Cooking
A great meal at a restaurant is pure joy. It is an orchestrated performance. I am amazed at the amount of hard work and attention to detail involved to ensure that a dining experience goes smoothly.
In reviewing restaurants I try to cut some slack because I know it's very hard to control every detail. Sometimes when things go wrong, it's not even the restaurant's fault. It just takes so little to throw the whole thing off. That said I do have a list of pet peeves when it comes to restaurant dining. These are some irritating trends and practices that restaurants actually can have some control over.
Here are my restaurant pet peeves:
Ok, that's my list! Have I missed anything? Am I out of line on any of these? If so, let me know. For a list of what a certain waiter hates about diners, check out this post at Waiter Rant. Next week I promise a list of things that I truly appreciate.
- Restaurant Best Practices
So last week I ranted against what drives me crazy in restaurants. But it takes very little to make me happy and want to come back again. The following list is of the those very things that I appreciate when dining out: Being made to feel genuinely welcome...
- Isa: Restaurant Review
Much as I complain about the Chronicle's Top 100 Restaurant list, I can't help but want to try every restaurant on the list, just to be sure. The Chronicle has been raving about Isa for years and chef Luke Sung was twice nominated as a rising...
- Rnm:restaurant Review Closed
After all the festivities of November and December who wants to eat out in January? Well, I do! And you will too especially if you take advantage of Dine About Town a January promotion whereby you can eat in a whole roster of terrific restaurants for...
- Secret Menu!
Psst, secret menu, pass it on! Have you ever suspected that a restaurant had a secret menu? Or maybe just a menu that was in another language? Growing up my family frequented a Chinese restaurant where the waiter or manager would order for us, because...
- Perusing The Wine List, The Wine News, August/september 2005
The August/September issue of The Wine News is running a feature of mine about wine list prices. I originally pitched a piece on what makes a good wine list, but since the piece ended up in the feature well, and not the comment columns. I decided to keep...
Cooking
Restaurant Pet Peeves
A great meal at a restaurant is pure joy. It is an orchestrated performance. I am amazed at the amount of hard work and attention to detail involved to ensure that a dining experience goes smoothly.
In reviewing restaurants I try to cut some slack because I know it's very hard to control every detail. Sometimes when things go wrong, it's not even the restaurant's fault. It just takes so little to throw the whole thing off. That said I do have a list of pet peeves when it comes to restaurant dining. These are some irritating trends and practices that restaurants actually can have some control over.
Here are my restaurant pet peeves:
- A well done steak or burger when it was ordered "rare"
Wobbly tables
Bread cut only halfway, instead of into slices
Charging $25 for a main dish and then $5 for a side of vegetables
Over salted or not properly seasoned food
Bad attitude at the host station
$10 cocktails
Servers who interrupt conversation at the table
Tea bags served with water that is not boiling hot
Having to ask for water more than twice
Tables that are way too close to each other
When the server doesn't know who ordered what
$9 desserts
Not getting the right utensils, don't make me ask for a soup spoon
Too many specials being mentioned to possibly remember them
$5 for an individual pot of tea
Lighting so dim that you need a flashlight to read the menu
Dishes being cleared before everyone has finished eating
300%+ markup on wine
Incorrect descriptions of menu items
Super loud Mariachi bands
Hot food served cold and vice versa
600%+ markup on bottled water
Enormously large desserts
Ok, that's my list! Have I missed anything? Am I out of line on any of these? If so, let me know. For a list of what a certain waiter hates about diners, check out this post at Waiter Rant. Next week I promise a list of things that I truly appreciate.
- Restaurant Best Practices
So last week I ranted against what drives me crazy in restaurants. But it takes very little to make me happy and want to come back again. The following list is of the those very things that I appreciate when dining out: Being made to feel genuinely welcome...
- Isa: Restaurant Review
Much as I complain about the Chronicle's Top 100 Restaurant list, I can't help but want to try every restaurant on the list, just to be sure. The Chronicle has been raving about Isa for years and chef Luke Sung was twice nominated as a rising...
- Rnm:restaurant Review Closed
After all the festivities of November and December who wants to eat out in January? Well, I do! And you will too especially if you take advantage of Dine About Town a January promotion whereby you can eat in a whole roster of terrific restaurants for...
- Secret Menu!
Psst, secret menu, pass it on! Have you ever suspected that a restaurant had a secret menu? Or maybe just a menu that was in another language? Growing up my family frequented a Chinese restaurant where the waiter or manager would order for us, because...
- Perusing The Wine List, The Wine News, August/september 2005
The August/September issue of The Wine News is running a feature of mine about wine list prices. I originally pitched a piece on what makes a good wine list, but since the piece ended up in the feature well, and not the comment columns. I decided to keep...