Trying out a new restaurant is always a risk.
But you can minimize the chances of a disastrous meal by avoiding a few key dishes.
Famous chefs like Gordon Ramsay, Anthony Bourdain , and other culinary professionals from across
the globe have strict rules they live by to avoid a bad restaurant experience.
Maybe a particular dish is unlikely to be fresh, or it's notoriously overpriced — or
not even what it claims to be.
If you're unsure about a restaurant's quality, it's best to steer clear of the following
menu items.
Cheap "Kobe" beef
Kobe beef is the best of the best, so if a Kobe beef dish sounds too good to be true,
it probably is.
Real Kobe beef doesn't come cheap, and is only sold at a small number of restaurants
in the U.S.
So if you're in a restaurant offering Kobe for a surprisingly low price, be skeptical.
Felix Tai , executive chef of Pounders restaurant in Oahu, says you're likely not getting the
real deal.
"You're probably getting Wagyu beef, since all Kobe beef is Wagyu, but not all Wagyu
is Kobe beef.
The labeling is used very loosely in the United States."
Chicken
This might come as a surprise, since it's such a common — and beloved — protein.
But chefs tend to avoid ordering chicken when dining out.
One executive chef from West Hollywood told Reader's Digest, "I will order almost anything
when I go out — but never chicken, because it tends to be overcooked at most restaurants."
In a Food Network survey, chefs across the country agreed, noting that chicken is also
typically "the most overpriced and least interesting" item on the menu.
The bread basket
The complimentary bread typically looks better than it really is — but it might also be
a health hazard.
It's hard to resist: you arrive at the restaurant starving, and suddenly that incredible-looking
basket of bread makes its way to your table.
Unfortunately, it may have just been on your neighbor's table.
According to that same Food Network's chef survey, it's not uncommon for uneaten bread
to make its way to multiple tables, in fact.
And that's why chefs avoid it.
Debra Ginsberg, author of Waiting: The True Confessions of a Waitress, echoed this revelation
on Inside Edition …
"Bread tends to circulate from table to table."
"Are you saying that sometimes, when the bread comes, this bread may have been at another
table?"
"It might have."
Eggs Benedict
Who doesn't love a leisurely brunch with friends?
It's a meal beloved by many.
But a lot of chefs reportedly despise making it.
So unless you're at a trusted spot that specializes in it, the quality of your meal may reflect
that.
Anthony Bourdain, in his 2000 book Kitchen Confidential, says that cooks, quote, "hate
brunch," especially on Sundays:
"Brunch menus are an open invitation to the cost-conscious chef, a dumping ground for
the odd bits left over from Friday and Saturday nights."
"One of the tragedies of my life is that I'm really good at it, so, y'know, after I screw
up this TV career, I know there's always a brunch job waiting for me.
Maybe that's why I hate it so much."
Bourdain says that the brunch classic Eggs Benedict, in particular, with its generous
coating of hollandaise sauce, is to be avoided: "Bacteria love hollandaise.
And nobody I know has ever made hollandaise to order."
Fish on Mondays
Ordering fish in a restaurant is always a gamble.
If it's freshly caught, it's heavenly.
Frozen?
Not so much.
It's important to know where your fish comes from and when it was caught.
In Kitchen Confidential, Bourdain wrote that in many parts of the country, unless you're
in a restaurant that specializes in fresh fish, it's best not to order it on a Monday.
Many fish markets are closed over the weekend, so if fish is on the menu on Monday night,
there's a good chance it was purchased on Friday.
But Bourdain has since walked back that recommendation a bit, clarifying for Tech Insider that restaurant
standards and customer attitudes regarding fish quality have changed tremendously since
the year 2000.
But he says at low-end local restaurants and, quote, "fake Irish pubs," it's still a solid
tip.
The specials
When dining at a new restaurant, always take a look at the specials.
If there are too many to count, it's best to avoid them entirely.
Gordon Ramsay told the Daily Mail, "Specials are there to disappear throughout the evening.
When they list ten specials, that's not special."
Ramsay says it's also best to avoid any dishes labeled "famous" or "the best," calling this
tactic a "suspicious boast" that is in no way a guarantee of quality.
"Wow.
'Denver's Best Pizza'?
That is a bold statement."
"Oh my God.
Dripping in grease."
Yikes.
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