Do you every complain about food in a restaurant?

[BadMeal]

I don't ever complain about what is served to me in a restaurant. On the very rare occasion I am not happy with the food, I simply make a mental note never to return to that establishment again. I am usually so grateful that I don't have to cook the food or wash the dishes, that a sub par meal is seen as just one of those things to chalk up to experience.
DD (20) says that all of her friends parents complain if they are not happy with the food in a restaurant. They often get a discount or a free meal. I just haven't got it in me to do this.

Yes if it was really awful I would. Last time I mentioned something to waiting staff was some crab cakes we'd had that had pieces of shell in them. I just flagged that it was good to know they were homemade, but just to feedback to the kitchen so they could check future batches more thoroughly. We'd eaten them entirely (well aside from the shell fragments) as they were delicious.

They came back and offered us a dessert for free which was unexpected but appreciated.

Last time I complained was at a Toby carvery - food was cold, a potential food safety issue. They offered a 50% discount and free dessert and after 45 minutes waiting we gave up waiting for the dessert. We won't go back to that branch.

I did once, because my burger was pink inside. Your burger shouldn't be pink inside.

Yes
Only fair to give them chance to rectify a problem
Better than giving them a bad review ..which i feel is unfair if you don't tell them about an issue

If the food is horrible, under/overcooked or raw then yes I will say something. If it's really good I also leave a tip.

Only to have a problem solved, not to get money off or make a point. That said, many years ago I responded honestly to being asked how my meal was. It had had a really unpleasant lime sauce that overpowered everything and I said so. Despite eating every last bite and with no intention of saying anything if I hadn’t been asked, the restaurant insisted my whole meal was free. Was teased by friends for ages about that!

To be honest it sometimes depends on who I’m out with. One of my friends complains regularly for example, I daren’t complain as I feel bad for the staff when she does. I tend not to make a fuss.

Most of the people I go to dinner with are easy going so we don’t really complain. However I did go out with a large group for my friend’s birthday and everyone unanimously agreed to take the service charge off - I think if I was by myself, I’d just pay the service charge.

Looking back, the only time I have complained about what I was served has been about the drinks rather than the food. Some extremely bitter cocktail for example.

Of course.
Ive only needed to a couple of times, but been respectful and polite and got the result I wanted.

Also I’m vegetarian so what I order tends to be safe/predictable as many restaurants don’t have a great vegetarian menu! Nothing much to complain about with salad and fries

I have done several times. I didn't recently in a small pub - it was a bit of a Slaughtered Lamb kind of place and I was sure the chef would have us thrown out if we criticised his cooking. It wasn't inedible anyway, just badly cooked and bland.

No because as a student I worked in restaurants and still remember the attitude from the chefs when people needed their meal tweaked.

Only if it’s undercooked and dangerous to eat.

Definitely - we had an awful meal the other week - cold food, half the options unavailable, veges didn't come out until after we were all nearly finished. We spoke with the manager and they refunded all the food!

No because I'm scared they will spit in or do something to my food

I might say it's not great, if asked. I wouldn't send it back, I'd leave it, as I wouldn't trust it to return unmolested, people can irrationally take things very personally. I don't want the kitchen to spit in my dinner.

If it's just not to my taste, then no, but if it's under or overcooked, or cold etc. then yes, of course. Going out to eat is expensive!

I'd say something if the food was undercooked, cold or burnt, or something like a steak was well-done when I prefer mine rare to medium but not to be pissy about it and I'd always be polite.

I've got a friend who generally complains about at least one thing every time we go out to eat - she's also one of those really f*cking annoying people who try to change things from the description given on the menu and pretends she's allergic to things she simply dislikes by way of coercing the kitchen to leave out the coriander or some other ingredient. It drives me mental and I'll quite often tell the waiting staff she's not, actually, allergic just to amuse myself and wind her up!

I'm not a natural complainer but if something is wrong with my dish then of course I'll say something. Eating at restaurants is a treat and it's expensive. Why should you pay £20 for a meal if it's not good.

Why do you think staff would do this? I sent back undercooked/raw chicken recently and my MIL got in right huff with me saying 'they will spit on all our food now'.

I worked in restaurants for 10 years and never heard of anyone, ever spitting in someone's food. Why do people think this?

I complain if something is actually wrong, i.e. burnt, undercooked, not what was ordered, or not what it said in the menu. I don't complain if it just not to my taste or a bit disappointing, as that's not necessarily anything the restaurant have done wrong as such. I don't complain about things that are a matter of opinion, e.g. how al dente or soft broccoli should be or whatever.

I am a bit more reluctant to complain if I am with a group as I know it can sort of marr the experience for others, and sometimes that is more important than whether my steak is more well done than I asked for.

I've seen a programme where people did it before and someone on this post has said she use to work in a restaurant and saw how the staff acted after someone complained about their food. It's not unheard of. Yeah they might not do it but I'd rather not risk it and I wouldn't be comfortable to trust eating there after I'd complained about something

I’ll complain if the food is not properly cooked, or the steak significantly overcooked, and I do that politely and straight away.

You were definitely right to complain about undercooked chicken though as that could make you very ill. I'm vegetarian so don't have the problem of undercooked meats but I think had I been in your position I might have complained and asked for a refund instead of another meal and if they refused a refund then report them to the food hygiene safety and leave them bad reviews saying they served you undercooked chicken and then refused a refund

That all sounds very complicated. After I sent back the chicken I received a new meal and a free drink and it was lovely.

I'm normally like this, but have been eating out way more than usual as I'm in a new relationship, so have got sick of veggie burgers and chips and have been trying some of the more risky adventurous choices from pub menus. It's certainly been an eye opener for my carnivore boyfriend!

So, one "Goan pumpkin curry" was pretty much inedible- they had cooked it entirely in coconut oil and it had a horrible waxy consistency with chunks of undercooked aubergine in it (and no discernible pumpkin). That was refunded.

And then there was the rather posh restaurant, where the veggie starter (too up themselves to offer choice) was "confit courgette"- a tiny handful of chunks of raw courgette in a cashew cream. They were highly offended that I dared complain- "Well nobody else has!" Well they fucking should have then 🙄

I'm sick of vegetarians being treated like second class citizens. We should be able to expect that the food we're paying handsomely for actually tastes good.