Protocols for returning bad food [Moved from Boston Area board]

[teezeetoo]

I'm generally positive about Rani's food but last night had one of those experiences that make you wonder what the point is when waiters ask "is everything all right." Some things were excellent (the chaat) and some very good (the chutney gosht lamb) but the shrimp masala was very bad. The sauce was fine but the shrimp had been overcooked into a step before "mush." So we politely told the waiter what was good and mentioned the shrimp were disappointingly overcooked. He nodded politely and walked away. My husband and I, after some discussion, decided that the meal was generally good and we weren't going to press the point. But we have continued the discussion at home: should we have sent the dish back? Should we have insisted that the waiter, since he asked us directly, respond to our concern? Or do you just have to shrug sometimes and pass on the fuss? I guess if I were running a restaurant, I'd want to know if I screwed up and I'd insist on fixing it. Maybe we should be more aggressive telling folks the truth? I'm curious as to what others think. Remember, this wasn't an "all bad" experience meal and isn't meant to be a particular rag on Rani, because it surely happens other places.

[rich in stl]

We went to see BIL &SIL (wifey's B) - linked up with some other folks - went to an Italian Resto (BIL's choice.) Most of the party ordered the chicken special - I ordered the lasagna. I tasted it - LOUSY, I turned the plate around and tasted it again - LOUSY.

Everyone else was devouring the chicken - I sat with the almost untouched Lousyagna in front of me as I ate rolls.

Waiter returned to clear plates etc - he asked me if I wanted to take the rest of the lousygna home "NO" I coldly responded. He cleared the garbage.

What should I have done????

[Barbecue Joe]

I think there's a fine line here. If somethings definitely bad, it should be replaced, an offer of something else, or removed from the bill.
On the same note, if you order something and it is a fine example of the dish but you still don't like it, I believe an offer of something else should be in order. How would they expect to retain someone's business otherwise?

I had an experience at a "Fine dining" establishment once where I ordered their highly acclaimed beef sandwich. To say it tasted awful would be being gratious.
When the waitress returned and asked how it was, I told her it wasn't good, that there was something seriously wrong with the meat.
She left and went into the kitchen. A few moments later she returned with the chef who tore me up one side and down the other as he explained that the beef was aged, and he had personally aged it himself. I replied saying this might very well be the case but it didn't taste good and I couldn't eat it.
He basically told me too bad, and when they brought the bill nothing had been removed or adjusted.
Needless to say, I never gave them another chance.

[psb]

why dont you give the name of the "Fine Dining" establishment?
i suppose if this was years ago and the chef may have moved on,
i might not, but this is so far beyond, it merits the Google Cache Treament.

[Barbecue Joe]

I wish I could remember, but as I said it was years ago, I do remember it was in Boulder CO.
It was a dining moment I will never forget.

[JungMann]

I never send food back because I always fear that perhaps I just don't share the same sense of taste as the chef. And I hate being a fusspot if my food comes out cold. I think younger people would frown at their friend for being persnickety enough to ask "Would you put this under the salamander?" But more than anything else, that they will double-charge me for food.

[Rick]

I always hate wondering if they're going to comp the meal you didn't like and just charge you for your new order. If you're hungry it puts you in a bad spot since you need to eat either way so you don't have a choice if you want something you like. I've had it happen both ways before. If I felt the dish I sent back was bad or not done properly I always ask to have it taken off the bill. If I just didn't like it and it's on the bill, I pay.

[teezeetoo]

i think rick's point is key: sometimes i'll try something at a restaurant and I won't like it but there's nothing wrong with it, in the sense that it is a good version of whatever its supposed to be. If I take a chance, I don't expect the restaurant to take the food back. Pretty much the same with wine: i may order something that sounds right and find it doesn't appeal. nothing wrong with it so why would it be the restaurant's fault? but if the item is a "bad" version of whatever its supposed to be, I'm going to practice beiing firm: take it back please!

