Food and Drink

Indian takeaway, mixed up order and a fly in my food
My friend invited me over for dinner with her and her husband and as a treat we ordered an Indian meal to be delivered from well known Indian restaurant in Stevenage, Herts. We didn't order the fly that came with our meal though!
26-Oct-11 17:55

Challenge 25 policy needs some flexibility
Whilst I welcome any measures that may help to curb underage drinking, I feel that sometime you need to be a little more objective and treat each person appropriately depending on their own unique circumstances.
17-Oct-11 18:42

No response when contacting Greene King
I recently tried to contact Greene King through their website and by phone regarding the abrupt closure of my local pub and so far have heard nothing. At the rate pubs are closing, you'd think they'd make more of an effort!
3-Jun-11 12:46

Baristas frustrated by dithering customers
I have seen this from both the customer point of view and as a barista at a popular coffee shop. I am sick and tired of idiots and time-wasters who cannot do something as simple as place an order and pay for it promptly.
12-May-11 21:12

Wetherspoon house Vodka dearer than branded?
When you order the house variety of a drink you may automatically assume it will be cheaper but sometimes it isn't. I know that a pound isn't a vast fortune, but in this case I'd rather that it was in my pocket instead of in their till.
9-May-11 13:26

American cups instead of grams in recipes
I do a lot of my own cooking and I particularly love baking my own cakes, biscuits and bread. But I'm getting heartily fed with Americanisms and other U.S. ways of doing things being foisted upon me.
13-Dec-10 10:28

Fed up with noisy kids in restaurants
I don't have a problem with well behaved children and their parents having a nice quiet civilised meal together. Even a little bit of childish excitement is OK, as long as they don't go too mad. Some parents let their kids run wild though.
25-Aug-10 15:52

Chips from snack vans are too expensive
I went to the Sunderland Airshow, a great event I must have but what does let it down in the price of food.from the snack vans. My sister got four small trays of chips and she was shocked when it came to £8!
30-Jul-10 13:48

Starbucks coffee not as strong as it used to be
Can someone please tell me what's the deal with Starbucks these days? The coffee certainly isn't as strong as it used to be in my opinion, and I sometimes need another couple of shots of espresso before it's drinkable.
8-Jul-10 15:31

Nothing worse than smelly garlic breath
Why do people eat garlic? There's nothing worse than sitting next to a garlic eater. It's one of those things that people eat and they just reek of it for days afterwards and they don't seem to even realise.
22-Jun-10 16:14

Pubs advertise a big portion size but don't deliver
Expecting a reasonably large platter we were a little underwhelmed when the waitress came towards our table carrying what looked like a very small breadboard with two mini bowls on...
9-Nov-09 16:46

Strawberry jam not like it used to be
Whatever has happened to Strawberry Jam in this day and age? At one time you could go to a supermarket and buy posh jam - conserve, or preserve, or whatever it's called. Inside, you used to get lots of strawberries.
7-Aug-09 09:48

Restaurant rip-off, high prices and small portions
Eating out in a restaurant these days is becoming quite expensive and in some places you really don't get much for your money. Why do we allow these restaurants to continually rip us off?
3-Aug-09 11:01

Bar staff can't pull a pint properly
For those of you who have worked in bars before you will know that there is a level of skill required to pull a pint properly, especially with Guinness. These days, however, bar staff rarely take care to pour a pint properly.
19-Feb-09 09:38

Free samples of food for disgusting customers
I encounter some of the most disgusting customers in the grocery store where I work. They grab the bread with their fingers instead of the tongs and proceed to lick their fingers and try to put their hand back in the sample basket.
9-Oct-08 19:25

Bad onions from the corner shop
The corner shop or convenience store will often come in really handy when you need something and everywhere else is shut, but always check the best before date and the freshness of produce before you leave.
3-Sep-08 17:47

Harry Ramsden's Kids meal - £4.49 for a sausage!
My friend and I visited Harry Ramsden's at Blackpool with our two year old daughters. We explained to the waiter that our children wouldn't eat a full meal, so could we just have 2 sausages and they could have some of our chips.
24-Jul-08 14:20

