn't know the menu inside out.

And it's the OPs fault??

YANBU. It's an open-and-shut case.

Anything on the menu that's ambivalent, it's their responsibility to make sure both parties understand what they're ordering.

And the manager was massively unprofessional arguing semantics with a customer – 'they are both garlic bread, madame' – getting irritated, saying 'oh forget it' and stropping off.

I'd go elsewhere.

If you're whole group was ordering from the lighter menu, and that's the menu that you regularly order from as a repeat customer, then it's not hard to assume which version you wanted. Up to the staff to clarify if they offer two versions of the same thing. They must have come across this issue before.

I'm going to be uncharitable and suggest it might be a deliberate strategy to assume large, if a customer orders an item available in more than one size. I also wonder how much size difference there is between the two versions (possibly very little).

I wouldnt send extra business his way.He sounds a grump and will probably ruin any experience the diners might have had.

Why reward bad behaviour,if hes at the loss of a couple of thousand he might see things more clearly then

IME its quite common for a 'Light Bites' menu to have smaller portions of meals off the Main Menu.

If i recall, places like Beefeater, Harvester...etc, quite often advertise them as "For Big kids and those with smaller appetites" or words to that effect.

I usually do clarify i'm ordering off the LB side in this instance, but it should also be the responsibility of the server to double check.

It would depend upon how much you ate. If you ate all of it, you really can't complain. If you left half of it then the manager should have charged you for the smaller one.

If the others were all ordering lighter bites then I would assume you were ordering from that section too. They should have clarified. I presume paninis etc were lighter bites so YANBU.

If the others were ordering main meals then it would have been reasonable for the waiter to assume yours was main meal sized too.

That makes no sense whatsoever Polly - you don't get charged according to the amount you eat of a dish

Pollymere beat me to it. Did you eat it all?

It doesn't matter a jot if she ate it all or not!

That's just silly. How much of the dish she ate is completely irrelevant.

Agree with two posters above. It would only be relevant if it was a food quality issue.

The OP ate what she assumed she had ordered. Why would she do anything else?

Don't restaurants make more on light bites-type things? I read something that said it was cannier to order a selection of starters than sharing plates but I drifted off to sleep before the end.

The man's a prize twat if he argues with a regular customer about what amounts to a couple of spoonfuls of cheesy pasta when it's entirely the fault of his staff that they didn't clarify.

YANBU. The person who took your order should have checked which one you wanted.

Tha manager charged for the small portion after the OP complained. I think that was a satisfactory result.

Result, yes, but the manner in which he went about it was massively unprofessional.