Menu Cliches

[Nick.Shu]

heheh, kebabs, nice and 64.5 deg celsius on the outside, raw and 22.5 degs on the inside.

how bout :"chefs specials/favourites" when taking a new job and slowing shaking your head when these are made and presented.

Sometimes i think that "lovingly prepared by our chefs" doesnt quite cut it on the day when things are going wrong, customers are making rediculous requests and everyone is making a habit of stuffing everything up.

or perhaps "homemade". When was the last time a chef surprised the owner by bringing atleast a whole weeks worth of prep into work from home.

hehe.

Palmier:

You gave me an idea. What would menus say about certain foods if there were "truth in advertising" incorporated into the menu text?

Like, instead of "Catch of the Day" it would say "this fish was caught six months ago and frozen after being mishandled prior to freezing".

Or instead of "Garden Fresh" salad, it said "the contents of this salad was shipped from California over a week ago."

Instead of "piping hot", "this dish is served lukewarm to room temperature".

"All our steaks are pre-proportioned, cryovaced and frozen."

"Our hamburgers are made from the lowest grade fatty beef and contains hydrolized vegetable protein as an extender".

[Anneke]

Crudeau: what's wrong with deep-fat fried sushi? We sometimes make it at the restaurant as a special hors d'oeuvre, with a tempura batter. Tasty!

[shroomgirl]

This is a great thread!!!! Nick shu what is stuffing something up??

My farmer's have no clue how to caponize a rooster....apparently there is a skill to it. I'd like to see it happen for the better monetary return they get.

organic honey....no such thing, bees don't know the difference in what flowers they pollenate.

[ March 12, 2001: Message edited by: shroomgirl ]

[shroomgirl]

oh yeah what about lite, natural, etc....what a joke!!!

[momoreg]

My boss loves changing the names of dishes that we've already named. Why, I don't know. But one of them killed me, it was so funny, a peach tart suddenly became a peach tarte, and whatever accompaniment I had with it was gone, and replaced with "slathered in peach ice cream". Slathered? That sounds like a mess! We tried to really smear it on there!!!

[Mezzaluna]

It's the mispelling and pomposity that get me. If you're going to use foreign languages to spruce up your descriptions, at least bother to get a good dictionary and spell things right! (Almondine for Amandine, etc.)But I think spelling errors are the worst. Sorry, that's the teacher in me squawking.

[Pete]

There was a menu of a local restaurant being passed around by chefs. There were a lot of amusing (and disgusting) menu items, such as: a tuna app with "wasabi teased with raspberry" or the veal that sat "in a pool of mushroom ragout". Besides these funny terms, the spelling was absolutely terrible. Julienned spelled 3 different ways and at least 10 other spelling errors on a one page menu!!! That is one of my major pet peeves!

Country Style or Home Style. What exactly does it mean?

[Greg]

• "Made fresh daily" Of course, you won't be served the stuff that was made that day. You'll be eating the stuff that was made the day before.
• Anything "nestled" or "cradled". I'm a cook, dangit, not a wet nurse!
• Any "tender, juicy" cuts of meat. Somehow I think most people aren't looking for dried out and chewy.

Btw, Foodnfoto, regarding food and flavor; you obviously haven't eaten food made by the last chef I worked for. Flavorless stock, flavorless, lumpy brown sauce, flavorless cabbage rolls, etc. were his forte'. If he could only find a way to market that, he'd be rich!

[Papa]

My most favorite:

"All Natural" or "Natural".

How about "Unnatural or partially natural olive oil" for example?

[Papa]

Another favorite one of mine:

"Please be sitted. The waiter will take your order and we'll have you served and on your way in no time"!

[Nick.Shu]

err, shroom, stuffing up is getting stuff wrong - errors et al.

[palmier]

What about "homemade"? Did they make it at home then bring it to the restaurant? Maybe they meant it's prepared the same way you would make it at home. If that is so, then why did I go to this restaurant, when I could eat at home?

[foodnfoto]

Spelling errors on menus always indicate to me which restaurant owners/chefs are just faking it. There is a restaurant nearby that, by all outward indications, should be a real foodie's paradise--then you open the menu. "Shitake" mushrooms, "aragala" salad, and maytag bleu cheese--and they post this thing in a brass frame outside the place!! They may as well put up a sign--"We are trying to look fancy, but we really don't know much about food!" I say sell the frame and buy a $12 Food Lover's Companion.Food Lover's Companion.