Pizza - poor quality, no apology from staff
I'm very tired of spending my hard earned money in establishments that are less than courteous and unwilling to make amends when the give poor service or sell you a poor quality product.
14-May-08 19:11

Wine price mark up in restaurants spoil the meal
Having just come back from New Zealand where wine in restaurants is commonly priced at 50% above the retail price (up to 100% in smarter establishments), I realise that we are being ripped off in Britain.
20-Apr-08 17:39

KFC wouldn't serve me tap water
I was refused tap water on the grounds that 'Health and Safety' regulations meant they were not allowed to serve it. Sheltering behind this pathetic and untrue type of excuse makes me see red.
25-Feb-08 20:29

The French and their food
Only the French could be so arrogant and ignorant at the same time about food. They believe they do everything best and food is just one small example. What they are good at is promoting themselves!
13-Feb-08 23:26

Snobby wine drinkers only fool themselves
It made me smile when 'experts' appeared on Sky News recently saying that some wine drinkers are consuming far more alcohol than they realise and their livers may suffer in the long run. You don't say!
11-Feb-08 16:59

Demise of the traditional British chippy
What ever happened to the traditional British chippy? These days if you're out for a night on the tiles and have a hankering for some fish and chips at pub closing time, the chances are you will be out of luck.
17-Nov-07 14:10

Unable to buy White Stilton cheese
Why am I not able to buy White Stilton at my local whitely store? I've requested this cheese over and over again at all my main supermarkets but to no avail. There's nothing that can beat a basic White Stilton served with fresh fruit.
12-Sep-07 22:11

Disposable coffee cups and the environment
Whether yours is a take out skinny on the way to the office or an instant thrown down from the machine at work, chances are you’re joining the 85% of Australian adults who drink at least one cup of coffee a day.
29-May-07 23:50

There are alternatives to gelatin
It is sometimes very difficult it is to find certain products that are vegetarian friendly. For example gelatin is still used by most mainstream companies in certain foods and sweets, even though there are plenty of suitable alternatives.
27-Apr-07 16:06

Lewes Arms boycott after Harveys Best removed
Last December Greene King removed our local beer Harvey’s Best from one of its pubs The Lewes Arms. Along with many other locals I now drink elsewhere now, but I miss the pub’s features and clientele.
26-Feb-07 14:07

Unprofessional staff at pizza place
I can safely say that the absolute poorest customer service I have ever received was at my local Papa Johns pizza restaurant when I went in to pick up a takeaway meal.
8-Feb-07 12:33

Complain at the appropriate time
I am amazed at the comments I have been reading on this site. I have concluded that the British public have a lot to learn regarding the proper way to complain and how to communicate properly at the appropriate time.
16-Jan-07 15:46

Where are all our English apples?
Where are the English Apples? We have a wonderful selection grown right here in the UK, surely it makes sense to stand behind our home grown produce. It's a shame the supermarkets do not consider English apples commercially viable.
11-Oct-06 01:09

Bottled water a pointless waste of money
Bottled water, it's just another pointless way to throw your money away. The public has been duped into buying this stuff, which often is manufactured in industrial estates despite pictures of idyllic vales appearing on the labels.
11-Sep-06 17:17

Brewers Fayre family pubs
We decided to try the Brewers Fayre pub up the road one afternoon because our usual, The Hungry Horse was full to capacity. The Brewers Fayre was more expensive, but the food definitely wasn’t better!
10-Sep-06 20:15

Disgusting standards of hygiene in pubs
I am totally appalled by the disgusting hygiene in pubs. It is common for bar staff to eat behind the bar and when being disturbed by a customer, give their fingers a good lick before handing the customer his glass by the rim.
26-Jul-06 12:23

Why is lime and soda so expensive at the pub?
The Harvester restaurants chain are taking the mickey aren't they? I recently visited one of their pubs and was charged an outragious two pounds for a non alcoholic lime and soda! Does anyone else think this is expensive?
12-Jul-06 13:24

