Things You Order To Make The Server Say "huh?"
 

I don't call myself a fussy diner, but I'm finding it increasingly hard to find a restaurant or bar that serves two of my favourite things.

I order my steak Blue, and I like to drink Whiskey Sour's.

While they don't seem overly difficult, it seems that these two items often get a "huh?" type response from the bartender (in the case of the Whiskey Sour) or the Server (in the case of the Blue steak).

The thing that surprises me more than anything is that when I get this type of response it's rarely from a lower-end bar or restaurant, and is more often than not from places that have a reputation for being 'fine dining'.

Does anyone else order something on a regular basis that they have to explain to the server?

A bartender who does not know what a whiskey sour is has no place behind a bar.

Ordering a steak blue isn't that rare either. ;)

I get looks when I order a rusty nail or grand marnier on the rocks.

I have a girlfriend who loves her steak blue rare and the servers always go through a big explanation with her of what a blue rare steak really is and does she really want that, etc etc. She does! I thought maybe it was just because she was female that they questioned it, but you sound like a male?

My mother and one of her friends, who are both FTers, have a disease. It's called "offthemenuitis". They absolutely under no circumstances can order something exactly as it is listed on the menu. They ask questions and quiz the server and ask about the content of side pieces of the dish and make no less than two requests of the kitchen to subtract or add or replace certain things. So, in short, when dining with my mother, almost everything requires server explanation.

I have one personal explanation that I need to make: I like to, on occasion, drink Water Moccasins. I've never come across a bartender who knows what it is.

I order those with some frequency for an after dinner drink and have never been questioned or even seen a raised eye at the request. Maybe it is because I'm in NYC and everyone has a special order, but the wait staff here seem to just take it in stride.

I just had to google water moccasins. Sounds delicious.

They are, dangerously so...the fruit flavor of the Peach Schnapps kills the aftertaste in the Crown Royal, so you don't feel like you're drinking an adult beverage. It goes down like fruit juice. But after some brief Googling to see what's out there, I should say that my version as I was taught it deletes the sour mix. I just take 1 full shot Crown, 1 full shot Peach Schnapps, and add a dash of Rose's Lime.

Both of you are in NYC. Both of you need to go to Chin Chin, if you haven't already. 49th between 2nd and 3rd, right down the street from Waldorf Towers. Three words: grand marnier shrimp.

The one time I truly stumped a server was when I ordered a steak in some restaurant in Colorado and they asked how I wanted it cooked. As usual, I answered "medium rare". Apparently my Boston accent stumped the server. Given how few answers there are to this question, I couldn't believe that they couldn't parse the words. :eek:

9 times out of 10 I too either get a "huh" at asking for a black and blue steak
or else get something way overcooked that has to go back. At Ruth's in
Indianapolis last week, though, the waiter was so cowed, and so cowed the
kitchen, that I got a steak that was sort of tan and blue and cold on one side.
That was almost right, so I ate it.

If I'm feeling like a black and blue steak, I've found that ordering "Pittsburgh" gets more mileage than black and blue.

I've found some bartenders give me an odd look when I order a manhattan: "Knob Creek Manhattan, straight up, half and half, extra bitters". Half and half refers to half sweet, half dry vermouth, which is my personal taste for a manhattan.

I get a fair amount of odd looks in the US when I order fries with mayo. I don't know why, I kinda figured that people had seen mayo on fries by now...

Cheers,

-Andrew

When I was a kid I was eating at a place and the menu included two eggs any style so I asked for one scrambled and one over easy, the server wasnt amused.

I certainly am

Here in Australia, that would only generate more stares!

Hah ... I'll do that next time .. just out of amusement :D

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Re eggs - I'm always surprised at how often ordering poached eggs results in a blank stare. It's not that odd, surely?

That's because they're thinking that you've asked for stolen eggs!

I like anchovies, so when I'm in a place that might have a good Caesar salad, I ask if it has anchovy filets on it. Servers are surprised--and sometimes a little disgusted--that the right answer is, "Yes!"

As I keep telling my wife "A ceaser salad without anchovies is just salad!" :)

I get strange looks when I ask for a Tuna Melt without cheese

I've even had strange looks stared upon me before for ordering egg benedicts.

What gets melted? :confused:

Mr. Soames, who's very "British", once asked for some extra tartare sauce for his fish, at a Red Lobster in FL. The young waitress looked at him with a blank stare; then repeated "ta-ta sauce? what's that?"

