Do most restaurants put salts on your fries without asking?

Electric Gypsy

I've gotten the slight impression that this is more common. I'm a bit OCD so sometimes I ask the waiter to take a note to not put the salt on. It's not that I don't like salt on my fries, but that there's a chance that they might drown it in salt and ruin it, so I'd rather put it on myself. Only thing is I feel that this request might get a few eye rolls from others I'm sitting with.

PeteEd

Chips

10-10-20

Strictly sodium-chlorides salts and none of that potassium-chlorides salts.

And never bath salts, that stuff fizzes up.

notAMember

Yes, restaurants season the food before serving it.

gipi

It annoys the heck outta me, can't stand salt on chips. We've started sending them back for unsalted.

I think it is getting more common, to be honest.

Drown me in salt plz.

Electric Gypsy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120139010#Comment_120139010

Do you ask for them to be unsalted? As regards sending them back... you don't want to piss off the person who prepares your food!

Pauliedragon

Yes they do OP. Don't know why as there's salt on the table. Some chefs can be a bit heavy with it.

blade1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120138775#Comment_120138775

..

Electric Gypsy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120138854#Comment_120138854

Is that an opinion because you like salt on your chips, or are you knowledgeable about cuisine? Why is it that in Dinos or the likes, that they first ask you "salt and vinegar?".

The way I see it is that if the person does want salt on their chips, they just have to add it... little to no inconvenience as the salt is at the table. But if the person doesn't want salt, or if they didn't want that much, then they are way more inconvenienced.

SEPT 23 1989

maybe you could ask for a rain check on the salt and vinegar for your fries at the diner on the sidewalk period?

JayRoc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120139362#Comment_120139362

That's not really how cooking works, tbh. Salt (and other seasoning) being added during the making of your meal is standard.

Flaneur OBrien

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120139453#Comment_120139453

Salt is added after chips are cooked, not during. I have a heart condition and have to limit my salt intake, its a pain having to constantly ask for no added salt on chips or whatever.

Electric Gypsy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120139452#Comment_120139452

and eat them in the parking lot.

gipi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120139325#Comment_120139325

If we know it's a restaurant that salts the chips, then yes, we'll ask for unsalted. Shouldn't have to ask at all, there's salt on the table, and no food needs the amount of salt that's thrown on some of the food we've been served.

Nigel Fairservice

Can't say I have really noticed. The odd time I go to a chipper they always seem to ask too. What bothers me is restaurants putting cheese on pasta without asking.

elperello

It's to make you thirsty so you order more wine/beer.

Jim2007

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120139362#Comment_120139362

Expect the cook will season the food they serve. And if you order chips/fries/freed fries or whatever you call them in some parts of Europe they'll add paprika as well and in Switzerland where I live some of them will also add a local flavour called aromat, which apparently is now available in Ireland as well now. You don't want of that just say so, it really is not that complicated unless you choose to make it so.

retalivity

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120139596#Comment_120139596

Aromat has been available in Ireland for donkeys years, I used to smother chips with it 25 years ago, the stuff is savage.

mickdw

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120139954#Comment_120139954

It's pretty good on chips alright although I've not had it for years.

JayRoc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120139493#Comment_120139493

Unless the restaurant is on the first floor. Then you'd have to get the elevator down

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058280622/do-most-restaurants-put-salts-on-your-fries-without-asking

If salt is an issue don’t eat out because chips are the least of your worries , chefs are the kidneys number 1 enemy

Flaneur OBrien

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120139993#Comment_120139993

If only that was an option for those of us who work on tour...

I rarely put salt on food. Hate it when I eat out and salt is on the chips.

Mcdonalds hate me for always requesting no salt 😁

Greyfox

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120139501#Comment_120139501

You should have to ask. If the restaurant thinks salting the chips before serving is a good idea then that's their decision to make.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120140063#Comment_120140063

celiacs have to ask a lot of questions of waiting staff and I’ve seen some very positive interactions

I lost a kidney and the only effect it had on my dining is I sometimes take a bite, get the too much salt buzz and just go NO😂

cj maxx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120139481#Comment_120139481

Tou probably shouldn’t be eating deep fried food at all with a heart condition 🤥

Jim2007

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120139954#Comment_120139954

I left over 35 years ago and have no been back in about 15….

gipi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120140081#Comment_120140081

Then they should list it on the menu, so I can make the choice.

I can't eat cheese, so have to read menus carefully and make it clear to the wait staff to make sure that my food order will be cheese-free.

