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The Question
When it comes to dining out, does superb quality of food make up for subpar service, or does stellar service make up for lackluster food?
It’s been a long time since we had a meal out as these days it’s not practical as Hubby still has digestive issues.
However, saying that, we have never minded paying a little extra for quality, but we resent being ripped off. When ordering a main course and being presented with a tiny portion of just that on a plate and having to pay extra for vegetables is a cheek too far, as is having your meal doing the breast stroke in gravy to fill out the plate. That was one of the reasons we enjoyed a carvery because the chef carved your meat (and we would ask for a slice of each) and you helped yourself to veg, sauces and gravy. It was also good for the Mums because again they could have what they wanted, so it was a regular haunt for Mothers Day and birthdays.
Pre Hubby, I can remember sending a steak back to the kitchen because it stank. My plate was returned to me less several ‘samples’ of said steak as tried by the chef and his assistant, but still the original offensive item. I left it, and refused to pay for it, but paid for everyone else’s.
They were shut down a week or so later, though that was nothing to do with me.
Before we moved to Lincolnshire, Hubby and I went into a small cafe in Weymouth where an all day breakfast was a fiver. It was not the most suave and sophisticated of places as none of the cutlery or crockery matched, but everything was clean, the food hot and cooked fresh, there was plenty of it and tea was in a mug.
When we were house hunting in Wales, we came across a little cafe called Rumbletums.
We ordered bangers and mash which came nicely arranged on a plate with onion gravy. We were ready to tuck in when the rest came out…….. a bowl of roast potatoes, cabbage, carrots, peas and cauliflower. Cost? £4 each.
Sadly Rumbletums was a carpet shop last time we visited.
When we first moved to Lincolnshire, we found an all you can eat Chinese buffet. For £6, you could go up as many times as you liked to the buffet, the stipulation being you could only have one dessert.
If you overloaded your plate and left it, the restaurant had a notice to say they would charge you for an extra meal for wastage. It was good quality food, a lot of choice and we only took what we wanted, knowing we could go back for more if we wished. Desserts were not so varied, mainly ice cream, fruit and jelly. However, it was a regular monthly treat for us until they closed.
We have also been known to walk out of a restaurant as the service was so bad. We were shown to our table and ignored (not even asked for drinks) so after half an hour, we left.
In short, we expect a reasonable meal for a reasonable price with good service, as service counts regardless. I am pleased to say we have had far more positive experiences than negative in a variety of establishments over our 32 years together.
pensitivity101 
I walked out once but it’s rare that people I’m with would do the same. We’ve only been out once in the past two years and the place was empty but good good.
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Thanks Cheryl. It’s been a while (almost 2 years) since we had a meal out, even in a cafe.
We went out for our anniversary dinner. We were seated and promptly forgotten. Another table was seated and about 3 min. later a waiter arrived and gave them water and fresh baked bread. I made eye contact with the waiter and I must have telegraphed my annoyance very clearly. We were given multiple apologies, bread, water and a free appetizer. Since we had been waiting so long we had already selected our meals. It was an expensive restaurant – we won’t be going back. The service was poor and the food was very mediocre….
It’s such a disappointment when that happens.
Interesting that you mentioned the quantity that some places serve. A ‘meal’ (to me) fills the damned plate, it’s not a tiny piece of fish or meat, paired with a single potato or a tiny amount of vegetable. When I was a young woman there was a diner type place that was run by a husband and wife. They were the faded stars of some old Western TV show or something, and the place had celebrity photos of the two on the walls, along with signed autographs of several big stars. They had individual table top jukeboxes in each booth full of 40s and 50s hits.
You could go in there and get a full meal… Soup or salad or both if you wanted, fresh rolls (which they’d replenish), actual butter pats on ice in a small dish, an entree with a sizeable amount of meat or fish or breakfast food (like an omelet? Filled the entire plate side to side), generous amount of mashed potatoes and gravy, a generous portion of vegetables, a drink and dessert all for one price. I’ve been to one other place in the past three decades that did all that, but everyone else parcels them out like your example of the cheek in asking additional money for vegetables and so forth.
It’s sure not like it used to be. 😦
Rumbletums and our greasy Joe cafe were the best value for money we experienced in a long while. We’ve been to other restaurants
where the food and service have been good, but a bit on the pricey side. The carvery has always been good value, but it can be hit and miss for quality of meat sometimes.
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