ENGLISH CLASS FOR 3rd ESO : febrero 2019

4 Ways to Complain in a Restaurant in English

　
Do you know how to complain in a restaurant if something goes wrong?

What if your food is cold?

What if it's taking a long time for your food to come out of the kitchen?

What if the waitress brings you a dish that you did not order?

You have to complain!

But in order to do that, you need the right words and phrases.

In today's article, I will give you four scenarios and a few ways to complain in each situation.
　
Scenario #1: Your food is cold
　
"I'm sorry to bother you, but the food is quite cold."
"Excuse me, but my food is cold. Could you warm it up for me?"
"Sorry, is this generally served cold?"
"Sorry, I am not sure why, but my food is cold. Could you take care of it for me please?" Scenario #2: You got the wrong order
　
"I'm sorry, but this isn't what I ordered"
"Hi, is this the ____ that I ordered?"
"Sorry, but I think I got the wrong order."
　

Scenario #3: The food is taking too long

"I am so sorry to bother you, but we have somewhere to be. Could you check on our order?"
"Any idea how much longer it will be?"
"We're running late. Do you know how soon we'll be able to get our food?"
"Is there any way that the chef could speed up our orders?"

Scenario #4: You don't like or can't eat your meal　
　

"Sorry, but I ordered a mild version of this dish and this is quite spicy."
"Excuse me, this isn't what I was expecting at all. Could I try something else?"
　"I apologize, but I thought this dish was something different. Could I try something else instead?"
　

Vocabulary for complaining
Getting Attention
Excuse me…
Pardon me…
I have a complaint…
Sorry to bother you but…
I’m sorry to say…

Expressing opinion

I’m afraid there’s a problem…
I’m angry about…
I’m really not happy
There’s a slight problem with…

Making the complaint
I would like/I want… 　　　　
to lodge a complaint 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
to make a complaint 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
to report an issue 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
to give you some feedback 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
to inform you Complaining in a Restaurant
In a restaurant there can be a lot of things to complain about.

Possible reasons to complain in a restaurant Dirty cutlery:　when your knife and fork or eating utensils are not clean or healthy to use.
Cold food:　When your food has not been cooked for the correct amount of time and is cold.
Uncooked and dangerous food:　When your food could damage your health and maybe even kill you!
A long waiting time:　When you have to wait hours for your food.
Bad service:　If the people that work in the restaurant are rude or unfriendly to you.

So how do you complain about these issues without drawing too much attention from other customers in the restaurant?

Let’s look at a practice dialogue:

CUSTOMER:　EXCUSE ME!

It’s important to be polite and say　excuse me　rather than saying Come here! or clicking your fingers. The last two are extremely impolite.

Even saying　Excuse me, waiter　Is seen as impolite because you are implying that because he/she is a waiter/waitress, they are not as important as you.　It’s better to just say excuse me when the waiter/waitress is near the table.

WAITER:　YES SIR, HOW CAN I HELP YOU?
CUSTOMER:　I DON’T WANT TO MAKE A SCENE　BUT THERE’S A FLY IN MY SOUP.

When you say　I don’t want to make a scene　it means that you don’t want to attract the attention of people around you and make them look at the table. We do this because the　fly in the soup　is probably not the fault of the waiter, but if you start shouting at him then he will be embarrassed in front of all the other customers.
You can also say　I hate to make a fuss　as it means the same thing.

WAITER:　I AM TERRIBLY SORRY! I WILL TAKE THE SOUP BACK TO THE KITCHEN AND GET YOU ANOTHER ONE.
CUSTOMER:　THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

Now usually it is as simple as this, but if the waiter/waitress is rude and doesn’t respond to your polite complaint, don’t worry! Stay calm!

Here are some phrases for more extreme situations:
I’d like to speak to a manager, please.
This means that the waiter/waitress will have to go and get their manager to speak to you and deal with your complaint more professionally. It is the manager’s job to make sure that everything goes smoothly, so he/she may well be more receptive to your complaint.
I’m sorry, but this is unacceptable!
A bit more extreme, this is something you can say if nobody is listening to your complaint or if they don’t believe your complaint! This is extremely rare but possible!
This food is not fit for a dog!
CAUTION:　This is very extreme, but if you are angry with the food that you have been offered but the manager disagrees with you, you can say this to show just how disappointed you are.

The phrase means that it would be bad to give the food to dogs, let alone humans!
Another variation is:　I wouldn’t feed this to my dog.

　

ENGLISH CLASS FOR 3rd ESO

jueves, 7 de febrero de 2019

At the restaurant

Complaining at a restaurant

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LISTENING PRACTISE. AT THE RESTAURANT

LISTENING TESTS AT THE RESTAURANT