Posted on 06/03/2010 8:10:12 PM PDT by Stoat
(edit) Details of the techniques that restaurateurs use to make customers part with their senses and money have been revealed by monthly food magazine, Olive. Here are the top ten tricks and some advice from the experts who compiled the list to help avoid overspending: 1 MENU MANIPULATION: Techniques include putting items the restaurant is keen to promote in the right-hand corner where the eye is drawn or putting costly dishes next to even more expensive ones, making them appear comparatively good value. ADVICE: Don't fall for the cleverly laid- out menu. And be wary of French terms, often used to make dishes sound more exotic and justify a higher price tag (eg creme Anglaise means a light custard). 2 TARGETING WOMEN WITH THE DESSERT MENU: Waiters may gush about a dessert because they know women often respond better to recommendations. ADVICE: Look out for words like 'warm' and 'indulgent' which try and pander to female dispositions. 3 CHEF'S LEFTOVERS: Some businesses will use the specials board to charge a premium for day-old or two-day-old food. ADVICE: Avoid fish-based or creamy soups which are regular dumping grounds for scraps where flavours can be easily disguised, and fishcakes, particularly the stronger tasting Thai variety.
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(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Gnight
That’s why I never order ice with my soda/pop/coke!
Dude- that looks like a slab of meatloaf on top of mashed potato’s and cooked carrots. Mmmmm... wait, where’s the ketchup?
hehe ;-)
supposedly it’s a photo of steak and whisky but right now I could certainly go for some meatloaf.
I think that if the food nazis outlaw meatloaf there will be a true civil war here in the USA....guns and bullets and steak knives everywhere ;-)
Dang - it’s one of those slow loaders - but I will check it out.
Night, My. C ya later. Sleep well.
You are right - esp. if you are in Mexico. A close relative drank margaritas that were being served in the market to ‘advertise’ the tequila, (he couldn’t turn down a FREE margarita - blended).
He became VERY ill with ameobic dysentary - and it took months to recover.
May I also add: NEVER say ‘yes’ when they offer you lemon in your water. (Unless you know for a fact that the lemon was thoroughly washed before it was cut, and the hands that squeezed it into your water were sanitized immediately before.)
>>Fast food is the worst offender of this = you can get a Burger King Jr. Whopper for just a buck, but if you add fries and a drink you’re paying $4.91. If you’re a road warrior and must dashboard dine, keep a stash of bottled drinks and a bag of chips in your car and ask for a glass of ice cubes which may at most cost you a dime.
*****
I love ya gal. GMTA. That’s why I have a clean In N Out cola cup in the P/UP for those refillables pops on the highway when I get thirsty. You pay almost $6 for the meal eventually..
Yeah, but on a darker note, the food nazi’s might not get the chance at the rate things are going down.
I don't know..."light custard" sounds pretty exotic to me.
No fish dishes on Monday, especially on special, even more especially if it’s in a sauce or cajun (to cover up the fishyness).
I think Anthony Bourdaine wrote that advice because fish markets are typically closed on Sunday. My experience is that the fish was delivered to the restaurant perhaps three times a week, so Monday’s meal might have been in the fridge since Friday.
I must admit I'm partial to the brown rubber whites.
At least this article isn't overly PC. I know plenty of feminist harpies who would be adamant that the above statement is sexist.
Agreed.....I’m in Soviet Seattle, the city which includes the University of Washington, the first Uni to offer degree programs in ‘womens’ studies’.
If a newspaper were to print something like that around here, the building would be burned to the ground and the author lynched and his head stuck on a pike at the entrance to a dyke bar.
There are at least a few other big UK papers which occasionally stray off the Leftist reservation ;-)
There is a Chinese restaurant a mile from where I live that is perfect for a good meal/date/etc. It has a lot of customers and does it right. A storefront look on the outside and only ethnic Chinese people cooking, serving tables, etc. in the big inside. Their advertisement is by the customers they served. Great food done by the only people that know how to do it. The are wealthy and into advanced degrees during the day. Like we used to be.
Why don’t you and an unshaven friend go into a dyke bar and order a couple of beers based on being thirsty? I and a friend walked into a Hell’s Angel’s bar and ordered a few beers. When those guys found out we were Active Duty we had nachos and a few pool games to go with the beers.
It’s just I’m getting charged $1.95 for a glass of coke, and half of it is filled with ice/water....
It also may have been languishing in the fridge for a while if they don't serve much of it.
I worked in the restaurant supply biz for a number of years and I will tell you that Monday is the worst day to eat out. Restaurants rarely get deliveries over the weekend and usually will order their food on Monday and not get a delivery until Tuesday. So that fish you order on Monday was shipped on Friday.
I have never in my life order wine in a restaurant because the prices are simply outrageous. If I wannna get ripped off on a drink I’ll get a coke at Disney World! LOL
Wow..I'm in Seattle too, and attended the University of Washington AND actually took an introductory Women's Studies course there (I went through an embarrassing leftist "phase" in my late high school/early college years). I once sheepishly expressed my reservations about the anti-male tone of the materials...my grade in the class magically plummeted, seemingly irrespective of the classwork I turned in.
But that mindset truly is pervasive around here regionally, women of all age groups and occupations are convinced that sexism is everywhere around them...yet those same women are blind to the anti-male sexism that defines their very character.
"Ethnic" cuisines outside their countries of origin do best when members of the diaspora are doing the cooking. I've had good Chinese meals in places as diverse as Costa Rica and France that weren't dumbed down for the locals. Ditto a wonderful Lebanese meal I had in Chiapas (southern Mexico), cooked by a Maronite who came down there to open an auto parts store, but, thankfully for my tastebuds, decided to open a restaurant instead.
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