When you get a bad meal do you complain?

Just the once that I can remember. Got fish and chips and the fish was sitting in a big pool of grease on the plate. Brought it to their attention and they kindly offered to make me another one but I politely declined 😬

I only ever got one really bad one. The food was so tough I even had to cut the gravy with a knife.

If it's just not great, I'll eat it, pay and not return.

If it's bad but edible, I'll probably soldier on but then when they inevitably ask "was everything OK?" I'll be honest. Last time I did this was in a place in Portrush where the food was passable, but all clearly frozen and not very pleasant. They denied that it was from frozen but comped the lot.

If it's brutal, I'll return it and leave (I also don't trust the chef not to wipe his hole with it before returning).

If you don't tell them they don't have the opportunity to put things right.

Anyone running a restaurant will know what to do and so should the staff.

You're actually doing them a favour by giving them a chance to put their planned response into action.

`I went to a restaurant with my wife a number of years ago. Very new place but connected to a very well known butcher in Dublin.

The place looked great and the starters were good. When the mains came my wife had a lovely main. My main was stone cold in the centre but looked great. I called them over explained and they said they would make me a new one. After 20 minutes a new one comes out I cut into it and it was frozen on the inside. They obvious prepared this stuff in advance and then defrost them some way that is meant to heat them through and claim they were made on the day. Called them over and showed them and they were all apologies and asked if I wanted something else. I declined and we prepared to leave.

They gave us the starters free and didn't charge for my main. I was disgusted as they did ruin a night out. I had choice words about the food not being fresh and their inability to buy a meat thermometer to check their food.

It didn't last long in that location but they do still have a restaurant that is pretty pricey

I've had some bad experiences with takeaways. And followed them up in writing by email and letter.

Never heard a word back, so I'm happy to warn others and rubbish the establishments since.

If it was bad enough I would complain, smaller issues I just wouldn't go back. I commented rather than complained lately re a dish I got in a place that seems to have a chef who thinks pesto is great squirted on every plate even pancakes! I'll be back again but will remember next time to stipulate no pesto when I order!

As it happens I stopped in a shop lately for a look around and decided to have a coffee and cake in the cafe there, the cake was beyond woeful, it was rock hard with a dried skin on it where it had obviously been cut for days and lying around, totally inedible. I looked around at the staff and to be honest it was a just a couple of very young staff so I figured pointless making any fuss, decided to myself I would hold fire and mention it to the owner of the cafe when I next saw him or his mother in their main location. Guess I won't be doing that now! Think he has a lot more on his mind than a bit of stale cake!

This was in the place in Limerick, can't remember name of shop, out past Regional Hospital, food in Tralee is indeed very good.

In general, I would complain about chaotic service because the restaurant, pub, or cafe can see what going on.

I would complain if it's about laziness by the chef or kitchen staff.

Was it a hot or cold desert?

Its very rare I get a bad meal, I arrived late into a town recently and the only place open was this burger place. I cannot over state how bad it was, I refused to pay, it didn't go down well. After alot of arguing I agreed to pay a 1/3rd of the main course price. I always check reviews before I eat somewhere but we were tired and only choice we had so I got caught and it annoys me so much paying anything for terrible food that isn't cheap!

I always remember a good restaurant quote - "if you had a good experience, tell your friends - If you had a bad experience, tell us".

I would definitely complain if the food was inedible, but if I actually ate it and felt it was not great, I probably wouldn't.

I recently had a steak served cold -so I cut into it in way that I would know if they microwaved it and didn't give me a new steak.

I absolutely do complain. They need to be made aware, and given the chance to rectify it. Every place I've done it were happy to try and rectify the issue. Thankfully, it is few and far between, but one place local to me has been poor on two occasions in a row, and while they either replaced or did not charge, I've stopped going to them. I'm not willing to chance a third disappointment.

Thankfully the Basil Fawlty types are few and far between.

But I'm still wondering is that drunk in Enniskillen still cheffing.

Only twice have I complained about poor food. Once when I was in a "gastro" pub in Bray, I ordered mussels in a creamy sauce, the dish arrived and I knew straight away from the smell they were off. The server tried to insist they were ok but I had to explain that I regularly buy and cook shellfish so I knew what they should smell like, and they should not smell of wee! On another ocassion I was in a local coffee shop for breakfast with my sister. Towards the end of eating her dish she noticed a snail in the side sakad/ garnish. Notified the server, got a bare apology and waited 20 mins for the extra coffees we ordered; wouldn't go back there again, if they'd given us a complimentary coffee we would have been happy.

It wasnt a chipper it was a sit down restaurant. I was always going to pay but I wanted them to know how bad it was so I said I'm absolutely not paying for that burger. I didn't eat it took a few bites but it was so bad, I'm still trying to figure out how you could get a burger so wrong