A FORMER Michelin-starred restaurant worker has spilt secrets on what punters should NEVER order in a restaurant.
William Morgan spent years working as a chef in high-pressured kitchens – and learnt lots of tips along the way about getting the most out of fancy restaurants.
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The former worker said that the one thing you should never order is a steak – because they are normally double the actual price.
Despite the cut of beef being expensive, restaurants mark up the dish by more than double – and punters easily fall for it.
He wrote in the Mirror: “Through this intensive crash course in haute cuisine, I fell into the cooking world and really saw how the saucisson (sausage) was made – while learning a few tricks of the trade along the way that might make your next visit to a posh eatery a little easier, or even cheaper.
“Though the individual cut of meat is relatively expensive, most steak dishes take minutes to cook and will regularly be marked up by more than double its cost.
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“If you are still really hankering for a prime cut of steak, take that £30 you would have spent in the restaurant and buy the fanciest steak a butcher sells – season it more than you would think and throw it into a scalding hot pan, turn it once, and add a knob of butter to baste it. Leave it to rest on the side for five minutes.
“Well done, you have just made a restaurant standard steak for either half the cost or twice the quality.”
And he also recommended telling restaurants that it’s a special occasion, even if it’s not.
This gets you some freebies – maybe a glass of bubbly or a dessert – on the house.
He said: “This tip will make me the enemy of commis (junior) chefs nationwide but if you really want to milk your fine dining experience – pretend the meal is a special occasion.
“If you tell the restaurant that it is an anniversary or a birthday when you book, a small note will frequently get added to your booking so the kitchen knows to do something special.”
And another tip is that you can also bring your own booze or wine of choice and pay corkage instead of settling for a bottle on the menu.
He said: “You could just bring a bottle of your favourite wine and pay the restaurant a fee to open it.
“This is known as a corkage fee, which is typically around £15 to £20 per bottle.
“This might seem steep but, when you eat at an expensive restaurant, much of the wine menu will have at least a £30 to £40 markup on each bottle.”
And if cutting your calories is important to you, there are some things you can ask for to cut out the butter and salt Michelin-star chefs add to their cooking.
He added: “A simple, if cheeky, solution to this problem is to tell them in advance that you are lactose intolerant and require a dairy-free option.
“It might make you feel a bit awkward, but in high-end restaurants you are paying as much for the attention paid to your meal as you are for the ingredients and staffing costs.”
