Do You Ever Eat Out and Wish You Hadn't Bothered?

liney

You cant go wrong at a Greek resturant i have found. If you have kids they love them, and if not, go a little later in the evening and pretend you are on your hols.

I refuse to eat in a certain chain resturant (or alike) since i recieved a frozen steak pie. I knew to expect cardboard, but i expected it to be warm.

Gasman2

Took the kids to Hard Rock for a half term treat. 3 of them, 8 yo down to just 2 yo.

Service was non-existent to start with, but improved significantly as middle kid chatted up the waiter.

Food took ages and when it finally arrived, was uninspiring and over cooked.

Didn't notice how bad the kids was until realised middle one had only taken one bite of his burger - and that was it! He can eat for Britain, so knew then something was wrong! Could have thrown it to the floor and it would have bounced 10 ft high! Completely overcooked on a bun which had been toasted so long, it too was burnt!

How hard is it for somewhere that specialises in burgers to at least get them vaguely right?

Sent his back and he then had to wait 15 mins for a replacement - by which time everyone else was on to their deserts (which also weren't worth bothering with... but that's a different story!). He made a good attempt to eat it, but by then it was more effort than enjoyment.

I wish I'd sent all of the burgers back at the beginning, but mine was much thicker and although very well cooked, not burnt. I'd have preferred it med-rare, but wasn't given the option!

We won't be returning in a hurry.

julie777

I see you're weight was coming off quickly - how are you doing it?

Littlejoan

I took my 2 elderly, bachelor brothers, my husband & myself out for a meal as I didn't feel like cooking as I had recently come out of hospital. When I paid the bill I asked the waitress if the chef had trained in a crematorium as the Yorkshire puddings all looked as though they had been cremated and so did the end of the shortbread included in the dessert of one of my brothers.

lindadykes

Went for lunch last tuesday in a small cafe based in an art gallery in Hexham, with my eldest daughter and my DH. My daughter and I both ordered Northumbrian Broth, my DH a brie, rocket and red onion sandwich, I ordered a lapsang souchong tea, Daughter a cappucino and DH a Latte. DH and I also ordered desserts (at the same time we ordered the other stuff). There was one other couple in the cafe when they took our order. Things started ok - I got my tea in a matter of minutes. A short while later they brought out one broth. A wait of 2-3 minutes and broth number two arrived. Still no coffees though. Another 5 minutes and DH's latte arrived. This was followed 3-4 minutes later by DD's cappucino. DD and I finished our broth - hubby was now so hungry he was in danger of chewing the tablecloth. Another 5 minutes passes and the waitress collects our soup bowls and says "Oh your still waiting for a sandwich aren't you? I'll get it straight away." 5 mins later sandwich arrives. Having finally filled a hole, I suggest to DH that I go and pay for what we have finally recieved and leave, but he looks sorrowful and say's "but I'm stil hungry and white chocolate cheesecake sounds so good". We wait ... and wait, I want to go but still we wait... finally DH attracts the attention of the waitress - "about dessert?" "Oh would you like to order we still have some?" "No" I fume "we already ordered some" -"Oh yes so you did - I'll get them immediately" You've guessed it - 5 mins later!

The food was OK, but the service was the worst I have had in years, needless to say I won't return. By the way I also didn't consider it cheap £22!

