# Fussy Eaters



## DeeFox (30 Nov 2009)

This topic was mentioned in the "Pet Hates" thread but I think it deserves a whole thread of its own.

I worked as a waitress for years and was constantly amazed by the attitudes of some people.  "I'll have a steak and I want it very well done - now I mean very, very, very well done, completely black - if there is any bit of red or pink or even light brown I won't eat it.  And I don't like vegetables so I want just chips on their own with my steak and I want LOADS of tomato sauce.  And I'll have a diet coke".

I appreciate that some peole have genuine allergies or intolerances but a lot of people used this excuse to change things on the menu.  A person might claim to be coeliac when ordering their main course (so that the chef will alter a meal) and then eat a slice of bannofie for their dessert.

And I hate when I see an adult picking at their dinner and picking bits out and pulling faces.  If you don't like it don't eat it, just stop acting like a child!

And don't get me started on people who say they don't like something when they've never actually tried it.  Or who proudly announce they hate something as if it were some sort of badge of honour.


----------



## liaconn (30 Nov 2009)

DeeFox said:


> And don't get me started on people who say they don't like something when they've never actually tried it. Or who proudly announce they hate something as if it were some sort of badge of honour.


 
This drives me mental. At work we always arrange for the whole office to go out for a meal together at Christmas and trying to book a restaurant is a nightmare. There's always someone in the group who won't eat anything more adventurous than chicken and chips (no spice or coating on the chicken!)and everyone is expected to fit in with them and go to some boring restaurant serving the kind of food you could cook yourself at home. Then they sit beaming saying how great it is to find somewhere that serves 'nice ordinary food'. Grrrrrrrrrrr!


----------



## galleyslave (30 Nov 2009)

heh heh, my aunt is like that. She was once asked when was it she decided to stop trying new things and was not amused. She's a nightmare to take out or cook for.


----------



## Howitzer (30 Nov 2009)

I've a friend like that and for years you'd try to heart out to please him until I finally asked him outright was there anywhere atall he liked. When he said no it made it so much easier to organise anything. I just told him where we were going.

People like that are never happy. Please yourself and they can like it or lump it.


----------



## liaconn (30 Nov 2009)

I agree. They're the kind of people who go to great lengths, when abroad, to find a McDonald's near the hotel that they can eat all their meals in.


----------



## Caveat (30 Nov 2009)

I think there is also another problem here sometimes: people who don't really go out for meals but when they do, feel all important and use it as an opportunity to exercise their 'customer is always right' mandate and simply throw their weight around by ordering awkward combinations and things that aren't on the menu.  When you combine that with bog standard fussiness it becomes a teeth grindingly awful experience altogether.


----------



## truthseeker (30 Nov 2009)

Fussy eaters drive me mad. Maybe its because Ill try anything and if I dont like it I just dont order it again.

I have a secret theory that fussy eaters are children who were MADE finish everything on their plate and not allowed to leave the table until they did. In my house you just left what you didnt like and no big deal was made out of it. 

Its just something I cant relate to - there are so many different tastes to be tried out there, why limit yourself to a plain piece of chicken and chips?

I used to work in a restaurant too and was amazed at the amount of silly changes to what was pretty standard food. The weirdest was the guy who asked for the steak rare, then called me back and asked for it raw. At least he was generating less work for the chef, but the blood running out of it was a bit off putting for the other patrons!!

The worst are the 'I dont like it' brigade. 'Have you ever tried it?'. 'No - but I know I wont like it'. What a pile of rubbish, you dont know by the look of something that you wont like it.


----------



## becky (30 Nov 2009)

We have a rule abroad to eat whatever is on the menu.

I have a friend who doesn't like onions and it makes me aware of how much onion there is out there.

I always look for sauce on the side (except when I'm abroad) and I don't eat chinese food (have tried it though, just don't like it) so have refused to go to nights/lunchs that are in a chinese.


----------



## Vanilla (30 Nov 2009)

DeeFox said:


> I appreciate that some peole have genuine allergies or intolerances but a lot of people used this excuse to change things on the menu. A person might claim to be coeliac when ordering their main course (so that the chef will alter a meal) and then eat a slice of bannofie for their dessert.


 
Seriously, people pretend to have coeliac disease? I can't understand how this would benefit them-can you give an example? 

Would you not point out to them that the bannoffie pie is not gluten free? If they are claiming to be coeliac that is very annoying to those of us that are. I wouldn't let them away with that.

