Here's a dilemma: So, I'm out at a local restaurant recently with my boss who's treating me and my co-workers to a holiday lunch. The restaurant was busy, but not crazy busy - meaning there wasn't a line at the door and not every table was filled.
My boss, the first one there, orders apps for the table and then we ordered our lunch entrees. The entrees took a while, but since we're chatting, the delay wasn't so bothersome. My grilled salmon came and when I took a bite, I noticed it was dry and had an unpleasant, bitter taste. I flipped the fish over - and it was burned. I'm talking charred crispy black.
This was a dish that never, ever, should have left the kitchen.
It was a bummer and I showed it to a colleague sitting next to me. (He was delighted with his meal as was the rest of the party at the table.) We actual laughed that it was quite obvious that I was getting no preferential treatment. A manager came over to the table to ask how everything was. For a moment, I debated whether to say something. We were in a celebratory mood and sending something back could have put a damper on the festivities. But serving a customer this entree was, in my opinion, unacceptable. I showed him my fish and he made a joke that "I don't think you ordered it blackened" and whisked it away. An order of two jumbo shrimp was brought while I waited for a replacement.
My meal finally came when everyone was nearly finished. To be honest, I no longer felt like eating the fish and it was awkward to have a full plate of food when the rest of the table was through with their meal. Then, I tried to hurry through it because everyone else was ready to move on to coffee and dessert.
While I did my duty as a food writer and pointed out a problem, do you think there are times when you SHOULDN'T send back a dish?
I remember once during a business meeting at a restaurant I was served rare tuna that was FROZEN in the middle. I didn't say anything - just took a few bites and moved food around my plate. Why? We were in the middle of an important conversation. I'm quite certain that complaining about my food and sending it back in mid-conversation would have changed the dynamic of an important dinner.
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This is always tricky for diners, under the best of circumstances. It is very uncomfortable. You did right. We had the same experience just the other night at a holiday diner party with an organization hosting at a local Wilmington restaurant of some renown. One member of our party ordered a steak medium--pink in the middle. It came practically raw--red and cold inside. He sent it back. It came back charred--cooked through. He sent it back. A brand new piece of meat came back this time rare again. He sent it back for a third time. Finally, on the fourth try, it came back O.K. What a bummer. The rest of us had long finished by the time his came. It did sort of spoil the evening a bit for everyone. Made the hostess kind of anxious. They did not charge for the steak. That was a very smart move on their part.
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