Disappointing meals out

[EcclesCake]

I am so fed up going out for meals and being disappointed by the service/quality/arrogance!

Today I had a salad Nicoise that has just a few ingredients yet two were missing and the seared tuna was desperately over cooked.

Recently I went to a restaurant and found my bearnaise sauce had been made using parsley not tarragon, when I queried it I was told that's how the chef liked it.

Similarly, a blue cheese sauce had absolutely no flavour of cheese let alone the stilton they claimed it was made from.

A prawn and avocado sandwich was delivered sans avocado. When I asked where it was I was told they didn't have any avocado, so why not come out and tell me that so I could make a decision about having a plain prawn sandwich or something else???

I have reached a point where I really cannot be bothered going out for food unless it's a visit to pizza express or the local indian where I am more interested in someone else doing the cooking than having an 'experience' and I know that I am going to get something that will fill me up and not be a plate of pretentious twaddle that the kitchen cannot deliver!!!

This experience is one I've had all over the country, it's not that I just live in a crap area for food. Why is it that so many places think they can run rough shod over their clientele?

Rant over, and now onto my question.....am I the only one who is frequently disappointed when eating out?

[supersuezy24]

I can't say I am frequently disappointed when eating out. Just yesterday I went to a little cafe/restaurant in Dublin city and what I ordered was delicious!

[looobylooo]

*FAO 237SJ*
just saw your post about the indian restaurant thing.... erm.... are you in R, by any chance?? lol ....

[237SJ]

R? Is that the initial of a place name? Then no. Regarding the curry house though, I looked on scoresonthedoors.com which rates places for hygene and they got quite a good review! They obviously don`t check the staff very thoroughly

[looobylooo]

ah right, ok, sorry, its just that my fave indian restaurant was in the paper last week to for the same thing..
they must be having a clamp down!

[boxtops]

We send back - andyhughes is right, the Brits are not good at complaining, in general they will stump up and moan about it afterwards.

[237SJ]

Well the borough is R but the town is T. Big clue - they play lots of rugby there LOL. I always wondered how so many of these places manage to stay open night after night with no customers and lots of staff to pay. They probably pay them about £1 an hour although that particular place was always packed and they must have made quite a bit. It`ll be interesting to see what happens now. I hope they don`t close.

[looobylooo]

well as it happens we are linked to rugby too! lol .. but the town def isnt T.
i went to the restaurant the other night with friends, and the meal was as superb as ever, so im not going to stop going just because of what has recently happened.
it was quite busy in there and there were 'new staff' on that night, with a couple of familar faces missing.. lol..
i really hope this place doesnt close too, the manager is lovely and always looks after us well, and the food, hmmm, is sooo nice.

[smurfchops]

eccles I agree entirely. I don't like sending food back because you don't know what they are doing to it in the kitchen. I had a fish dish recently served with uncooked asparagus and absolutely covered in pepper. I sent it back and said I don't like pepper, it was crackling all over my mouth. So by the time i got my meal without the pepper everyone else had finished their meal. There is honestly nowhere near Kingston I would recommend to eat. Jamie's is OK but very expensive for a small portion. I always think how much I could cook for at home and it just puts me off going out. Hubbie cooks better than all these restaurants. Needless to say, if it is just me and hubbie, they rarely get a tip. Sometimes the waitress does us a favour by serving us, a smile is a rarity. The only place I would recommend is Gordon Ramsay at Claridges. Last year it was £30 per head for lunch, perfect for a special occasion. What an experience, we even got to see the kitchens. I love Sunday Lunch at home as well mmmm and there is always plenty of it. Potatoes that is.