AIBU to expect classic dishes to be served in a classical style in a restaurant?

Crikey, after reading this litany of moans I am very glad I am not running a food business. I understand about life threatening allergies to shellfish/peanuts etc., but what ever happened to trying something new, experimenting with taste combinations?

GillT you can experiment all you want but you should be the one doing that not the cook/chef.

I quite like a sweet brioche bun or a sweet biscuit with sharp cheese or smoked salmon and cream cheese.

I had quiche and salad when we were out today; the salad was advertised as being dressed with 'balsamic dressing' so I asked for it on the side. It came in a tiny jug (balsamic and olive oil I think) and I only used about a third of it which was tasty enough for me.

I am all for experimenting and trying new combinations, but as I said earlier, tell me before giving me the food. If a restaurant advertises Classic dishes on its menus Then that’s what I expect - the classics! At least put out a notice that what you are ordering might be a classic with a twist, then we have a free choice about ordering.

And whatever they serve should be on a plate, not a wooden board, in a wire basket, a bucket or any other hardware they have lying about the place.

Oh No MillieBear, you have opened up a whole other can of worms here. I wholeheartedly agree with you - in fact I have been known to ask for a plate in the past, can't bear eating off a board, especially if I suspect that it hasn't been in their dishwasher but simply wiped down. Yuk Yuk Yuk

Let alone asymmetrical plates with sloping rims, so that when you put your cutlery down it slides to the lowest point, however inconvenient it may be.

Or pieces of slate that the poor waiter can't get his fingers under to pick up.

Don't get me started on crockery - I can't stand the assymetrical saucers in Costa - if you're not looking when you put down your cup you're liable to find coffee everywhere!

Sorry JMitch Personally I don't get 'with a foam'. Reminds me too much of when my dog vomits after eating grass!

GillT57 It is not about being being afraid to try new taste combinations. Most of us do that, it is about ordering a classic dish, say Eggs Florentine, and getting what you ask for. If they want to replace the spinach with kale and add blue cheese to the sauce, the menu should tell you that in advance. You can then decide whether this version of it appeals to you or not, you may hate kale or blue cheese.

Agree that if you have a serious allergy you should check ahead and make it clear you could go into shock. Ditto if you have a basic allergy which could make life uncomfortable for you over the next few days. If it's just a dislike of BV on egg, question the waiter as you order and send it back.

I'm reading this thread in amazement, never having eaten a classic dish in a restaurant. Apart from fish and chips. Even in France the classic cooks seem to exist only in big cities.
But I'm tempted by an article in this week's Sunday Times about a place in Bagnor Berks. which has a french-sounding menu, eg
starter -Tartare of beef fillet wih pickled salsfiy and cabernet vinegar £9
main - Wild boar and apple rigatoni, blue cheese and marjoram £16
dessert -Pistachio nougat parfait, rhubarb £7
Also a choice of fish and veg dishes.

Fennel a classic dish in a restaurant merely means going to any eatery and ordering anything from a burger to a Sunday roast or spaghetti bolognaise at your local Italian (or fish and chips) and finding that the chef has tried to do his personal version of it without telling you..

A burger with unexpected added chilli, a portion of apple crumble on a plate decorated with raspberry coulis and strawberries, I kid you not (and the portion of apple crumble was minute). You go somewhere order something you know and it is not, quite, what you get.

The restaurant at Bagnor, at least tells you what you are going get and knowing that I am not sure any of the above dishes make me want to go there. I do not do pink meat, let alone raw, salsify is a flatulent. I have eaten it once, I will never eat it again. The rest of the ingredients sound delicious, but not together. As Ernie Wiser once said, 'all the right notes, just not in the right order',

Fennel I'm guessing the restaurant in Bagnor is The Blackbird ? It's worth a visit . It's an interesting place and menu .

M0nica - oh I see now. We hardly ever eat out (husband being fussy, not me.) So I suppose in the part of France where we lived a classic dish was moules et frites or magret et frites.
I'm staying in Berkshire at the moment and feel tempted to try the Blackbird, as you guessed, NotAGran. The prices aren't extortionate either.

Fennel Bagnor is only 10 or 15 miles from us, so I am certainly looking at that venue as a potential place to eat out.

We have a holiday home in Normandy and, for example, the thought of going to our local fish restaurant, ordering moules frites and then finding that without warning us the owner had decided to use a sweet dessert wine to make the traditional moules mariniere, makes me shudder.

Moules come in a variety of sauces, but they are all listed on the menu.

Whether you like mustard with jelly is a matter of personal taste. What OP was complaining about is expectation. I haven't tried scrambled eggs or strawberries with vinegar on; maybe I'd like them. But I sure as hell wouldn't expect it to be plonked on either if I ordered them in a restaurant.