I have no issue asking, but if I don't know that salted chips are the norm, how will I know to ask?

retalivity

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120140073#Comment_120140073

Doesn't like salt, eats in McDonalds. OK.

Electric Gypsy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120139501#Comment_120139501

And if it's a new restaurant?

dxhound2005

How do they know how much salt to put on?

corner of hells

Wait till ya try salt and vinegar crisps, OP.

Greyfox

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120140183#Comment_120140183

It would be good to know beforehand all right but your also asking for something that 99% of people wouldn't give a 2nd thought too.

John_Rambo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120140257#Comment_120140257

Most chefs will know, they're professionals, a bit like mechanics putting lubricant on a newly installed part, it's the done thing, a lot of deep fried foods are seasoned post cooking (chips, wings, calamari etc..) They tend to salt & toss the chips straight out of the oil in a large bowl before plating. In my limited experience working in kitchens as a photographer this role is left to a commis chef & is fairly standard repetitive stuff, so they'd be producing food for a number of plates with not much contact with serving staff or visuals on the tickets. That's probably why demands for non-salted chips or unsauced wings to fall between the cracks.

It would be unusual for health conscious people to order this type of food in the first place, or if they do they're treating themselves on a night out. It's not a careless or dismissive practise but sending the salted chips back wouldn't be seen as rude or inappropriate, they'd just do a small batch again.

El Tarangu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120140257#Comment_120140257

same way they know how much cream to put in the sauce, or how much parsley to put on the fish - they are chefs, you know

dxhound2005

If they are putting salt on, I expect they will also put vinegar on. Just the right amount of course.

Epsom salts have a terrible after effect, never allow them to be sprinkled over your frites

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120140244#Comment_120140244

Having no salt on the chips makes it feel like it won't kill me tomorrow 😁

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120139362#Comment_120139362

hi, I’m a chef.

Yes we season food before it’s served. It’s what we’re trained to do (if you work in a decent restaurant). If you don’t want salt just say so, no one in the kitchen cares I promise you.

Believe me when I say asking for no salt on your chips doesn’t bother anyone. We literally could care less it’s the most basic request possible! I’ve been asked for some mad stuff in my time so no salt is nothing new or strange.

As for why there’s salt + pepper on tables, as that was asked, it’s because while we season things “to taste” everyone has different likes and dislikes. We sort of aim for what’s considered “standard” as far as how it should taste and will satisfy most peoples pallets. If you like some food with your salt or pepper though the option is there for you to add some more. You can always add extra never take it out!

The reason why a chipper will ask you is because the foods served to you by the person who cooked it. The chefs dont walk out to your table with food in a fcuking bag like 😂

If you’re inconvenienced by asking your server for saltless chips then why are you even in a restaurant? Is it also an inconvenience that you need to read the menu and order or would you prefer the servers read it to you and decide what you’d like to eat?

if you’re eating at restaurants that use too much salt or none at all you’re probably eating at pretty shite ones then. In what must be well over 10’s of thousands of covers served with chips as a side dish or whatever I’ve never had chips sent back to me for having too much salt.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120139585#Comment_120139585

No it’s not. It’s to season food so it tastes nice and not like flipping cardboard.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120140183#Comment_120140183

Put it on the menu? Jesus Christ are you after a menu or ingredient list? I cannot understand how so many people are this contrary that asking a server not to put salt on their chips is such a hardship it’s a wonder you can manage to eat out. There’s a huge difference between a menu mentioning if there’s cheese in a dish (not standard) and salt (basic cooking).

Who cares if you know or not just ask anyway! The server isn’t going to fcuking body slam you if they don’t put salt on them cos you asked ffs.

Count Dracula

I have heard of it happening alright.

Phucking bastards, meddling around with the food they cooked for you? Cheek of them?

Is it true that Staten Island syndrome is a phenomenon unique to trashy tourists visiting the Big Apple, insofar as when their cognitive resonance transitions to pure negative dissonance on the realisation that they have just wasted 4 hours of their lives freezing their balls off on an overcrowded smelly passenger ferry, cramming for a glimpse of a light mint tarnished iron statue that represents one of life's most brazen fallacies, that they feel compelled to gorge themselves on outrageously overpriced slices of soggy cheese pizza sold by a fake smiling food vendor/rip of merchant on Times square, that then subsequentially gets further compounded by the realisation that New York is just as much as a waste of time and money and that if you see the inside of another multi floor elevator you are going to capitulate into a drunken mess and finally realise that, not only is misunderstanding the health benefits of using salt in a stable diet.... that those very benefits are negatively polarised on the dangers of eating processed shight food, which is full of synthetic carcinogens, which their manufacturers spend millions of Dollars on each year, trying to convince any other morons that are addicted to their nicely packaged over advertised toxic product, that contrary to public health advice, it isn't really that bad for you and that if eat that crap in moderation, don't smoke and run 5k 4 times a week you might get away with it....

