Eating dinner at a restaurant is an exciting treat to break away from the routine of cooking. If you live in a small town, you probably have a few local restaurants that you know well—and you probably know your favorite dishes at each one. Still, when a new restaurant opens up it can be exciting… and sometimes disappointing if you don’t know what to order. If we’re not used to eating out very often, it can be helpful to have the inside scoop when it comes to how restaurants and their chefs put together their menus. Sometimes, taking tips from some pro chefs can help.
With that in mind, here are 10 things never to order at a restaurant according to master chefs and restaurant insiders.
1. “Kobe” Beef
If you’re a steak aficionado, you may be familiar with Kobe beef. If you’re not, the meat is a delicacy from the Tajima strain of Japanese Black cattle and is known as one of the top three cuts of beef available. Those who have eaten it know how delicious it can be due to its well-marbled texture, its complex flavor and its balance of tenderness and fattiness. As a result, it’s also quite rare. When a random restaurant is offering “Kobe beef” at a price that seems affordable, it’s probably too good to be true—that’s because in America, Wagyu beef and Kobe beef are often interchangeable labels (though they’re not interchangeable in Japan). The rule is that all Kobe beef is Wagyu beef, but not all Wagyu beef is Kobe beef.
2. Chicken
This one may surprise you—after all, chicken is a pretty common staple of most restaurants’ menus. Still, chefs tend to avoid this bird for a few reasons. For one, there’s no guarantee of sourcing and it could be packed with bad chemicals. For another, it’s probably not as interesting a dish as other meats like quail or guinea hen. Finally, it’s just plain not done right. “I will order almost anything when I go out—but never chicken, because it tends to be overcooked at most restaurants,” said one West Hollywood chef. It’s also often overpriced, so only choose it wisely!
3. The Bread Basket
Many restaurants offer complimentary bread before a meal. Although it’s a nice perk, chefs tend to avoid it (and not because it’ll fill them up too fast). Debra Ginsberg, the author of a book called Waiting: The True Confessions of a Waitress, says that bread baskets often get passed around different tables if they’re unused. As a result, some of your bread may have already been manhandled by strangers… best to make sure it’s fresh bread if you’re going to go this route.
4. Eggs Benedict
Eggs Benedict is a fun dish to order when you’re out because it’s an effort-intensive meal that we probably don’t make often at home. Still, chefs also tend not to like making it for the same reason—and because of that, your mileage may vary on how good it tastes. More importantly, though, an Eggs Benedict dish often comes drenched in Hollandaise sauce. According to chef Anthony Bourdain, hollandaise is often not the most sanitary:
“Bacteria love hollandaise. And nobody I know has ever made hollandaise to order.”
5. Fish (on Monday)
This one is more intuitive—after all, ordering fish at a restaurant is always a bit of a crapshoot. If you’re at a place that specializes in seafood, chances are they’re taking all the necessary steps to get and keep fresh food in their kitchen. If not, you may end up ordering something that doesn’t taste great. More specifically, fish markets are often closed over the weekend. As a result, the fish you’re eating on Monday was probably bought on Friday. Just a heads up!
6. The Specials
The specials always sound so…special, don’t they? Don’t get us wrong, sometimes there’s a reason that a food is on special. Maybe it’s seasonal or maybe the chefs are trying out some new recipes. Still, a warning sign to look out for is if a menu has more than a few specials. If there are 10 specials, they’re probably not all that special—and they may just be a dumping ground for old ingredients that the restaurant is trying to get rid of.
7. “Famous” or “Best” Dishes
Many different restaurants claim that they have the area’s “best” version of something, be it wings, clam chowder, pizza or whatever else. Still, these claims are almost always unsubstantiated and are basically just a marketing hook. Unless you recognize the award or there’s further proof around the restaurant that a dish won some kind of acclaim, don’t trust dishes that claim to be better than they are.
8. Red Snapper
To return to the fish issue, consider the case of red snapper. When you’re actually eating red snapper, you’ll probably enjoy it’s sweet flavor and its delicate texture. Unfortunately, about 87% of the red snapper you see in the store is not actually red snapper—so your chances of getting the actual fish you’re ordering in a restaurant of unknown pedigree are not great.
9. Soup of the Day
This is a tricky one. Some restaurant chains have two or three soups of the day that they rotate on a weekly or monthly basis. And some restaurants truly specialize in making delicious soups, where the soup of the day may change frequently and is always delicious. In other restaurants, however, the soup of the day is often just another dish that gets bundled with something else—and it might even just be leftover ingredients cobbled together to save the restaurant a buck.
10. Truffles
Truffles have taken the culinary world by storm, with many different places purporting to have truffle fries or truffle sauces with their meats. Unfortunately, the reality is that truffles are exceptionally rare and very expensive. Not all places offering truffles are really offering the real thing. Moreover, some restaurants flavor their meals with “truffle oil,” which is often mostly artificially flavored and lacks the same complex flavors as actual truffles.
With these tips in mind, you may be able to save yourself a lot of grief when eating at a new restaurant that hasn’t quite proven itself to you yet. Of course, all rules are made to be broken and sometimes you may be surprised. Still, if you’re looking for a safe food return on your money, take it from the pros.
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