[rednyellow]

If I try a dish or wine that I'm unfamiliar with and end up not liking it but it is prepared well and not faulty, I would never send it back, but on several occasions I"ve been offered an alternative and I found the gesture to be wonderful and very appreciated. I have no problem telling a waiter or cook that the food is bad if it is indeed poorly prepared. I do make it a point to be polite about it and almost never have a hissy fit over it unless I'm actually treated rudely, which fortunately has happened, only very rarely. I try to point out the good too.I recently tried a place for the first time. Everything looked very good and the first course was really awful. Waiter was horrified, took it off the bill and the rest of the meal was some of the best stuff I've ever had.

[smartie]

had the same problem in a bar/restaurant this week. Ordered the applie pie which was apparently the only dessert they made in house, and the apples were barely cooked, there was way too much nutmeg and cloves and I think they pretty much forgot to add sugar to the mix.

so the waiter comes over and says is everything ok and I said not really the apples are not cooked. I asked him to stab at an apple with my fork and he said it was fine. He even tasted some of it and said it was delicious (I wasn't eating any more of it so I wans't bothered).

But I agree don't ask that question if you don't want to deal with the consequences of the answer.

[revsharkie]

Bad enough not to be concerned when you express unhappiness with a dish, but to DISAGREE WITH YOU?! That's just wrong.

[optimal forager]

So why ask if everything is OK, if he's not going to do anything when it's not OK? Idle curiosity? The pointlessness of the inquiry bothers me more than the bad dish.

Maybe you could drop a line to the restaurant, suggesting that if they're going to train servers to ask if everything is OK, that they should also train servers to react appropriately.

[tubman]

"I'm so sorry. Would you like this re-made, or did you want to try something else?"

Any other response is inadequate. Just going through the motions and offering no response at all is unacceptable.

[jfood]

ys the server failed miserably in this example.

To your question though, the protocol is:

1 - inform the server that the dish is bad, server should remove
2 - if server does not remove, tell server that you would like the dish remove, server should remove
3 - if server does not remove, ask for the MOD, perform same do-loop

If nothing happens, pay your tab and leave, no tip, no return. they obviously do not want your biz.

[rockandroller1]

Funny as I was just in this situation yesterday. I didn't have time to wait for a send-back/re-cook so I just said it was fine. If she didn't wonder why I left all of my food except the protein, that's too bad. She did ask if everything was ok twice but I didn't have time to deal with why it was wrong or wait for a re-cook so I just overlooked it. I figure it's just one meal, it's not her fault they screwed up the veg. I did not reflect a problem in my tip, she's not a mind reader, she didn't cook the dish and I didn't bring the problem to her attention. Every meal doens't have to be a pageant, as my mother always says.

[fflax]

I always worry about sending food back. I spent too many years in restaurants and know that in some places the "send back" is not treated kindly. Remember the waiter serves 3 masters:management, the chef and the customer. I am also surprised that in some of the better places wait staff doesn't inquire about untouched plates Shrimp seems to be one of those dishes, like chicken, that you pick and choose where to eat it

[catsmeow]

I agree with JK. Last week, I went to LTK and got the white clam pizza. BIG mistake. There were too many clams making it a mushy mess. I barely touched it and when the waiter inquired how things were, I told him that I wasn't too fond of the pizza. He asked if I'd like something else, but I wasn't really hungry anymore after nibbling on my friend's delicious calamari and eating those delicious rolls. When he brought the bill, he told us he had taken the dish off. He got a very nice tip for doing, what I think, is the correct thing to do. I've eaten there several times, and even though I've liked almost all of the other dishes I've had there, his actions helped make up for the disappointing dish. I'll be going back, whereas if he'd had an "oh well" attitude, I'd have second thoughts the next time I was going out in that area.

[JK Grence the Cosmic Jester]

What should have happened is the waiter should have pulled it from the table and offered to bring out a new one right away. If the waiter doesn't get the hint by your saying that something was wrong with the dish, then all you have to do is tack on "We'd like to send this back". That should get even the most clueless of waiters to figure it out.

[dolores]

Agree with JK. The waiter should have immediately taken away the dish and just as quickly returned another.

Since he didn't, did you reflect his unconcern in his tip?

[vorpal]

Thirded. I can't believe that he essentially ignored your dissatisfaction with the dish. I hope that your tip took this poor service into account.