Yes, I’m the guy who is complaining when something is wrong, of course.
Back in 2007 in Bucharest/Romania, when I was a restaurant critic, I found a little piece of glass in my salad. I was shocked, but I made a complain.
The staff from the restaurant said that is not their fault :), and later, when I wrote about it on my blog, they even started to suggest that I’ve personally added the glass in my salad :).
Three months later, the restaurant was shut down, due to decreasing number of clients, after the incident.
Sorry for their business, but when you have glass in your food, which is a potential dead trap, you have to close it down.
It’s an Irish thing…we may give out yards about the food but God forbid we’d actually *tell* the person who cooked it. That’d be impolite.
As a fellow Irish-reticent-complainer, but also as a waitress, I appreciate how hard it is to give out face to face about grievances concerning your dinner.
But it’s worth it. There’s shag-all a restaurant can do if you’ve eaten most of it but complained after…constructive criticism is the way forward.
The thing we, as Irish complainers, need to do is not to regard it as a personal matter…it’s just the way it is. No need to get uppity, or dispairing, it’s only food, but here are the facts….”my steak tastes like shite,” etc.
I remember many years ago eating Sunday Lunch with friends where every dish was faulty – overcooked, dried out, tasteless mush that we all agreed was inedible. Then the waitress came to the table to ask if everything was OK – ‘yes, lovely thanks’ we chorused….
I know someone who asked for no cheese on her cheese burger. It arrived with cheese. “Is everything ok?” – “Yeah, lovely”. We’re terrible for complaining.
Wednesday 16 June, 2010 at 10:22 am
Yes, I’m the guy who is complaining when something is wrong, of course.
Back in 2007 in Bucharest/Romania, when I was a restaurant critic, I found a little piece of glass in my salad. I was shocked, but I made a complain.
The staff from the restaurant said that is not their fault :), and later, when I wrote about it on my blog, they even started to suggest that I’ve personally added the glass in my salad :).
Three months later, the restaurant was shut down, due to decreasing number of clients, after the incident.
Sorry for their business, but when you have glass in your food, which is a potential dead trap, you have to close it down.
Thursday 17 June, 2010 at 1:11 am
It’s an Irish thing…we may give out yards about the food but God forbid we’d actually *tell* the person who cooked it. That’d be impolite.
As a fellow Irish-reticent-complainer, but also as a waitress, I appreciate how hard it is to give out face to face about grievances concerning your dinner.
But it’s worth it. There’s shag-all a restaurant can do if you’ve eaten most of it but complained after…constructive criticism is the way forward.
The thing we, as Irish complainers, need to do is not to regard it as a personal matter…it’s just the way it is. No need to get uppity, or dispairing, it’s only food, but here are the facts….”my steak tastes like shite,” etc.
We need to embrace the dispassionate complaining.
Thursday 17 June, 2010 at 7:32 am
I remember many years ago eating Sunday Lunch with friends where every dish was faulty – overcooked, dried out, tasteless mush that we all agreed was inedible. Then the waitress came to the table to ask if everything was OK – ‘yes, lovely thanks’ we chorused….
Thursday 17 June, 2010 at 10:46 pm
I know someone who asked for no cheese on her cheese burger. It arrived with cheese. “Is everything ok?” – “Yeah, lovely”. We’re terrible for complaining.
Friday 18 June, 2010 at 10:57 am
No cheese on her cheese burger?!