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AIBU?

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Original poster

WIBU to leave a 3 star review on this meal?

67 replies

TAReview · 03/09/2023 21:50

Dined at a fine dining restaurant and each had a meal costing £60 per person for a 3 course meal (including soft drinks). The food was nice but the portions were very small. They spread the food out over the plate to make it look more. At the end of the meal, I still felt hungry.
As the restaurant emailed asking us to leave a review on TripAdvisor, I did. I gave a 3 star review stating that the food was nice enough, but I was still hungry at the end of the meal.
The restaurant has reacted by calling me a keyboard warrior and suggesting that in future I eat at a burger bar. I am shocked by her reaction. Reading through the restaurant's responses to other reviews, she has responded very viciously to anyone giving any kind of negative feedback.
Has anyone else had this kind of response to a review?

OP posts:
theGooHasGone · 03/09/2023 21:53

Obviously you're not in the wrong if you truthfully gave your opinion. I wouldn't give it a second thought honestly. The negative reaction says a lot more about them than you.

wordlesie · 03/09/2023 21:55

YANBU shes being a bully - a three star is fair

ChaToilLeam · 03/09/2023 21:55

A restaurant can do much to restore their reputation by responding gracefully to criticism. Clearly not this one! Think no more of it. Others will see their response and avoid.

Hufflepods · 03/09/2023 21:57

I wouldn’t really call £60 for 3 courses including drinks “fine dining”.

Regardless it’s totally unprofessional for a business to reply to negative reviews like this.

ZenNudist · 03/09/2023 22:00

If I saw someone complaining that there wasn't enough food in a fine dining restaurant I'd assume that they didn't know what they were talking about. Small portions and fine dining go together. It also doesn't sound like a very expensive fine dining restaurant.

Original poster
TAReview · 03/09/2023 22:02

ZenNudist · 03/09/2023 22:00

If I saw someone complaining that there wasn't enough food in a fine dining restaurant I'd assume that they didn't know what they were talking about. Small portions and fine dining go together. It also doesn't sound like a very expensive fine dining restaurant.

Well you probably know more about fine dining than me. It was a special occasion for us as DD Leaving home.

OP posts:
CalmaLlamaDown · 03/09/2023 22:05

Of course you are not being unreasonable - you left the restaurant feeling hungry after 3 courses and spending £120 between the two of you!

ReleasetheCrackHen · 03/09/2023 22:07

Whether portions are large enough is an opinion, and you have every right to state in a review you found the portions sizes to be on the small side. You also can choose how many stars to leave.

I’d probably focus more on the “food was nice” tbh as I value quality over quantity, but I’m not a big eater. Your review would still be valuable to me.

The restaurants response was very very unprofessional and I’d be shocked too. Id consider calling the manager to see if they condone that sort of response.

Original poster
TAReview · 03/09/2023 22:12

ReleasetheCrackHen · 03/09/2023 22:07

Whether portions are large enough is an opinion, and you have every right to state in a review you found the portions sizes to be on the small side. You also can choose how many stars to leave.

I’d probably focus more on the “food was nice” tbh as I value quality over quantity, but I’m not a big eater. Your review would still be valuable to me.

The restaurants response was very very unprofessional and I’d be shocked too. Id consider calling the manager to see if they condone that sort of response.

It's the owner of the establishment that responds to all the customer reviews. She seems to react very badly to any comments that are not positive. She stated in her response to my review that she hoped I was happy with damaging her business which provided employment for 20 people.

OP posts:
JaneIntheBox · 03/09/2023 22:17

YADNBU. The only one damaging her business is her!

theGooHasGone · 03/09/2023 22:21

If it said on the menu before you ordered "please note that our portions are very small and you will probably leave hungry" then you'd be unreasonable. Other than that, carry on.

Fine dining doesn't necessarily mean tiny portions and it certainly shouldn't mean £60 to leave hungry and dissatisfied. Anyone thinking otherwise is a pretentious bellend.

FUPAgirl · 03/09/2023 22:21

Only on MN would people suggest £60 for a meal is 'cheap'. It is incredibly expensive and I would definitely be pissed off if I paid that and left hungry! I would be grateful for your review OP.

poetryandwine · 03/09/2023 22:50

I eat at many so called fine dining restaurants. Some are, some aren’t.

