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

Old woman 70, a proper Caesar salad dressing is made with anchovies, so what's with a few prawns?

I think there are meals where one might expect to find balsamic vinegar and meals where one wouldn't. I would not expect it on scrambled eggs. I like it but would send such a meal back because imo it simply doesn't go with scrambled eggs.

I ordered a piece of cake in a cafe, it looked like a piece of cake just as it was on the counter and in the menu it didn't say anything about any addition. The waiter looked quite put out when I sent it back because it was heavily drizzled with honey. I don't like honey, nor do I like people making assumptions about what I like. My friend was embarrased, I doubt she would ever send anything back.

I ordered Fis in a quite posh restaurant here last summer, and it came with a "garnish" of Mussels, not mentioned on the menu. I am very very allergic to shellfish and pointed the problem out to the waiter.
Before he removed the plate, to scrape of the Mussels !! I cut the fish into 4 pieces.
He was horrified, I then explained slowly that the cross-contamination can have just as bad a reaction.
I hate it when Chefs muck about with the classics, although it does not happen much here. They are classic for a reason.

Harri I think I would have been sorely tempted to find a place about his person to shove his olives if he had said that to me! When we went out on Sunday I ordered a flatbread with various toppings listed on the menu. I noted that among them was black pudding and made a mental note to ask for it not to be included as I hate it. I completely forgot and spent most of the meal extracting small pieces of same. There was a small pile by the time the plates were cleared, and the waitress said “I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy the black pudding. We would have been happy to leave it off for you.”

Thank you fellow Gransnetters, it’s wonderful to know I am not alone in this quest for classic perfection. Let’s keep up the pressure to have extraneous and unnecessary ingredients removed immediately so that we can enjoy dishes as they should be served.

They should write on the menu ' drowned in balsamic ' if that is how they serve the dish.
I once got told off by a waiter, in an Italian restaurant, because I left a lot of olives on my plate. I should not order dishes if I am going to waste the ingredients
Needless to say I have not revisited the restaurant.

I ordered a Ceasar salad in an Australian restaurant and it arrived with prawns on top! Nothing on the menu to indicate it was served this way. I quietly explained to the waiter I have an allergy to fish so could he take it away and bring a salad without the prawns. When he returned it was obvious the "chef" had simply removed the prawns and sent the same salad back!

Think Jmitch meant a side order of bacon grumppa not half a pig.

I dislike sauces etc being added to my food. Put them in a small dish on the side. BV is the go to flourish for chefs now but maybe not with scrambled eggs. A lot of these things are down to personal taste, I am not good at trying new things and drive my chef husband to distraction at times by sticking to the tried and true.

I dislike dressings of all kinds and have to keep saying no dressing on everything. On Sunday we went to a very nice gastro pub where we have enjoyed a number of meals and I had their famous roast beef (makes DH heave as its served very red) BUT the gravy was so salty. It may be me as I do not cook with salt at all so now I have to say gravy in a jug on the side please.

I think that, these days you have to ask before you order if you have a pet hate. Chefs often add a flourish of something unusual to a dish, quite often we love it!
Although I think that they might have added it to the description of the dish on the menu, especially as so many people have food intolerances/allergies these days.

Especially nice with balsamic vinegar!!

What is a side of bacon? Sounds like half a pig.

Maybe when you order you should ask whether or not there will be balsamic added, if so please leave it out. I am always asking if there is raw onion in salads etc as I don’t like it, not an issue. A decent restaurant should be able to comply with such a request.

I love balsamic vinegar.

Really, Mitch? at 5 in the morning you are fretting about this?

Eat up, it's all good for you.

Balsamic vinegar with Caesar Salad?

No you're not unreasonable. How to ruin scrambled eggs in one easy lesson.