Fried food is fine also.... and deep frying. But trust me, if you do all your cooking in a "dry frier" that is sold to you by convincing your charmless fear of compromised survival that has been cajoled onto your conscience by the efforts of a marketing strategy you deserve to spend you entire holiday tearing your eyes out over the realisation that the US really is a cultureless kip, albeit a rich one.

Berlin, London, Amsterdam, Kampala, Addis Abiba, Sau Palo, Bogota, Firenze Athens and Seville are all massively better places to taste salt in, proper salt, the natural stuff you use to bring out the flavour in your chips or cure a gum infection with.

Mullingar has nicely salted chips for sale all over the town and if you stretch your imagination you can convince yourself that the Joe Dolan statue is actually a replica of the Statue of Liberty. Try not to kiss it either, I have seen things that would shock you performed by drunk women of an evening. Disgraceful, although Joe loves it I am told. Mullingar is better craic and has much more to offer than Manhatton. Hanging around ground zero staring blankly ahead of you is not what you should be doing with your holidays.

Salt is not bad for you. Processed salt and other synthetics can potentially end your life and will hinder your existence via enabling heart disease. A bowl of cereal has more toxins than a bowl of salt, technically.

martinedwards

If you have dietary requirements, talk to the staff.

Chefs will season the food as they make it.

Takeaway chip shops ask about salt and vinegar, restaurants not so much.

my wife has a heath issue that means she's taking oestrogen blocking medication.

it makes sense to limit that in food so she's gone non dairy. We have never had a problem asking what is dairy free.

if you don't want salt on your chips, just say for goodness sake. I was a chef for 10 years, and never once spat in a customer's meal because they asked for somthing.

Every Time I hanker like a dog for the mecca of all schnaks the salt and vinegar Tayto.

I call Mr Tayto on a direct line and say hold my salt and over easy on the vineagar please.

Works a treat though I have an issue with how he answers the phone at all being an 8 foot high fictional character but that's another thread.

dxhound2005

I can't figure out whether they cook batches of chips and put a certain amount of salt. Or cook individual portions as orders come in from the tables. If it is the former, then just saying we're chefs and we season food, that is what we do is very disrespectful to the clientele. The chef deciding that a certain volume of salt for a batch of chips is what everyone one should be happy with.

If it is the latter, then why not just leave it to each customer to salt or not salt at the table. Chips don't need any salt in the cooking process as far as I know, so why put any on before serving. That is just the same as the customer putting it on at the table, and the customer knows how much salt they want.

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120140613#Comment_120140613

If your chips taste "like flippin cardboard" without being doused in salt you are either not cooking them right or using the wrong spuds.

Some places use low quality catering pack frozen chips, not saying you do.

Salting in the kitchen has crept in and people now think it's normal.

It's not, let the food stand on its own merits and allow the customer to add salt as required to taste.

Greyfox

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120140973#Comment_120140973

It's not disrespectful to the customer, it's called understanding what the vast majority of customers want. If you don't like the way a chef does his job that's down to you to ask if the chef can cater to your needs or you can go somewhere else.

I'm offended by salt.

Salt should be cancelled.

I dont care what qualified Chefs after years of training say.

# cancel da salt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120141029#Comment_120141029

The use of salt, fat and heat to generate flavour is as old as cooking itself. Absolute nonsense to say it isn’t normal practice.

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120141453#Comment_120141453

Bit quick pressing the nonsense button there.

We are not talking about using salt in cooking which as you say is a long established practice.

The subject under discussion is salting food ,in this case chips, which is already cooked.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120141029#Comment_120141029

Obviously they don’t taste like actual cardboard my point being they taste very bland.

Sorry, but seasoning in the kitchen IS normal. That’s what a chef is trained to do.

Im sorry but you’re absolutely dead wrong here. If food was consistently sent out unseasoned so you can do it, believe me, we’d end up with 10x the complaints.

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120141690#Comment_120141690

I promise I'm not trying to interfere with any of your recipes we are just talking about fries/chips.

Dousing them in salt is not a practice I approve of.

I'm not wrong I just have a different opinion to you.