9 phrases to ban from restaurant menus

Re:9 phrases to ban from restaurant menus (billyboy)

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 11:40:31 GMT

I think the phrase "to order" has more to do with them saying they are cooking it as the order comes into the kitchen, rather than re-warming something already cooked and not so much about cooking it to someone's specifications. Whether or not the restaurants that say that are actually doing that is another story.

Re:9 phrases to ban from restaurant menus (ann peeples)

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 11:26:49 GMT

My favorite bad phrases have always been:
1) As stated before-shrimp scampi-I always ask the poor waitress if that means I get double the amount of shrimp
2) "with" au jus-again-do I get loads of this?
And being from Milwaukee, I dont see alot of "world famous" titles here, but we do get the "famous" titles. I have tried many of those meals titled famous and found them sorely lacking, of course.

Re:9 phrases to ban from restaurant menus (ChrisOC)

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 07:42:33 GMT

Then there was the diner that bragged about its "World Famous" soup

It turned out to be Campbell's

Re:9 phrases to ban from restaurant menus (Niagara)

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 23:27:31 GMT

I've always found that if one has to refer to something as "world famous", it isn't.

For example, the "World Famous Topeka Zoo", is the official name of the zoo here. It isn't.

We never refer to the Falls in my hometown as "world famous". It just is.

Re:9 phrases to ban from restaurant menus (WarToad)

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 19:59:35 GMT

Harriet~ I'd like my chicken sauteed in acorn oil, stirring the pan in a counter clockwise fashion, wearing a spangled glove in honor of MJ, deglazed with Mad Dog 50/50, and finished off with a sprinkling of crushed Coco Puffs right before plating.

Sauteed my way.

Re:9 phrases to ban from restaurant menus (harriet1954)

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 18:13:01 GMT

Oven-baked. Where else are they going to bake it? In the sun?

Here's one from a local menu. I like the place a lot, but they say: "Pure white meat chicken sauteed to order". First of all, pure vs. impure? But that could be argued in America today, so...how about "sauteed to order"? Look, you sautee it one way. Till it's not pink anymore.

"Prepared our own special way". Do you trust that?

"The Original". For historians who like to argue.

Re:9 phrases to ban from restaurant menus (Michael Hoffman)

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 12:36:10 GMT

I love the shrimp scampi one. Whenever I see it I'm reminded of the advertisements by Olive Garden for their chicken shrimp. Oh, pardon me, I mean their advertisements for chicken scampi.

Re:9 phrases to ban from restaurant menus (Davydd)

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:24:22 GMT

It was a test. I first thought 7 phrases but they put shrimp, eggplant and juice in one comment to confuse you in the listings. So there really were 9. But then you go to the second comments page and they title it 10 phrases. The byline said Tribune Dining Staff so I guess the confusion comes by committee. Maybe one of the staffers did not come through with his/her contribution to the list by deadline.

Re:9 phrases to ban from restaurant menus (Soccer862923)

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:21:06 GMT

I think out of those the "world famous" really bugs me as well because really how famous can your chicken sandwich really be?

Re:9 phrases to ban from restaurant menus (WarToad)

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:20:16 GMT

I agree with a lot of that too.

Kobe beef once truely was from Kobe and you paid a good $30-40 a lbs for it if you could even find it. If you're finding it today for far less, you're buying "Kobe-style" beef, which is domestically raised Japanese Wagyu breed cattle crossbred with Angus cattle. Still a great steak, but let's have truth in advertising. It's "Kobe-style'.

9 phrases to ban from restaurant menus (rumaki)

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:06:55 GMT

In the Chicago Tribune today:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/chi-talk-menupeevesjul06,0,1271906.story

I agree with many of these. I personally can't stand the "grilled (or fried, or whatever) to perfection" phrase, myself. It's meaningless and pretentious. You're either fixing the food properly, or you aren't.