I could understand if it was someone claiming to have a 'wheat allergy' or the likes. Someone I worked with once went for allergy testing. The testing involved being shown little vials of different colours and being asked which colour they liked, and didn't like. Then the tester gave them a list of foods to eat and to avoid. That was really scientific, wasn't it? You'd have to wonder about people, sometimes.


----------



## MANTO (30 Nov 2009)

+1 

Really gets my goat when somebody says they dont like something they have never tried..

I have a friend who will only shop in Superquinns for her food, had her and a few others over for dinner. She said the food was fantastic.... thats when i told her all the ingredients were from the supermarket she hated 

She now shops there...

People and their funny ideas about food


----------



## truthseeker (30 Nov 2009)

becky said:


> I don't eat chinese food (have tried it though, just don't like it) so have refused to go to nights/lunchs that are in a chinese.


 
I dont understand this - its a massive generalisation. You cant possibly have tried every single chinese food dish?


----------



## DeeFox (30 Nov 2009)

Vanilla said:


> Seriously, people pretend to have coeliac disease? I can't understand how this would benefit them-can you give an example?
> 
> Would you not point out to them that the bannoffie pie is not gluten free? If they are claiming to be coeliac that is very annoying to those of us that are. I wouldn't let them away with that.


 
Example - "I'm coeliac.  I want the pasta dish but without the actual pasta. Instead I want the fish from the fish special dish to be served with the pasta sauce".  Yes it can be done but it is a hassle when the restaurant is really busy.  And then to see the same person eating something that clearly isn't suitable for a coeliac was really annoying.  If the person orders it themselves and you point out it isn't suitable they might say "oh I can eat a bit of gluten, just not too much".  Or, more commonly, their friend might order it and they both eat it.


----------



## Vanilla (30 Nov 2009)

DeeFox said:


> If the person orders it themselves and you point out it isn't suitable they might say "oh I can eat a bit of gluten, just not too much".


 
God almighty. 'I can eat a bit of gluten'. It's like saying 'I'm a bit pregnant'.


----------



## csirl (30 Nov 2009)

Agree with a lot on this thread.

I'm of the opinion that restaurants shouldnt have to vary whats on the menu. If you dont like it, dont order it.

I've a colleague, and every time he eats out, whether its McDonalds or an expensive restaurant, he always makes a big fuss. As far as I can see, its a combination of attention seeking and wanting to feel superior by dumping on the unfortunate staff. He also wonders why people dont ask him out much


----------



## Staples (30 Nov 2009)

God, I thought I was intolerant until I read this thread.

If someone wants their steak black, no veg and just chips, what's the big deal? 

And why should someone have to sample the entire menu of a chinese restaurant before they have the right say they don't like chinese food?

And if someone doesn't want to try something new, why should they?


----------



## Caveat (30 Nov 2009)

truthseeker said:


> I dont understand this - its a massive generalisation. You cant possibly have tried every single chinese food dish?


 
I can understand this.  Although there are plenty of different options, if you exclude say schezuan stuff and a few others, Chinese food tends to have a very characteristic taste IMO. I'm not in love with it - I'll eat it but it's certainly my least liked 'ethnic' food.


----------



## liaconn (30 Nov 2009)

Staples said:


> God, I thought I was intolerant until I read this thread.
> 
> If someone wants their steak black, no veg and just chips, what's the big deal?
> 
> ...


 
Because they put other people to huge trouble - 'We can't book that restaurant, I don't like any of the food on the menu', 'No, we can't go there, I hate Indian food', 'No, we can't go there I'd be sick if I had to eat Chinese food', 'No, that restaurant stinks of garlic, I'm not eating there' and on and on and on.


----------



## ney001 (30 Nov 2009)

I personally am not a fussy eater, I will eat pretty much anything although I don't really like seafood(and no I haven't tried every single fish out there!).  I have to say though if people are going out and paying for a meal, then really they should order what they want, the way the want it.  I would much prefer this then if they ordered something they didn't want and then moaned about it all the way through, picking things off and leaving things to side - may as well get what you want and pay for what you want!.


----------



## truthseeker (30 Nov 2009)

Caveat said:


> I can understand this. Although there are plenty of different options, if you exclude say schezuan stuff and a few others, Chinese food tends to have a very characteristic taste IMO. I'm not in love with it - I'll eat it but it's certainly my least liked 'ethnic' food.