Tipping in restaurants, should we or shouldn't we?
You shouldn’t have to pay a tip for the food, because you have already paid for it and the waiters and waitresses are paid by the restaurant to serve the food. Why the need for this extra service charge?
5-Jul-06 19:58

Real ale shunned by young people
There’s a lot of talk about binge drinking, underage drinking, twenty-four hour drinking and the rest of it. But why is it that the younger generation shun real ales in favour of vodka based drinks?
4-Jul-06 14:21

Steak pie with big chunks of meat - misleading ads
Do you think that this steak pie looks really appetizing? Can you see the tender pieces of juicy steak in a rich gravy as advertised on the packaging? Nope, I didn't see that much meat in there either!
16-Jun-06 12:55

Burger vans are a rip off - food is too expensive
Mobile catering, snack food places and burger vans are a right rip off. How can they justify charging three quid for an unappealing cheeseburger and who do they think they are kidding?
7-Jun-06 21:28

Fast food advertising tricks make burgers look good
You see them all the time. The photo shows a nice juicy burger with melted cheese, but what you get looks absolutely nothing like the picture. It's all just an advertising trick.
19-Apr-06 15:49

Screaming kids at the restaurant
I can understand new parents not knowing what to do in certain situations, but when we are trying to have a family meal in a restaurant, why does there always have to be a screaming brat who doesnt like vegetables?
28-Mar-06 16:18

Phones in the office interrupting my lunch break
Isn’t it very annoying when you’re sat at your desk in the office having your lunch, when you get frequently interrupted by constant ringing of other peoples’ phones
13-Feb-06 16:22

Some pubs not family friendly, children not welcome
Children in pubs - Some pubs really are not that family friendly. I was due to meet friends for lunch a and I had my thirteen year old child with me and to be honest, I am very disappointed by the way the bar staff at this pub treated us.
2-Dec-05 22:12

Vegetarians are a pain to cook for at a BBQ
Vegetarians and vegans, when they turn up for lunch it can be a right pain trying to figure out what to feed them, especially when they turn up to a BBQ. What to you give them, the salad bowl?
20-Sep-05 16:58

Why do people waste so much food?
Wasting food is a sin in my opinion. I really hate it when I see people at a restaurant throwing good food away. People are starving and they are just wasting perfectly good nosh right in front of me.
29-Aug-05 17:02

24 hour drinking in the UK would not be sensible
The introduction of 24 hour drinking in this country is a ridiculous idea. It will only lead to more trouble and more violence on the streets.
20-Aug-05 15:26

Restaurants that can't cook steak properly
Steak restaurants can be very inconsistent in the way they cook their food. Why is it so difficult to find a restaurant that knows how to cook a decent steak? By a 'decent steak', I mean one that is cooked exactly to your liking.
3-Aug-05 16:38

Restaurants with slow or otherwise poor service
I hate waiting. I wouldn't call myself impatient, but it really winds me up when you have to wait 45 minutes to be served a first course at a restaurant.
28-Jul-05 23:04

Short change by bar staff buying a round of drinks
I’ve been short changed when ordering a round of drinks at the bar on many an occasion. Okay, I admit that sometimes I’ve been out with friends and we’ve all been a bit merry and I haven’t checked my change until it was too late.
20-Jul-05 16:04

How to get chewing gum out of clothes
It really annoys me when I get chewing gum stuck in my clothes, so many pairs of trousers and tops ruined. Fortunately I've found a chewing gum removal tip that really works!
9-Jul-05 14:34

No alcohol free beer in pubs
It looks like it’s really not cool to be tee total in Britain. If you fancy an alcohol free night out and want to take the car there really isn't much to choose from at the pub when it comes to drinks. Where's the alcohol free beer?
1-Jun-05 14:09

Sandwiches from the shop are too expensive
Sandwich shops are a real rip off these days. They charge you a fortune for a couple of pieces of limp bread stuffed with cheap filler that basically consists of lettuce and salad. Where's all that yummy meat and cheese or whatever?
9-Aug-04 15:22