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Occasionally, I enjoy a meal out with friends and family, however, if it is a MEAL you're paying for, then surely, a meal is what you should get. My gripe is that there seems to be a wide variation in not the standard of food as such in British restaurants, but the value and quantity of food.
Recently, I was invited by friends to dine at what used to be a village pub but is now a restaurant with hyped up prices, but I did not choose the venue so I went along with it. I selected fish pie from a specials board and a soup starter. Although the soup was OK I would not say it was of special note, however the fish pie was a joke.
Imagine an ordinary bowl-shaped coffee cup, with flaked fish at the bottom and the remainder topped up with mashed potato. THAT was my fish pie and it came with just a small ramekin with a few leaves of kale on a very large plate. This tasty, but minuscule morsel was 12 worth according to the specials board, but not to me. I wouldn't have paid half, in fact, it was so small it was more like a child's portion. Another friend ordered the same and half way through eating it, the waitress came round and asked if everything was OK. My friend said 'Lovely, what there is of it ...'
I avoid going back to these restaurants...
My sentiments exactly, but as we were with a group, none of us wanted to make a fuss, so we did what us Brits do best, put up and shut up. The chef / restaurant owner in this case had got away with it again, another ripped off customer. In fact, my share of the bill which did include a glass of red wine came to 27. I left feeling aggrieved and hungry.
This has happened to me time and time again, and I avoid going back to these restaurants because they're just not good value for money. But I ask; why do we all accept this silly less is more' nonsense? It's King's new clothes alright, but people are blind to it and accept this rip-off practise; the just eat the food, pay the bill and say nothing. If I dine out I need a meal to satisfy my hunger, not a piece of art, decoratively laid out on a plate so I can take pictures of it. Wake up England, make a fuss, you are being ripped off, the King really IS naked!
By: Stavanger9
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If i had got the chip and drink along would have been £4 so I paid £5.50just for a burger which wasnt worth that much. I was so tempted to speak to the staff but I ate it all so can't complain
Rick Stein, on the other hand, just calls it "bo11ocks"!
What annoys me on the few occasions I come across one of these plates is how they pile it all up, usually with something soft, like designer mash, on the bottom, with the meat on the top so you have to disassemble the stack before you can eat it.
Why do they all do these nasty little skid marks of sauce on the plate? They put a tiny blob of sauce on and then smear it with the back of a spoon. What's the point? It looks messy and unappetising. If it isn't good then why bother and if it is good then an amount of sauce that is about the equivalent of an old fashioned coffee spoon isn't going to be enough. Put a decent amount on or leave it off.
And what is this new thing - foam? Every programme or menu suddenly has foam of this or that. It looks like cuckoo spit! I don't think I have even seen anything so unappealing on a plate. Nasty and pointless.
Why did you book a table from someone who was being rude to you?
We have lunches with groups of 10 or more at least once or twice a week and we were prepared to give Zest regular business, but because of their attitude over the phone and in the restaurant, they have now lost themselves a whole lot of business.
There are some "all you can eat" buffet restaurants that at first thought, you might think would serve cheap , poor quality , bad tasting, badly cooked food ( I agree there are many ) but some restaurants do freshly cooked dishes as you order. Maybe for £15 or so a head, with a few drinks ( which is what they usually profit on ) totalling £20-£30 , you will be walking out rubbing your jolly belly like santa claus.
respect
same with motor bikes noise fumes and kill people we never comment .