 
Its the MSG no doubt. But you can order dishes that are not floating in a  bed of sauce.


----------



## liaconn (30 Nov 2009)

ney001 said:


> I personally am not a fussy eater, I will eat pretty much anything although I don't really like seafood(and no I haven't tried every single fish out there!). I have to say though if people are going out and paying for a meal, then really they should order what they want, the way the want it. I would much prefer this then if they ordered something they didn't want and then moaned about it all the way through, picking things off and leaving things to side - may as well get what you want and pay for what you want!.


 
I agree, but I think there's a difference between having certain foods you don't like, and having a knee jerk reation of 'no' to _anything _you haven't been eating since you were a child. The latter group are difficult to cook for, limiting when trying to choose somewhere to go for a meal out and really annoying on holidays when they refuse to try any local dishes and insist on dragging everyone into touristy style cafes all the time.


----------



## becky (30 Nov 2009)

truthseeker said:


> I dont understand this - its a massive generalisation. You cant possibly have tried every single chinese food dish?


 
Of course not, but why would you keep trying something you don't like to begin with when there are other choices?

I prefer Indian as a take away and like Italian and French type food to eat out.  

I also don't like Soy sauce, noddles or stir frys so think I'm being fairly consistent.


----------



## truthseeker (30 Nov 2009)

becky said:


> Of course not, but why would you keep trying something you don't like to begin with when there are other choices?


 
For precisely the reason you mentioned in your other post - cos I dont want to miss lunches/nights out that are in chinese restaurants.


----------



## becky (30 Nov 2009)

truthseeker said:


> For precisely the reason you mentioned in your other post - cos I dont want to miss lunches/nights out that are in chinese restaurants.


 
I consider having to miss work lunches especially a bonus.


----------



## Caveat (30 Nov 2009)

truthseeker said:


> Its the MSG no doubt.


 
I'm sure it is.  As it happens there is a Chinese near me that claims not to use it at all - so I'll maybe try it to see if I like it any better.

Re fussy eaters generally - I would differentiate between the restaurant fussiness and the dinner guest fussiness - the latter being FAR worse IMO.


----------



## truthseeker (30 Nov 2009)

becky said:


> I consider having to miss work lunches especially a bonus.


 
Im with you on that 
But Ive been to many a girly night out that began in a chinese that I would not like to have missed.


----------



## ney001 (30 Nov 2009)

liaconn said:


> I agree, but I think there's a difference between having certain foods you don't like, and having a knee jerk reation of 'no' to _anything _you haven't been eating since you were a child. The latter group are difficult to cook for, limiting when trying to choose somewhere to go for a meal out and really annoying on holidays when they refuse to try any local dishes and insist on dragging everyone into touristy style cafes all the time.



I just let them get on with, if they are happy with beans and chips then let them off, I just go ahead and eat what I want to eat!  What does annoy me, is my sister in law who won't eat dinner outside her own house but will come along for the 'meal' and sit there for the whole time drinking a coca cola.  Too afraid she'd miss something if she didn't go out and too feckin tight to pay for dinner!


----------



## truthseeker (30 Nov 2009)

Caveat said:


> I'm sure it is. As it happens there is a Chinese near me that claims not to use it at all - so I'll maybe try it to see if I like it any better.
> 
> Re fussy eaters generally - I would differentiate between the restaurant fussiness and the dinner guest fussiness - the latter being FAR worse IMO.


 
Id be interested to know the results of the MSG free place - I always wonder about the difference but have never tried one of those places.


----------



## DeeFox (30 Nov 2009)

ney001 said:


> I have to say though if people are going out and paying for a meal, then really they should order what they want, the way the want it.


 
Keep that thought in mind the next time you are in a restaurant and the food seems to be taking ages to come to the table....!!


----------



## liaconn (30 Nov 2009)

ney001 said:


> I just let them get on with, if they are happy with beans and chips then let them off, I just go ahead and eat what I want to eat! What does annoy me, is my sister in law who won't eat dinner outside her own house but will come along for the 'meal' and sit there for the whole time drinking a coca cola. Too afraid she'd miss something if she didn't go out and too feckin tight to pay for dinner!


 
Actually that reminds me of something else that I don't understand - people who are invited to someone's house for dinner and announce,when they get there, that they had dinner earlier so won't really eat much. After the hostess has gone to loads of trouble shopping, cooking and preparing food and it was made perfectly clear that dinner would be provided.