Justamum

I don't eat out very much at all now for various reasons - we can't afford it, and not many places do vegan food (except Greens in Douglas which does a bit). After I became vegetarian about 23 years ago I realised how dire the choice for vegetarians was - and it's not much better now in most places. The first time I went out for dinner with my parents after I gave up meat I was given an omelette (standard fare in those days). It didn't cost much less than the steak my parents ate! One place we went to for Sunday carvery had done a "vegetarian risotto". It was actually a bowl of boiled rice with a tiny amount of red pepper chopped into it. Some places would make an effort, but I got sick of stuffed peppers every time we went out for our work's Christmas dinner (even though they were nice). My dad likes the pub chain food - which is awful. One restaurant near us used to take a frozen ready-made vegetable thing out of the freezer and "nuke" it in the microwave for me - it was still frozen in the middle once (and I used to get the same thing each time we went). The "chef" at that restaurant then opened up somewhere else, and we went once. I don't think it takes much effort to open a tin of peas, a tin of carrots and some frozen chips, but that was what he used to serve up for everyone. We went there for my Gran's funeral lunch and he had done a vegetarian chilli - which had no taste whatsoever, accompanied by a huge mound of equally tastless boiled rice. Probably some ready-made thing he warmed up at great expense to us. I think one of the worst places I can remember going to was a few years ago in Southport. It was my parents' wedding anniversary and a large group of us went to an Australian restaurant. All the meat eaters had a choice of food, but hubby and I were given two vegetable "burgers" which tasted like (and probably were) Smash with some chopped vegetables in. There were no accompanying vegetables for us, or at least none got to our end of the table. There were about two small tureens with vegetables in to feed about 10 of us! Which is another thing which really annoys me - why do they offer so few accompanying vegetables with a meal?

Penny-Pincher!!

We ate out at Little Chef when we were away in a Travelodge room 2 weeks ago and the food was awful and service too. I wrote a letter of complaint and they basically sent back a letter stating sorry....but please come back soon. I have sent another letter and hoping to get some kind of compensation back.

PP
xx

miss_pink_4

My hubby treated us (2 adults 2 kids) for a meal out at a local country pub. The food tasted like it had a quick trip from the microwave to our plate and it cost us £65!!!
Thats a week shopping for us 4. Should of stopped in and had a homemade curry! Ohh well you live and learn the hard way i suppose.

Nelski

Sadly I am a big fan of eating out and if it isnt up to standard I am like Penny Pincher and will make sure they recompense.

I love Toby carvery and since one opened very close to me I am there usually once a week:o See I live on my own and when I go to the carvery with my friends/family I have a carvery sandwich (3.50) and veg quota for an extra pound. I then proceed to fill my plate with at least 5 different veg (I am a big veg fan) and of course one of their gorg yorkys. Massive roast dinner for 4.50 which I could not dream of cooking all that variety for one person.

I also enjoy cooking particularly if friends are coming round but I do find if I have cooked I somehow lose my appetite:o

Worse I find for eating out are the large chain hotels (which I have to use a lot for work) when you order room service - I regularly have to pay stoopid money (£17 for a basic burger for example) for very sub standard food:mad:

Up_To_Scratch

thriftlady wrote:

The thing I hate about chains and most pub food is their insistance on providing a 'children's menu'. It is always inferior to the usually already inferior food on offer for adults.

Even Café Rouge has one - goujons of chicken rather than nuggets :rolleyes: I asked if they did children's portions, but no, the answer was 'well, we have a menu pour les enfants'. 'But can't they just have a children's portion of steak frites?' I ask 'Non' was the reply. 'Is that man French?' asks my DD, 'No he's from Worcester like you'.

Lol - you are sooo right!! :rotfl: I'm raising my daughter on "proper" homecooked foods - she couldn't tell you what a chicken nugget is and I've lost track of the number of times my friends have laughed at me for carrying a packed lunch for her!

Why on earth most restaurants don't offer smaller versions of adult foods instead of the processed c**p they like to pass off as their "children's menu" I don't know . I am fortunate that she is still little enough to share some of mine, so I tend to buy a side salad for her (salad's her favourite) and give her some of my chicken/steak and new potatoes etc.

Ooh & for those who are from my neck of the woods, Cardamom in Alcester (Nr Stratford upon Avon, Warwickshire) is a lovely new indian restaurant for grown up nights out & the best bit is it's a "bring a bottle" establishment :beer: , so the bill is greatly reduced, as a result of being relieved of the usual "add £15-20 to the bill for a substandard bottle of wine" situation - yay! :j