Marketman is currently conducting a poll that goes:
If you are eating out at a medium priced restaurant and find a hair in your food, do you…
* Just remove it, set it aside, and go on eating.
* Call a waiter over, show him/her the hair, and ask for the dish to be replaced.
* Ignore the hair; it could, after all, be your own.
* Ask for the Manager and expect that they will give you a break on your bill.
* Lose your appetite and sulk the rest of the meal while your companions finish eating.
I was going to participate until I realized that what I would do was not among the choices provided.
So, what would I do if I were eating in a medium-priced restaurant and I found a hair in my food? First, I’d stay silent while I take close-up photos. of the food with the hair. Then, I will have the waiter call the manager without returning the food — yet. When the manager arrives, I will point out the hair to him making sure that those seated in nearby tables can overhear. Then, I will stand up and leave. Then, I will post the photo with a write up in my blog.
If you view the poll results, 132 people or 68% of the respondents (as of the time of the posting of this entry), say that they will “Call a waiter over, show him/her the hair, and ask for the dish to be replaced”. I wouldn’t do that. I pay attention to inside information (not the kind provided by “sources who refuse to be named” that local media often dish out). If you’ve read Anthony Bourdain’s book “Kitchen Confidential”, you would know that it isn’t a good idea to antagonize restaurant people especially if you still intend to eat in their establishment after posting your complaint. Why? According to Bourdain, stories like waiters and chefs spitting on your food are not fiction. Besides, chances are, they will simply remove the hair and serve the same thing to you.
So, there.
P.S. I’m wondering why the poll specifies “medium-sized restaurant”. Is there a presumption that in cheap restaurants, finding a hair or similar things are the rule rather than the exception so that people who eat there are used to it and don’t bother complaining? Is there also a presumption that these things don’t happen in expensive restaurants?
Maybe for hair, it can be done that way. Take a photo and leave. Once B and I ate at this pancit restaurant along E Rodriquez. I suddenly felt my teeth crunch metal. Ugh . We called the waiter to call the manager. I showed the manager my spit. He was apologetic and he gave us a new dish. Upon investigation, the metal came from the chinese sausage which was stringed together.In this case, i think it’s best to inform the manager NOT the waiter. And we didn’t have to pay for the bill.
Things like that should be publicized.
I don’t think calling a waiter over and asking for a dish to be replaced is necessarily antagonizing the staff. Any restaurant that is looking to provide good service to its customers would be apologetic, replace the food and look into their cleanliness. If a restaurant was already staffed with jokers, they already likely violating your food even if you didn’t return a hair-y dish (think: Fight Club).
And RE medium-sized restaurant … maybe because action-required is most ambiguous there? If the restaurant is cheap, I wouldn’t mind too much; and if the restaurant is really pricy you HAVE to make a fuss of some sort.
Well, it’s really hard working in a resto. If I found hair on my food, of course, I’ll just ask a replacement for it. But not really make a fuss, if I’ll be treated well by the staff and the manager after the hair-on-food incident. No use making a big deal out of it. Unless of course it’s cockroach that I find. Haha.
Scary but true. I’ve read parts of Bourain’s work (in Reader’s Digest) and his unsavory view on restaurants made me lose interest in eating out for some time.
And yeah, I never thought of that strategy. Thanks for pointing it out.
Connie,
You said it pefectly well.
Many readers would be surprised to know the truth that waiters would love to do something on your food if they sense you are not nice to them. In two radio programs, waiters called in to say what they did and the most common was spitting in your food….ew……….
So, please next time…. be kind to your waiters. Of course, management would not even know it. These waiters don’t want to get fired but you can bet they will try to get even…. and that is your food.
It is another way of saying that the waiter should be on the top of your list to have your pleasing attention, if you can’t …. then just leave.
Never mess with the person who hands you your food.
Ahay….am back…..this is not to exaggerate.
The day I heard those waiters over the radio, we just stopped eating outside for a while.
I would do the same thing Connie. Even though restaurants here gets inspected thoroughly and get grades I’m afraid to get my food replaced just in case.
hi dexie.yeah. if we were talking about SEALED FOOD, a replacement would be fine. But plated food? Ngek.
If only for the hair perhaps I’d do the 2nd one but if it’s a fly or some other unsightly thing, I’d do the second option, minus asking for replacement, plus never to eat in that resto again.
I must’ve been so naive (or stupid) not to think of what those people might do then. Back in the 70′s, we were eating in a very nice restaurant in Makati when I found a big fly in my palabok. I was quite upset, but the waiter apologized, and I agreed to a replacement. Ewwwwwwww! How dumb!! I will never do that again.