Would you tell the restaurant if the food wasn't good?

NibNib

Recently I was in a cafe with my OH. The cafe had nice simple decor, and was doing lots of organic and fresh food. The staff was also quite friendly and the place was packed. I ordered a bowl of soup and their vegetarian pasta for the day, and the OH ordered a steak sandwich.

They served me my soup first. It was really lovely and tasty. So I had a very good feeling about the main dishes. However, that was when things went wrong. My pasta was overcooked and soggy. And when they say vegetarian, they mean tomato. It is just chopped, mushy tomato mixed with soggy pasta. The garlic bread served with it was hard and chewy. As for my OH, his steak was overcooked as well and rubbery, and the toasted bread was burned...

Needless to say, a lot of food was left behind. When the nice man came round and noticed our plates with all the food left behind, he asked "Is everything OK?" My OH quickly said "Oh yes. We were just not as hungry as we thought..." Back in our car, we both agreed we couldn't tell him how awful the 2 main dishes had been...

Now I wonder if I should have said something? They will probably keep dishing out plates of food like that thinking they are absolutely fine... Would you complain?

Munster Gal

There was a time when I would have done just as you did but not anymore. I had the misfortune of getting 3 or 4 bad meals in a row when I went out and I had enough. You can complain in a nice way and you don't have to wait until you plates are being cleared. You're hungry and want to be fed, you're spending good money on the meal and you want to have a nice time so you're quite entitled to complain if all is not right. The restaurant also has the opportunity to make right a wrong and improve standards. I think it's probably an Irish thing that we're not great at complaining!

ianflynn

Munster Gal wrote: »

There was a time when I would have done just as you did but not anymore. I had the misfortune of getting 3 or 4 bad meals in a row when I went out and I had enough. You can complain in a nice way and you don't have to wait until you plates are being cleared. You're hungry and want to be fed, you're spending good money on the meal and you want to have a nice time so you're quite entitled to complain if all is not right. The restaurant also has the opportunity to make right a wrong and improve standards. I think it's probably an Irish thing that we're not great at complaining!

I beg to differ, were a nation of complainers :pac:

I would have done the same thing in honesty....

CJhaughey

Without a doubt you should have complained.
If the cook/chef is not getting feedback how does the management know how to rectify the problem?
Food is no different to any other product and the time has passed where you just make your excuses and walk away and complain to yourselves and others.

Eating places that are serving substandard food will find themselves going to the wall in this economic climate.

There could be any number of reasons why the food wasn't up to scratch and it is your duty as a consumer to bring it to the attention of the café.

NibNib

Yes, I was thinking that I probably should have told them the food was bad. It still sticks in my mind to this day... I agree that they probably didn't know how bad the whole food experience was to my OH n myself...

Now I'm really tempted to call them and politely let them know what happened...

To be honest a chef who cant do pasta, or indeed offers that kind of vegetarian option.
Probably doesnt give a damn how you feel about your meal.

CJhaughey

It is true that the chef/cook may not give a toss about the standard of food he/she is producing and there could be any number of reasons why the food was sub standard, the cook could have been covering for another person out sick etc.
BUT the manager should be able to hear the problem directly, if they don't hear about this then how can it be sorted?

It could even be malicious, it is not unknown for a pissed off staff member to try and damage a reputation by producing food that looks OK but eats differently;).
They at least they should be given a chance to rectify the problem rather than not hearing about it until it is too late,otherwise it is unfair on them to just bitch about it privately.

If they are told and then do nothing, it is their own fault, as Moonbaby says Pasta is not hard to cook correctly.

the beer revolu

I guess, I'm more likely to complain if I like the place generally.
If I hate the place and will never go back anyway, I usually don't bother unless it's so bad that I'm not happy paying for the food.

Ianflynn, we may be a Nation of complainers but that doesn't mean that we are good at complaining.

WindSock

We are a nation of complainers, to the wrong people though

I have let the waiting staff know if my food is bad a few times. Not often though, even if it has knocked the bill down a bit. On my more unconfrontational times I just use Menupages.

WhoseView: Michael

I would definitely complain. If somewhere is as bad as this, the only hope long term for there survival, is if people like you and I tell them their food is awful. You probably will never go back there and they are none the wiser. Maybe they got a new chef and the owner is yet to realise how crap they are. Customer feedback is an essential form of every business whether your a restauranter or plumber. It's up to us as consumers to tell it as it is. I have a friend who complains all the time, whether it's hotels or restaurants. 50% lof the time he gets either significent discount or complimentary offering on next visit. Everyone's a winner.

mj4

I believe that you should let the manager/owner know if something is not right with the food, feedback is always good, they need to know how they can improve on things, or if the service was bad, so that can do something about it.