The worst foods to order at restaurant according to chefs

The worst foods to order at a restaurant according to chefs

Avoid these foods if you want to leave dinner with your stomach lining intact.

Ordering from a menu is stressful – yes, it’s a first world problem, but that doesn’t make the fear of food disappointment any less real.

When you’re a chef or a waiter, and you know the ins and outs of what’s going on in the kitchen, you have a whole new set of ‘rules’ to navigate, but these rules are ones you’ll want to follow.

These industry food insights could mean the difference between enjoying a delicious meal and a bout of food poisoning.

Take a look below and arm yourself with the knowledge before your next brunch date.

The chefs and waiters have been spilling the beans on a Reddit thread, and after reading the acumens, we’re ready to start a pretty strict diet…

Hollandaise sauce

The worst offender according to the experts is Hollandaise sauce, with chefs calling it “a jacuzzi of aged bacterial growth”. Why? It’s a sauce of raw egg and butter kept warm but not warm enough to cook the eggs. So yeah, bacteria central.

The daily special

One chef claims the daily special is usually made up of ingredients that are the oldest in the kitchen, and it’s worse when you’ve got a regular rotation of the same specials eg. Monday soup night, etc. AVOID!

Salad

Sorry but Salad also makes the list of foods to avoid. Why? Anything that has been cooked is most likely ok, but “to maintain a bacteria-free salad station is very hard.” Eeek.

beer

Beer from the tap is a truly shocking addition to this list. It’s not the beer that’s the problem, it’s the tap. One chef said, “no one cleans the fountain and it usually has mildew festering in it.”

Lemon water

Not really a dish, but any beverage with lemon should be avoided. “I never order water or soda with a lemon in it because I know that the outside of the lemon is not cleaned,” said a waiter.

Cocktails with milk

Goodbye Pina Coladas and White Russians. This little insight is going to change your cocktail order forever.

“Having been a bartender, never order a drink with milk. There are hardly any drinks with milk, meaning hardly any milk is used. That partially-used quart they have behind the bar may have been sitting there for QUITE a while.”