Restaurant abroad? 3 tips that can improve the experience

Bloomberg Opinion – If you live alone and don’t know how to cook, you probably go to a lot of restaurants. So, you have to learn how to navigate between restaurants, and the rules tend to change according to location, category and season – with new rules evolving as the world changes.

Here are 3 tips to improve this experience:

Relationship with the waiter

Picture this: You’ve finally got a reservation at that critically acclaimed restaurant and you’re itching for dinner, studying the menu, and trying to remember reviews and recommendations from friends. You nervously begin to place your order. Then you noticed your servant looking at you strangely.

The mistake many customers make is to respond with hostility to the perception of arrogance in waiters. If I feel like I’m being judged, I try to brush off any discomfort. I calmly ask for advice or more details about the dish to justify my order. All good restaurants train their staff on the menu, and often provide a sample of the food to the waiter so they can speak with some authority when customers ask questions.

I’ve always relied on the kindness of restaurants. Most of the time, they are very kind. Don’t be afraid to ask questions politely. It is worth feigning ignorance. If you’re in a fine dining restaurant, you’ll likely get a lesson in good taste and the chefs’ gastronomic philosophies.

There was food left at the end

You ordered too much food. Delicious as it is, you can’t finish it. In Chinese restaurants, you can say “dàbao” – which literally means “wrapper” – and your food will come back packed to go. New York restaurants will also accommodate your order without a second thought. But in London, it’s complicated.

More sophisticated restaurants generally prepare dishes carefully divided into portions for one person. But what if you’re full? Can’t you take her home? Isn’t this also what we should do in the name of sustainability?

In the UK, the answer is ‘no’, either because restaurants do not provide containers for leftover food or because they feel they do not want to be held responsible for food taken from their premises. What if a client gets sick?

The debate has been going on for some time and focuses on a few points: Restaurants claim that they are not obligated to provide containers for you to take home the food you ordered; Or compare the ban to rules that prevent customers from taking unfinished bottles of wine or liquor for later consumption.

I agree that alcohol can alter consciousness in ways that can affect the safety of those who consume it, but the food the restaurant just serves is different. If it’s bad, the customer won’t want to take it home. It will go to waste if no one wants it.

The policies are inconsistent, so I adopted a simple solution: I always take a container with me to take leftovers when I can’t eat them all.

Rules for every restaurant

I recently reserved a table for four so that two friends and I could have dinner in a virtually inaccessible restaurant. After that, two other friends expressed interest in having dinner, as they had never been to the restaurant before. So, I called the restaurant and asked for another seat at the table – months before the event date – but my request was denied.

I tried countless times after that, but the answer was always the same. I ended up giving up my seat at the table so my four friends could enjoy the restaurant.

I finally discovered that the limit was five seats per table, which was the chef’s requirement.

Once I arrived in New York, I called one of my favorite restaurants to ask for three seats at the bar for Valentine’s Day. Unfortunately, the chef decided that – for the romantic getaway – there would only be double bookings.

Valentine’s Day has always been an issue for me. Maybe that’s why I eat dinner alone and try not to have tables for three.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Howard Chua Ewan is a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion who writes about culture and business. He previously served as international editor at Bloomberg Opinion and was news director at Time magazine.

See more at bloomberg.com

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