When you sit down at a restaurant, you expect professional chefs to deliver standout dishes every time. Yet some menu items consistently fall flat, leaving you wishing you’d chosen differently. From soggy sides to overcooked mains, these 12 dishes are notorious for disappointing patrons. Keep reading to learn which foods to skip and what to order instead. Maybe cooking at home is a much better option.
Note: The content of this article does not reflect the Writer's personal beliefs.
Calamaris and octopus
Unfortunately, many restaurants get their calamari and octopus dishes wrong. No, this type of seafood is not supposed to be rubbery, but tender. When this happens, it is often because it has been overcooked.
Fish on Mondays
No problem with eating fish on most days of the week, except for Mondays. Fish markets are usually closed on the weekend. This means that if you order fish on Monday, you’ll be served something that was purchased days in advance.
Salads
Unfortunately, salads are rarely fresh. These dishes are easy to store, meaning that restaurants often prepare them in bulk and serve them throughout the week.
Pad Thai
Plenty of people in the US complain that Pad Thai served here is often too sweet. If you’re used to the original dish from Thailand, you may want to avoid it when traveling.
Endangered animals
Even though rare in the USA, according to the Environmental Investigation Agency, plenty of restaurants in Southern China and Southeast Asia, still serve dishes prepared with ingredients made from endangered or protected animals. If you’re planning to travel to these countries, make sure to do your research in advance to know what to avoid at the restaurant.
French fries
Nothing is worse than french fries served cold. Unfortunately, this happens quite often. This is because cooks tend to fry huge amounts of fries to avoid wasting time.
Chicken
Most people avoid ordering chicken at the restaurants. Some of the most common complaints are that this dish is quite boring and often overpriced. In general, a good rule of thumb is ‘if you can easily cook it at home, don’t order it’.
Orange juice
When we think of orange juice, we often imagine the sugary water of freshly squeezed oranges being poured into our glass. This is rarely the case. Most restaurants don’t make this drink but buy it in bulk in stores, meaning that your juice will have lots of sugar and little oranges to it.
Cocktails with ice
Restaurants tend to add plenty of ice to their cocktails so that they can use less liquor, which tends to be very expensive. Avoid drinks on the rocks if you can.
Pizza
Why order this dish in a general eatery when there are places specializing in this Italian delicacy? If you want to have a real pizza, avoid restaurants and go to a pizzeria instead.
Onion rings
Similarly to fries, onion rings are also often served cold. When this happens, don’t be afraid to send them back and ask for new ones.
Mixed Drinks
Restaurant mixed drinks are always always watered down. They never contain much alcohol so you will pretty much be drinking juice and ice. When there is alcohol in the glass, it is the cheap stuff that tastes terrible.
This article was first published at Spatula Desserts.
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