Reasonable expectations for a restaurant

In this age of fast food and avoiding cooking, people spend a lot of time in restaurants. With demand so high, some shady characters are getting away with it in terms of quality of food and service. This needs to stop and you can help if you don’t accept it. So what should you expect from a good restaurant?

The first thing you can expect is reasonable prices. You shouldn’t have to give an arm and a leg just for a leg of lamb, even if the sheep it came from did. Some of the fancier restaurants, especially restaurants in Johannesburg, think that because they employ the best chefs they can find (often not true) they can charge exorbitant prices for the same meals, just smaller portions. This is something I have never understood. I’d rather go and eat a great piece of well-done steak than a piece of meat spiced beyond belief for the same price.

Don’t settle for small portions these hoppy places seem to think is a fair meal. I have never heard of a customer complaining that the portions were too big after all. They just take home a doggy bag and have it for lunch the next day. Nothing wrong with that. The only time a ridiculously small portion of food is allowed to be priced at its weight in gold is if the ingredients for that food can only be sourced from a small island in the middle of the ocean at a certain time of year. Otherwise, they are scamming you.

You should also expect a certain level of service. You don’t have to put up with a useless waiter who can’t remember his own name, let alone the glass of water you ordered twenty minutes ago. Every restaurant in Johannesburg is worth going to, having quality staff hired and taking all complaints seriously. Give the poor guys some slack on a busy night. They often have to handle five or six or more tables of people each and they just can’t be everywhere at once. The same courtesy goes to the kitchen staff. They can only cook so many meals at a time before they start messing things up, so be a little more patient on a busy weeknight and go with the flow. Of course, don’t let yourself get trampled on and forgotten on a busy night, a good restaurant should do just fine if it’s a bit slower than usual.

So basically the things you should expect from good restaurants in Johannesburg are the following: reasonable prices, good sized portions and good service from both the front desk and kitchen staff. If any restaurant does not meet these few expectations, it is your right to complain to management and, if that does not resolve the problem, file a complaint with the owner of the restaurant.