Restaurant didn’t acknowledge complaint

[Calamitycassie]

I have an allergy to sesame seeds and recently (last month) went out to celebrate a family members birthday at a nice Japanese restaurant.

to cut a long story short, we were served by a new (confirmed) waitress who was utterly incompetent in every way, rude, slow. Example she didn’t know how to open a bottle of champagne so plonked the bottle on the table and said I’ll have to find someone to open it I don’t know how to do it. I said I’d open it myself and we were then left pouring our own drinks all night. Lots and lots of things missed/ignored/not dealt with but I digress.

I explained to her that I have an allergy and could she please ask the kitchen if the dishes I was about to order contained any. She said she would, went away then came back to take the order, I asked if she had checked. She very bluntly replied “no”. I was quite taken back and said “could you please check as it’s an allergy” she said “I’ll just send a note on the order”. Lo and behold my dishes came with sesame seeds on.

I have complained via email with a detailed timeline of not only the allergy situation but the absolutely DIRE service for a £1200 meal. Crickets. Should I follow it up or report it to someone? Do the council deal with this sort of thing?

I'm sorry, you paid £1200 for a meal in a Japanese restaurant when you have a sesame seed allergy????

Seriously???

How long has it been since you emailed? If sufficient time has passed, email again and ask them to respond.

Well usually restaurants are capable of accommodating my allergies 🤔

3 weeks!

Why didn’t you complain there and then? Why did you pay the full bill if you weren’t happy?

That was my thought! How many for? And is Japanese food not quite heavy on sesame seeds/oil?

I’m assuming OP did not choose the restaurant as it was for a family member’s birthday, and that the £1200 was for a largish group??

This was my thought, tbh.
Cross contamination would be so, so easy in Japanese cuisine.
SIL has a sesame allergy and never eats anywhere like that (or anywhere new tbh) without contacting them beforehand to confirm that they can accommodate her.

Id raised it with another staff member, and asked if we could have someone a bit more experienced at it was a joint 50th and 60th birthday she couldn’t have been less interested. I didn’t want to start demanding money off the bill so as to keep it a pleasant evening for the birthday people.

I wouldn’t go to a Japanese restaurant with a severe sesame allergy.

They should acknowledge your complaint, though.

To clarify, it’s not a life or death allergy for me, but it could be for someone else. Which I clarified in the email.

bizarrely, I’m not allergic to sesame oil. It’s the literal sheath of the seed I’m allergic to (I know it’s niche)

Have you / could you try to call them?

I appreciate that but you need to be a lot more assertive if you’re not happy. An email after the fact isn’t going to be actioned. You dealt with inexperienced minimum wage employees who sounded like they couldn’t give a shit. You should have spoken to a manager or the owner.

The council will not in any way be interested in your crap customer experience. Maybe try a review on trip advisor, that sometimes gets a response…

Are you sending your email to a general address...something like
hello@atjapaneserestaurant. ?

If so, it may have been deleted or just ignored. Ring up and ask for an alternative email.

Have you written a review yet? On Google or trip advisor? I’d write a factual review and see if they respond to that.

id also maybe contact the food standards agency

Seriously these places need closing down. I posted not long ago when a local garden centre scraped the beans I told them I was allergic to off my jacket potato and replaced it with the topping I had asked for. I was left picking out random beans

I got offered a free meal which I politely ignored based on the fact that they didn’t get what my issue really was.

I reported to environmental health at the local council.

Are you sure your email didn’t go into spam?! But it’s always very difficult for a restaurant to put things right if you complain after the event as you’ve tied their hands on how they can offer to resolve the issue. They can’t change your server, reduce your bill, comp you desserts or a round of drinks even if you get up from the table to chat with the manager or hang back after the meal you should really deal with issues there and then

How many was in the party? If it was say 50 then the £1200 bill isn't too bad!
Also could you not pour your own drinks?