Is this food/wine any good?

When you go to a bar/restaurant, do you ask the waiter if a dish/drink/wine is any good?

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I mean seriously, what server/waiter/waitress worth half their weight in plonk (low grade wine) would actually answer NO, that dish/wine is bad.  I mean seriously…

But WTG, what if I am curious about a dish and want to know if it is any good?  Shouldn’t the server tell me the truth???

NOOOO!!!!  Sure the server is working for a tip & presumably that server will not want to steer you wrong.  BUT once you leave the restaurant that server has a boss to answer to & if that boss hears the server saying anything negative about the food at the establishment said server will likely be unemployed.

The best solution would be to ask for a taste of the dish/wine in question.  In the case of foods this may be difficult, but with most wines that are served by the glass at restaurants or wine bars you should be able to get a taste.

At restaurants I like to employ 2 strategies.  The first, if I have a specific dish in mind, is to ask the server if they have had the dish.  (Many servers only eat from community dishes prepared in advance of their shift for the whole staff.)  If they have, ask if they enjoyed it and would order it again.  This way the server can tell you that they might not have enjoyed it or they might not order it again, without saying that it is not good (or heaven forbid BAD).

The next strategy I like to take, and the one I favor most hoping to get the restaurant’s BEST dish is to ask the server what their favorite is, or what they would order if they were eating dinner and I was paying.  This really gets them to open up & generally lets you know if you take their recommendation that you are likely to end up with a good dish.

Happy tasty food & wine tasting!

WTG

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