----------



## truthseeker (30 Nov 2009)

liaconn said:


> Actually that reminds me of something else that I don't understand - people who are invited to someone's house for dinner and announce,when they get there, that they had dinner earlier so won't really eat much. After the hostess has gone to loads of trouble shopping, cooking and preparing food and it was made perfectly clear that dinner would be provided.


 
Is it not worse when you arrive starving and theres only a bowl of hunky dorys doing the rounds?


----------



## Caveat (30 Nov 2009)

liaconn said:


> Actually that reminds me of something else that I don't understand - people who are invited to someone's house for dinner and announce,when they get there, that they had dinner earlier so won't really eat much. After the hostess has gone to loads of trouble shopping, cooking and preparing food and it was made perfectly clear that dinner would be provided.


 
Yep.  Incredibly rude. That has happened to us before - twice that I can think of.  They were never invited back.


----------



## liaconn (30 Nov 2009)

truthseeker said:


> Is it not worse when you arrive starving and theres only a bowl of hunky dorys doing the rounds?


 
Well, depends if you're the host or the guest!  I also hate getting a vague invitation where I'm not sure if a meal is included and I'm afraid if I turn up with wine I'll embarrass the person who invited me if she just meant a cup of coffee and some biscuits, and if I turn up without wine there'll be a three course meal awaiting me.


----------



## truthseeker (30 Nov 2009)

liaconn said:


> Well, depends if you're the host or the guest! I also hate getting a vague invitation where I'm not sure if a meal is included and I'm afraid if I turn up with wine I'll embarrass the person who invited me if she just meant a cup of coffee and some biscuits, and if I turn up without wine there'll be a three course meal awaiting me.


 
ALWAYS turn up with the wine - but leave it hidden in a giant handbag, that way if it turns out it wasnt a wine evening but should have been you can excuse yourself to the loo and guzzle it from the neck to brighten the evening 

*note - this means you need to carry an emergency bottle opener, unless youre clever and bring a screw top bottle*


----------



## MANTO (30 Nov 2009)

Jeez I am starving now


----------



## liaconn (30 Nov 2009)

truthseeker said:


> ALWAYS turn up with the wine - but leave it hidden in a giant handbag, that way if it turns out it wasnt a wine evening but should have been you can excuse yourself to the loo and guzzle it from the neck to brighten the evening
> 
> *note - this means you need to carry an emergency bottle opener, unless youre clever and bring a screw top bottle*


 
Or just keep rooting around in my big handbag for things, emerging each time with flushed cheeks and wine stained lips. I'm sure no one will notice.


----------



## MrMan (30 Nov 2009)

truthseeker said:


> I dont understand this - its a massive generalisation. You cant possibly have tried every single chinese food dish?




I suppose there is an expense to keep going back in and trying new food.


----------



## Graham_07 (30 Nov 2009)

truthseeker said:


> *note - this means you need to carry an emergency bottle opener, unless youre clever and bring a screw top bottle*


 
[broken link removed]might sort you out


----------



## Complainer (30 Nov 2009)

One of the few episodes of Sex And the City that I actually enjoyed was when Carrie faked an allergy to parsley to 'encourage' the waiter not to give her any, and her boyfriend at the time called her on it, making it clear to everyone that she wasn't allergic, she just didn't like it.


----------



## roker (30 Nov 2009)

As a Migraine sufferer I think I have the right to enquire or refuse food. Often there is cream in soup or sauces, there is no indication of what they contain or is hidden in the recipe, a lot of menu’s use cheese. Any of these can put me out of action for a day.


----------



## becky (30 Nov 2009)

truthseeker said:


> Is it not worse when you arrive starving and theres only a bowl of hunky dorys doing the rounds?


 
Myself and my friend got invited to another girls house one evening.  She told us she had done a raid on her freezer and had tonnes she wanted to cook and eat.  

We got 2 chiccken wings, a few cocktail sausgages and a bowl of chips (chips were for sharing).

Both of us ended up in the chipper afterwards remarkig that her freezer must have be tiny.


----------



## MOB (30 Nov 2009)

Caveat said:


> I think there is also another problem here sometimes: people who don't really go out for meals but when they do, feel all important and use it as an opportunity to exercise their 'customer is always right' mandate and simply throw their weight around by ordering awkward combinations and things that aren't on the menu.  When you combine that with bog standard fussiness it becomes a teeth grindingly awful experience altogether.



