Do Menus "Lie?"
Former restaurant critic turned columnist Steve Cuozzo says that "Modern menus cheat, tease and sometimes lie outright." Cuozzo is talking about all the dishes he finds misdescribed on restaurant menus. "I've had boiled rice described as 'risotto' and dry shellfish masquerading as 'bouillabaisse'."
His conclusion: "But most restaurants aren't out to deceive you—they just don't pay enough attention when choosing the actual words for the menu."
I would agree and just add that often ignorance or lack of knowledge is to blame.
What's the biggest "lie" you've ever seen on a restaurant menu?
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14 Comments:
One of the most outrageously misrepresented dishes I've seen recently was "Spaghetti Carbonara" made with béchamel sauce and baco-bits. Not an egg to be seen. Properly made Spaghetti Carbonara is one of the sublime peasant-foods I can eat for days, but this monstrosity wasn't even edible.
BerryK at 4:20PM on 06/28/07
Anything described as "our famous."
nickb at 5:15PM on 06/28/07
Apparently tilapia and red sea bream are routinely sold as red snapper, a much rarer and more expensive fish. Source
curdnerd at 5:31PM on 06/28/07
I've never caught it myself, but I've been told that less than scrupulous restaurants substitute sea and bay scallops with circular divots of sea skate (sting ray), which costs about $5 a pound cheaper. And I've also heard that they'll replace lobster with monkfish.
DaveFaris at 6:43PM on 06/28/07
beef with broccoli, that didn't have any broccoli... :-(
ChickenFinger5 at 7:10PM on 06/28/07
"fresh"
dksbook at 8:31PM on 06/28/07
Oh, please. I've been mumbling to myself and spouse about this for years. I've never figured out if it's lies or just dumbness. Calling a tart a torte, for instance---is it dumb, bad spelling, or deliberate misrepresentation? What about these martinis that aren't actually martinis? Only last month, I had a "four-egg omelet" that couldn't've been made with four chicken eggs unless they only used part of each one.
And "fresh"? Especially orange juice. Fresh, as in never frozen? Surely not as in "freshly squeezed", which is almost never true, either.
lemons at 10:44PM on 06/28/07
"Diver" scallops.
Phoebe Damrosch at 11:04PM on 06/28/07
I like when they take chicken parm and bread it with cornflakes and try to serve it as authentic italian food. Strange stir frys at places that should never attempt to stiry fry anything like Applebees and Bennigans.
Could someone tell me what this slider thing is? Little greasy hamburgers. When did this become fashion?
JerzeeTomato at 1:23AM on 06/29/07
Nickb- So often true!
Christina at 2:19AM on 06/29/07
Nickb- So often true!
Christina at 2:20AM on 06/29/07
as an old cajun that has hunted, fished and cooked thousands of meals, the term "cajun" on many dishes infuriates me. dropping red pepper flakes into a dish of horrid stew/soup/salad or whatever, no more makes it cajun than me owning a football makes me joe montana. when we use the term "spicy" it means we use lots of SPICES/herbs to season our meals. our type of cooking isn't using a microwave to blast foods, it's old cast iron, seasoned pots and pans simmering on the stove.
p.s. anyone blackening an oyster should be banished from the kitchen and forced to eat at mcdonalds for all of eternity.
olddad at 8:49PM on 06/29/07
"Best..."
Those where it's the best, don't have to tell you so.
extramsg at 1:50AM on 06/30/07
I always have trouble with salads at restaurants... "bed of fresh field greens", "chopped romaine with fresh cucumbers, tomatoes...", "baby spinach", etc.
Usually I get some nasty bagged salad mix, or worse yet, iceberg.
savvy at 1:27PM on 06/30/07