Another time, at a semi upmarket restaurant in Boston, the daily special was
Braised Lamb shank, which I love. The server asked me, how I'd like it done. :D

Here's my smartass response to that: "Uh, braised?"

I'm sorry but if a waiter doesn't know what a poached egg is I don't think they should be working in any job function that involves food, let alone in a restaurant.

I once ordered an Americano as an apertivo at a high-end Cleveland resturant, and when the others were brought out their drinks I was brought coffee service.

Like the place, never had the shrimp. Will go soon and try them.

At least as of a few years ago, it wasn't on the menu...gotta know to ask. ^

I'd never heard the term "black and blue" for steak until I was at a restaurant in
New York earlier this year. I definitely approve! My favourite reaction to ordering my steak blue was once in Australia when the waitress's
response was "Yuk! Really?"
They say that the rarer you order your steak, the better the piece will be,
partly becasue the chef knows that you are a true connoissuear, and partly
because you can't disguise any shortcomings with over-cooking.
I'm happy eating good steak raw but it tends to upset one's fellow diners,
also searing the outside does something magical to the flavour.
I would love to be a vegetarian but my mouth is watering just thinking.
about steak.

Similar story...

Took my sister and mother to a new resto that had opened in the Boston area after a solid year of heavy pimping in the local press.

Dinner was a train wreck... Hamburger Helper would have been better on so many levels.

But, the icing on the cake was my mother's Irish Coffee. She orders, and the waitress gives her a puzzled look.

5 minutes later, she returns, with an even more puzzled look on her face. "Ma'am, I'm sorry, but the bartender doesn't know what's in an Irish Coffee. Could you tell me?"

My mom replies, and all appears to be well.

The waitress comes over with a big grin on her face, and a cup and saucer. Indeed, a cup of coffee was filled halfway with coffee, and the rest with booze. It was tepid, flaccid, and basically wrong on every possible level you could screw up such a drink.

Needless to say, I haven't been back.

Cheers,

-Andrew

One of my favorite drinks is the calimocho - equal parts cola and red wine with a few ice cubes tossed in. Most people have never heard of it or have any idea, and when I explain it, they usually cringe.

I thought I knew my drinks pretty well but even I had to look that one up...

I've had this drink but didn't know there was a name for it...I just made it one night when I had crappy red wine and didn't want to drink it as-is :D

But overall, I don't think I order anything that makes waiters go "huh?"

I am Canadian. When I ask for vinegar for fries in the US, I've gotten blank stares too.

Andrew, half sweet and half dry vermouth, always heard that referred to as a Perfect Manhattan or when using that other brown liquor, Perfect Rob Roy.

Sam

me: "I'll have a ceasar salad please."

waiter: "What kind of dressing would you like on that?"

the bread is toasted and the tuna and mayo melt nicely without cheese. Works well, also, with a cheese-free "patty melt." Yet, another circumstance when I get a weird look: "Patty melt without cheese."

Mine doesn't seem unusual to me, but 10 years ago I was in New Hampshire ordering breakfast. I ordered raw, uncooked oatmeal with fruit and skim milk. The waitress did a double take. I had to explain several times that all I wanted was for them to open a box of oatmeal, pour some into a bowl, put some raisins on it, and pour some milk on top. No, I don't want you to cook it first. Yes, I really want it raw. :rolleyes: The cook even came out to watch me eat my breakfast.

I learned to eat it that way when I was dieting years ago. Now I understand why horses like oats so much. I eat oatmeal this way 4-5 times a week. I can't stand cooked oatmeal anymore, it's disgusting. I'll eat instant if I have to, but I cannot eat anything cooked the "old fashioned way". It's like eating glue.

I'll try ordering it "Perfect", thanks for the tip!

I don't know where I picked it up (ordering it this way), but man, it's a good drink.

Cheers,

-Andrew

At a certain 3 Michelin Rosetted restaurant in Rome, a request for a simple glass of vodka, no ice but in a chilled glass from my dining companion, got a bit of a mardy from the waiter.

I agree, raw oats so much better!

chilled vodka without ice is hard to find, most places want to put it on the rocks or water it down in ice and pour it off into shot, no thanks!

Trainwreck - the finest casserole that my college dining hall served! A good batch of Trainwreck beats Hamburger Helper any day.


(and if you didn't spend enough time in American school dining halls, you might not know that a fine Trainwreck contains only 4 flavors - hamburger, tomato paste, elbow pasta and orange cheese. Those who add potatoes or green peppers should be ashamed of themselves.;) )