It's not self importance but insecurity.

I remember seeing a documentary which featured a restaurant in Hollywood USA ( 'Spago' I think) where the narrator pointed out that most actors are notoriously insecure and that most 'A-list' actors will never order something from the menu at Spago, because this would mark them out as ordinary: they have to have a special dish that the chef prepares only for them.  

This was beautifully lampooned by Danny de Vito in the 'Get Shorty' film: he meets John Travolta and Rene Russo (+ possibly one more person) at a restaurant, hands back the menu unread and orders an egg-white omelette with chives for everybody (and which nobody actually eats.)


----------



## Caveat (30 Nov 2009)

I think you have it MOB.  

Gene Hackman was the 'other person' in that scene by the way.  Great movie!


----------



## mathepac (30 Nov 2009)

truthseeker said:


> Id be interested to know the results of the MSG free place - ...


Don't assume that the use of MSG is the sole preserve of Chinese restaurants - any kitchen that buys in ready-made sauces, stocks, stock cubes, prepared spices, gravy mixes or seasoning will be serving MSG, whether its French, Italian, burger joint, chipper, Indian, deli, etc.

As mentioned in another thread, if you buy those expensive little "spice-rack" jars in the supermarket, they also contain MSG, as do stir-fry sauces, bottles of "Bolognese sauce", packet soups and casserole mixes, etc. We probably feed ourselves more MSG in "home-made food" than the restaurants do.


----------



## Latrade (30 Nov 2009)

mathepac said:


> Don't assume that the use of MSG is the sole preserve of Chinese restaurants.


 
Funny thing is that MSG has been used in chinese cooking for centuries, it's just a salt from seaweed after all. So it's hardly authentic for a chinese restaurants to be MSG free.


----------



## Eithneangela (30 Nov 2009)

Whenever I invite people for 'a bit to eat' I cook simple stuff (stilton stuffed chicken wrapped in parma ham, lamb lasagne, stuffed pork steaks, stuffing being usual breadcrumbs, herbs, butter, eggs, etc.) and loadsa salads, especially really spicy salsa.  Then, leftovers are frozen (meat stuff for hubby - I'm a veggie!) and any salads left for mise, the rabbit.  Always get warm feedback from happy guests - maybe the 240 bottles of wine we brought back from France earlier this year has something to do with that!  LOL!


----------



## MandaC (30 Nov 2009)

Eithneangela said:


> Whenever I invite people for 'a bit to eat' I cook simple stuff (stilton stuffed chicken wrapped in parma ham, lamb lasagne, stuffed pork steaks, stuffing being usual breadcrumbs, herbs, butter, eggs, etc.) and loadsa salads, especially really spicy salsa.  Then, leftovers are frozen (meat stuff for hubby - I'm a veggie!) and any salads left for mise, the rabbit.  Always get warm feedback from happy guests - maybe the 240 bottles of wine we brought back from France earlier this year has something to do with that!  LOL!



Sounds gorgeous but that would be very exotic fare to some people, eg, a lot of people dont eat Stilton or parma ham.  

Personally, fussy eaters bore a hole through me.  Sometimes I think it is all about attention seeking.

Most of the bland eaters I know have very poor diet, eg, all white carbs, bland tasting stodge.

Was in a lovely French fish restaurant in the Vendee and overheard a woman saying to her husband that she hated French food.  It was hard not to ask her why she went to france.


----------



## sam h (30 Nov 2009)

> MOB
> 
> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Caveat* http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?p=968146#post968146
> ...


 
You guys nailed this issue on the head, in relation to insecurity. I also worked in a restaurant (many in fact) & I clearly rememebr one "leading" hairdresser coming in. A fairly notive waitress was almost on the verge of tears as he kept sending back wine, making extraordinary demands about his food, being pass remarkable to her, clicking finger etc. He sent back his 3rd or 4th "corked" bottle (different wines each time - none corked). I brought over the next bottle and showed it to him and asked if he would like to send it back before or after we opened it (in a very polite way  ). There wasn't another peep out of him after that. 


Have to say, I hate being the person who organised a night out for a group 'cos there's always one.....I don't like indian/chinese/steak/vegetarian/food etc. I have my likes & dislikes, but most menus have enough choice to be able to get a meal out of it.....so go with the flow (even chinese/indian will normally offer some "european dishes"). Surely it all about the company & the quality of the wine !!

