Restaurants that leave condiment bottles on the table (1 Viewer)

[MarkHastings]

LOL - I read ThomasC's post and couldn't figure out what he meant about hi-fi speakers.

That was a bad typo on my part, I meant that the sun was blaring through the window.

It's funny, obviously spell check didn't help catch that and what's even funnier is, grammar check wouldn't have even caught it. LOL
Blaring Sun / Blaring Sub

 

[MarkHastings]

Me too. I'm not a huge steak lover, which is why I use A1. I LOVE A1!!!

Actually, I think I like the A1 more than the steak it's on.

 

[Jeff_CusBlues]

You don't eat the peppers. The bottle has a small hole in the top of the dispenser. It is pepper juice and tastes good on some things as a condiment. At least to me. I will admit though, I don't see a lot of people reaching for the bottle.

Jeff

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Uhhh, why would someone who isn't a huge steak lover order a steak at a restaraunt? Isn't that like paying $20+ for A1?

 

[MarkHastings]

Not to get too off topic, but I never understood the 'snobbery' in steaks. $20 for a steak is HARDLY expensive.

And it's no more confusing than putting ketchup on a burger. I've seen burgers go for close to (and over) $10 and people put ketchup on them. Again, I don't consider a $12-$20 steak to be so "highfalutin" as to find it offensive to put A1 on it.

It's a freakin' piece of meat, not gold. It's no more different to me than a piece of chicken.

 

[Greg_S_H]

I rarely eat steak that expensive--this one place in town has an $8.99 sirloin (includes sides) that is actually pretty good even without sauce--and don't use sauce when they are that high. Those steaks are a different cut and don't really need sauce anyway.


My OCD is so light that I don't even really care about that. Out of sight, out of mind. I'd prefer NOT to have some stories about what goes on, all the same. I just don't like feeling sticky shit on my hands. I did happen to use some A1 on a hamburger steak last night and just grabbed life by the bottle, without benefit of a napkin. No big deal.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

I wasn't asking about the price, I'm asking why someone who admittedly does not care for steak would order one at a restaraunt? Isn't there chicken or pasta on the menu? Me, I don't care for lima beans, lasagna or liver and I certainly wouldn't order them when I go out.

Oh and Mark, I knew there'd be "$20 for a steak, that's cheap/expensive" posts right after I wrote it. Last steak I ordered was at Blue Ginger in Wellesley MA and I think I paid $45. So I do know what the price range is for good steak.

 

[Greg_S_H]

Because I said I'm not that fond of it, not that I hate it. The only chicken dish at a lot of steak joints is grilled chicken, and my system can't handle it for some reason. So, it's the steak.

 

[MarkHastings]

Well, you were the one who said "Isn't that like paying $20+ for A1?" - Wouldn't you interpret that as trying to make it sound like I ruined a steak? Like it was incomprehensible that someone would dare put anything on a $20 steak. Like you couldn't enjoy it otherwise? I do like steak, I just don't care for it without A1. Kinda like these BBQ guys who can't eat plain pork or chicken...they have to have some sort of rub or sauce on it.

But anyways, I see now that you didn't mean it that way...

but whenever I mention A1, everyone gets offended and it's a sore subject for me. I hate when people try to make it sound like I have no taste, or am not eating it properly, or I'm some low-brow steak eater. You know, kind of like the people who used to get "offended" if your wine bottle had a screw cap, or if you had red wine with fish. :rolleyes

 

[MarkHastings]

Oh man! I would LOVE to go to a nice restaurant and order a $45 steak and then dump ketchup all over it, just to see people have an aneurysm.

As you can tell, I really don't care what other people think.

 

[Brad M]

Through high school I waited tables at a mom and pop resturant. Every night one of us had to collect the ketchup and clean the bottles. We then stuck them in the fridge at night.

The Kraft guy, who delievered all our cheeses, said that our resturant was the only one in the area he would eat at.

 

[MarkHastings]

Is that ok as well? Keeping the bottles out all day, then putting them back in the fridge at night? Half in/Half out?


Oooo, here's another one - Those non-dairy creamers that look like real creamers. Those freak me out how they sit on the counter without refrigeration.

 

[nolesrule]

It's not like the ketchup sits in the bottles all day. It's being used up frequently and the bottles get refilled or replaced.

 

[MarkHastings]

Hmmm, I just took a look in my fridge - My French's mustard bottle says: "For best flavor, refrigerate after opening"

but my Heinz ketchup bottle doesn't even mention refrigeration.Yeah, but when I started the thread, I assumed it was like mayo where you shouldn't even leave it out long enough for it to get to room temp. - I knew they went through it fast, but didn't think they went through it fast enough to have it replaced every few hours.

 

[Dennis*G]

hmm. My heinz ketchup bottle (which is specifically desinged for the fridge door) says right on the back (For best results, refigerate after opening) I think as long as you use the whole bottle within a reasonable amount of time, it's fine to leave it out, but if yoiur ketchup bottle lasts you 4 months or longer, you might be better off getting a new bottle.

And as for the A-1 comment, sorry I brought it up it was all in jest

 

[Henry Gale]

I didn't even see a steak on the menu... maybe it was a special item the night you were there.
So, do you recommend the place?

 

[Jeff Gatie]

I haven't been there in about a year. He used to have a black angus that was a special, but it was pretty regularly on the board. I know because one night we went with my brother's wife who would never order anything but steak. I ordered it just to piss her off (my family is the type that likes to order different items and pass them around for everyone to sample and two people ordering the same dish is frowned upon ).

Do I recommend it? Wholeheartedly. Outstanding food, great preparation and presentation, and a casual, but high class atmosphere. The Phantom Gourmet called it the best restaraunt outside of Boston and it was in their top 5 for the whole state. I have to get back there again.

 

[Carl Miller]

I do the same thing...But I only started doing this after seeing a TV show (think it was an MSNBC show) several years ago which demonstrated how unsanitary things that stay on restaurant tables actually are...

It had to do with the percentage of people who wash their hands after using a public restroom (55%) and the number of people who touch all those things on the table after using the bathroom and not washing their hands....Menus from these restaurants where they're kept on the table had as much bacteria, feces and assorted other disgusting junk on them as an escalator hand rail in NYC's 42nd St subway station. Salt shakers and ketchup bottles weren't much better than that.

 

[andrew markworthy]

As a refined cultured [or stuck up repressed - take your pick] Brit, I have got to ask my American chums one question. What on earth are you all doing eating in places that have sauce bottles on the table?

 

[MarkHastings]

LOL - that's because we prefer our food with a little bit of flavor...rather than boiling all the goodness out of it until it's grey and soggy.

I am going to assume that you have never experienced the amazing world of BBQ??