I disagree with @ZenNudist The portions won’t be overly large and the aim won’t be to fill you up. But a good restaurant will have planned the balance of the meal carefully so that you will be happy. DH has a good appetite and three moderate courses satisfy him. My appetite is moderate and I usually struggle, even if I love the food. (I solve this by skipping pudding and just having a bite or two of his.)

There is a Michelin starred restaurant in the North of England where my three courses were delicious but left me hungry and DH’s fish was not fresh. This was when everything was reopening after the pandemic and times were tough. But I am not interested in going back.

lilmadmel · 03/09/2023 22:58

If I read your review it wouldn’t have put me off going to the place. Her reaction in her reply would definitely make me avoid it like the plague.

justteanbiscuits · 03/09/2023 22:58

Hufflepods · 03/09/2023 21:57

I wouldn’t really call £60 for 3 courses including drinks “fine dining”.

Regardless it’s totally unprofessional for a business to reply to negative reviews like this.

I've eaten at Michelin star restaurants at lunchtime for around this with no alcohol.

sparkleshin · 03/09/2023 23:00

Ok but it was a fine dining restaurant and you only payed £60. And yes £60 is a lot of money but not when its fine dining

AuntMarch · 03/09/2023 23:01

As pp said, I'd be put off more by the response you got than the review itself! What a bellend (her, not you).

justteanbiscuits · 03/09/2023 23:06

I've eaten at a number of Michelin starred restaurants who would very certainly class themselves as fine dining. I've never been left hungry from any of them.

Those that had tiny portions had many courses as part of a tasting menu. When I have eaten off a menu, the portion sizes have always been perfectly adequate in size (except for one case, a highly praised restaurant at the time, who's vegetarian main was the risotto side for a different main course. Sounds fine, except the portion was literally a table spoon of it, the same size as as a side).

Talipesmum · 03/09/2023 23:07

The previous owner of the Jamaica Inn pub in Cornwall used to reply like this to any even slightly negative reviews. They changed hands in aug/sept 2022 and saner owners took over which was a terrible shame for avid readers of hilariously defensive, aggressive manager comebacks. Just makes the owners look really bad, far more than a 3 star review from you.

Original poster
TAReview · 03/09/2023 23:34

This restaurant is in the Michelin guide. We decided to go as a special occasion. I have only been to 2 other Michelin rated restaurants before. Although the portions weren't massive, they included extra bits between and after the starter, main and dessert and we didn't leave hungry.

OP posts:
UsingChangeofName · 03/09/2023 23:35

It's the owner of the establishment that responds to all the customer reviews. She seems to react very badly to any comments that are not positive. She stated in her response to my review that she hoped I was happy with damaging her business which provided employment for 20 people.

This says so much more about the owner, than it does about you though.
Of course YANBU to give your honest opinion in the review.
If an owner is going to ask people to leave reviews, then people leaving them will leave a variety of reviews. As more than one pp has said, it wouldn't put them off.
The rudeness of the owner would put some others off though, so she is shooting herself in the foot.

JulianFawcettMP · 03/09/2023 23:49

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poetryandwine · 03/09/2023 23:58

I think PPs who are saying, to paraphrase, ‘£60 per person is a lot of money, but not for ‘fine dining’ are missing the point.

The first rule of meal planning is Not to Leave the Guests Hungry, ‘fine dining’ or not. It is perfectly possible to do that with moderate portions of good food. £60/head will not buy you the meal of a gourmet’s dream but it is plenty for three proper courses plus the soft drinks OP mentioned.

Anyone lucky enough to have a generous entertainment budget who chooses to spend some of that budget experimenting with restaurants sometimes comes across poor value for money. That’s what happened here, unless OP has an exceptionally large appetite. It happened to me with my distinctly moderate appetite at that starred restaurant with the stale fish, see above.

This meal was meant to be special to the OP, and a bourgeois attempt to suggest that the basic problem is that she doesn’t know ‘fine dining does her a disservice.

VeniVidiWeeWee · 04/09/2023 00:18

@poetryandwine

"£60/head will not buy you the meal of a gourmet’s dream but it is plenty for three proper courses plus the soft drinks OP mentioned."

Yes, you're right, but it still can't be called fine dining.

A pub/restaurant near me, very nice but not fine dining, sells their cheapest starter at 6.95. The cheapest pasta is at 12.50.

The cheapest steak is 8oz at 25.95.

NewName122 · 04/09/2023 00:22

The owner sounds deranged. I'd put in a complaint now.

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