PS - Bombay Pantry is a FAB indian take-away


----------



## truthseeker (1 Dec 2009)

mathepac said:


> Don't assume that the use of MSG is the sole preserve of Chinese restaurants - any kitchen that buys in ready-made sauces, stocks, stock cubes, prepared spices, gravy mixes or seasoning will be serving MSG, whether its French, Italian, burger joint, chipper, Indian, deli, etc.
> 
> As mentioned in another thread, if you buy those expensive little "spice-rack" jars in the supermarket, they also contain MSG, as do stir-fry sauces, bottles of "Bolognese sauce", packet soups and casserole mixes, etc. We probably feed ourselves more MSG in "home-made food" than the restaurants do.


 
Yes I agree - personally I check all ingredients on supermarket food so as not to be ingesting MSG in all its various guises, I dont buy any packet soups, sauces etc, make everything from scratch but I was shocked recently to see the humble Tayto crisp now contains MSG - very disappointing, another one to knock off the list.

In restaurants I tend to go for drier dishes so am hopefully avoiding it there as well - although you can (and I have done) ask in restaurants if the sauces are made from scratch and if they use MSG - its a reasonably well known food intolerance and normally in any good restaurant the chef will be able to tell you if its used in their kitchen.


----------



## Caveat (1 Dec 2009)

truthseeker said:


> ...the humble Tayto crisp now contains MSG -


 
Now? I would have thought that this was always the case and maybe they have only started mentioning it now?

Apart from crisps/snacks that make any claim to the contrary I would have thought that practically all crisps contain MSG and have done so for decades.


----------



## truthseeker (1 Dec 2009)

Caveat said:


> Now? I would have thought that this was always the case and maybe they have only started mentioning it now?
> 
> Apart from crisps/snacks that make any claim to the contrary I would have thought that practically all crisps contain MSG and have done so for decades.


 
Maybe so.


----------



## Staples (1 Dec 2009)

Eithneangela said:


> Whenever I invite people for 'a bit to eat' I cook simple stuff (stilton stuffed chicken wrapped in parma ham, lamb lasagne, stuffed pork steaks, stuffing being usual breadcrumbs, herbs, butter, eggs, etc.) and loadsa salads, especially really spicy salsa. Then, leftovers are frozen (meat stuff for hubby - I'm a veggie!) and any salads left for mise, the rabbit. Always get warm feedback from happy guests - maybe the 240 bottles of wine we brought back from France earlier this year has something to do with that! LOL!


 
I hate being asked for "a bit to eat".  It can potentially range from crackers and cheese to a full gut-busting feast.  I never know how much to fill up with in advance and given that the wine generally flows regardless, this is an important consideration.


----------



## Latrade (1 Dec 2009)

truthseeker said:


> Yes I agree - personally I check all ingredients on supermarket food so as not to be ingesting MSG in all its various guises, I dont buy any packet soups, sauces etc, make everything from scratch but I was shocked recently to see the humble Tayto crisp now contains MSG - very disappointing, another one to knock off the list.


 
Just out of interest, why the focus on MSG? Is it the taste or something else?



sam h said:


> You guys nailed this issue on the head, in relation to insecurity. I also worked in a restaurant (many in fact) & I clearly rememebr one "leading" hairdresser coming in. A fairly notive waitress was almost on the verge of tears as he kept sending back wine, making extraordinary demands about his food, being pass remarkable to her, clicking finger etc. He sent back his 3rd or 4th "corked" bottle (different wines each time - none corked). I brought over the next bottle and showed it to him and asked if he would like to send it back before or after we opened it (in a very polite way  ). There wasn't another peep out of him after that.


 
I actually think it goes a bit further than this. I hated the way everyone become an armchair wine expert just because they remembered a couple of grape varieties. They'd spend hours "studying" the wine menu asking what people were having just so they could select the right wine. It was all fake. Just as their "checking" the wine was fake. They didn't have a clue what they were doing and we're supposed to be impressed. The days of just chosing between white or red were the best.

But like everything else, it seemed with some money in our pockets some people got ideas way above their station. I started to hate the meeting up at a restaurant stuff mainly because of this show (and of course those who had irrational notions that they didn't like certain things they'd never even tried).


----------



## Vanilla (1 Dec 2009)

sam h said:


> A fairly notive waitress was almost on the verge of tears as he kept sending back wine, making extraordinary demands about his food, being pass remarkable to her, clicking finger etc. He sent back his 3rd or 4th "corked" bottle (different wines each time - none corked). I brought over the next bottle and showed it to him and asked if he would like to send it back before or after we opened it (in a very polite way  ). There wasn't another peep out of him after that.


 
This can work the other way around too, though. I remember once being taken out to dinner in a very, very expensive and notorious restaurant by my then boss. We ordered starter and a very expensive bottle of white wine. The wine was corked. My boss had had a few drinks already and I was driving so I was saving myself for the one glass of wine. The boss wasn't sure ( tastebuds squiffy) but I was, it was clearly corked. So we sent it back and a sniffy waiter brought a second bottle. Which was also corked. The embarrassment. 

Then another thing that really annoys me about restaurants is when they have say a 2006 Chteauneuf du pape on the wine list, you push the boat out and order it, and along comes the waiter with a 2008 bottle. And if you point it out they can't understand the objection at all. That doesn't happen with properly trained waiters/waitresses but there are very few career waiting staff in Ireland.


----------



## truthseeker (1 Dec 2009)

Latrade said:


> Just out of interest, why the focus on MSG? Is it the taste or something else?


 
The taste, or more precisely, the aftertaste. It just leaves me tasting it for hours afterwards - me no like.


----------



## sam h (1 Dec 2009)

Vanilla, I reckon you frequent posher restaurant than I have worked in !!!

You're right, if a bottle is corked, you should send it back.  You are likely to get another corked bottle if you select the same wine as it is probably a batch which wasn't seal/stored right.

In the case with the hairdresser - None of the bottles were corked, we checked them all.  His friend came over to me to say well done, as he can be an embarresment to be out with


----------



## liaconn (1 Dec 2009)

sam h said:


> Vanilla, I reckon you frequent posher restaurant than I have worked in !!!
> 
> You're right, if a bottle is corked, you should send it back. You are likely to get another corked bottle if you select the same wine as it is probably a batch which wasn't seal/stored right.
> 
> In the case with the hairdresser - None of the bottles were corked, we checked them all. His friend came over to me to say well done, as he can be an embarresment to be out with


 
I'm amazed any of his friends agreed to keep going to restaurants with him, if he always made a show of himself like that. I hope he was picking up the tab.


----------



## sam h (1 Dec 2009)

I said friends, but I reckon they work for him.  It was a guy spoke to me & there were some dizzy girls who kept giggling at everything he said (this was aggggeeessss ago!!)  

Don't get me wrong, if there is a problem with a meal or drink, I'm a firm believer in saying it as we pay alot of money to dine out - but there are people who will try to find something to complain about.


----------



## roland (1 Dec 2009)

DeeFox said:


> This topic was mentioned in the "Pet Hates" thread but I think it deserves a whole thread of its own.
> 
> I worked as a waitress for years and was constantly amazed by the attitudes of some people.  "I'll have a steak and I want it very well done - now I mean very, very, very well done, completely black - if there is any bit of red or pink or even light brown I won't eat it.  And I don't like vegetables so I want just chips on their own with my steak and I want LOADS of tomato sauce.  And I'll have a diet coke".



I think part of the problem is that in general Irish people are just not educated about food.  Too many are happy with Tesco rubbish - how can anyone actually buy tasteless tomatoes from Tesco and eat them? Millions it seems.  How many go a little bit our of their way to source food from our farmers?  Not many at all.  Too many of us are happy to eat rubbish. Too many order rubbish when they go out.  Too many are happy to pay ridiculous prices for rubbish when they go out.  The main source of complaints then is from the nonsense ones referred to in this thread i.e. from people who are complaining for attention only.   

Stemming from all of this you then get restaurants who are happy to serve up sub-standard rubbish, or on the other hand good restaurants which are just not appreciated for what they do. "Oh sure they're very expensive" I keep hearing. Cost alone it seems is the only decider, and yet the same people will pay many thousands sorting out a heart attack years later.  

A good example of the lack of education is the amount of Irish people who ask for a fillet steak very very well done i.e. pretty much burnt.  I know some people think they like it that way and sure isn't the customer always right, but think about it - it's like asking a chef to dip a choice piece of produce into petrol and set it alight before he serves it - sure you might 'like it' that way, but it's an insult to the produce and the chef and the efforts made to source, prepare and serve it.  Unless we educate ourselves a bit more about food and complain about the right things, then the only eejits filing the vaccuum will be the eejits who don't know what they are talking about.


----------

