When you get seated at a fancy restaurant and open their menu, you often just want to order it all. It can often be confusing and borderline stressful though, because you want your money's worth. Sure, you could go for their specials or the recommendation from your waiter, but there's always a part of us that wants our minds to be blown by an adventurous choice. We may not be able to help you make your final choice, but we certainly can help you eliminate choices from the menu. Here's what you should absolutely never order from a fancy restaurant.
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00:00Fine dining is an art, but the pitfalls are many, and your experience could very easily
00:05become memorable for all the wrong reasons.
00:07What you order makes all the difference between a great time and an epic fail.
00:11So bon appétit, and good luck.
00:13Welcome to Medieval Times, I'll be your serving lunch, Melinda.
00:17Might I fetch you something from the barkeep?"
00:20Totally overdoing it
00:21All right, everyone, gird your loins!"
00:24Perhaps one of the most notorious blunders is the overcooked steak.
00:27Whatever quality of beef it is, it's gone past any form of taste when you've cooked
00:32it well done."
00:33But while chefs and dining companions may shade you for that Wagyu hockey puck you just
00:37ordered, you should go pinker for a reason other than just saving face.
00:40What if somebody wants theirs well done?
00:43We ask them politely yet firmly to leave.
00:46A 2013 study from the National Academy of Sciences suggested that the glycotoxins in
00:51well-done meat can be a risk factor in developing brain diseases such as Alzheimer's.
00:54You want your steak?
00:55Yeah, right now!
00:56Yeah!
00:57Good.
00:58Here's your steak.
01:01Carb loading
01:02I love bread.
01:06Bread is a staple of almost every restaurant meal.
01:08Oh, my pretty little pet.
01:11I love you.
01:12But delicious as it is, you shouldn't be paying for it.
01:14More and more restaurants are starting to charge for bread, often labeled as artisan
01:18with prices soaring up toward the double digits.
01:20Bread, two dollars extra.
01:21Two dollars?
01:22But everyone in front of me got free bread.
01:25You want bread?
01:26Yes, please.
01:27Three dollars!
01:28Despite being highly tempting, those dinner rolls are a useless part of your meal.
01:32Just sit tight and wait for your first course to arrive.
01:35Wine snob
01:36What do you think?
01:37I hate it.
01:39Trying to show off a little without breaking the bank by ordering the second cheapest bottle
01:42of vino?
01:43You're not alone, and restaurants are on to you.
01:46That's why they'll charge more for the wine that costs them the least.
01:48As a result, the second cheapest wine on the menu is often the least impressive, but more
01:52expensive than a better wine.
01:54These French really know.
01:56How to make wine.
01:58This can all be avoided if you're lucky enough to have a sommelier, who will target your
02:01preferred price.
02:02Otherwise, choose the house wine, and don't go by the glass.
02:05A bottle for the table gets you the most bang for your buck.
02:08I don't even like wine, but guess what, you're gonna like it.
02:12Tapping out
02:13What is this, tap?
02:14Yes, it is.
02:15No filter?
02:16No filter, tap water.
02:20Many high-end restaurants are located in city centers, where the quality and cleanliness
02:24of the tap water is less than assured.
02:26If you can't guarantee the restaurant filters its tap water, stick to bottle.
02:29But you know what, Evian?
02:31You should be really embarrassed, because your parents named you after bottled water.
02:37And speaking of water, skip the fest of lemon wedge.
02:39A study from the NEHA found that 70 percent of lemon garnishes found in restaurants were
02:44teeming with microbes from all sorts of different sources around each restaurant.
02:48That's enough to put a sour taste in anyone's mouth.
02:51Truffle pig
02:52First you gotta do the truffle shuffle.
02:54Come on!
02:56Truffles are renowned worldwide as a premium ingredient in fine cuisine.
03:00But what many restaurants claim to be truffle flavor is actually a concoction of chemicals
03:04and olive oil, not bonafide truffles.
03:06Are you on shims, too?
03:09So before you shell out the big bucks for that truffle tagliolini, make sure you're
03:12getting the real deal.
03:15Feeling shellfish
03:16Lobster was once a meat solely reserved for prisoners, but it's clearly made a well-heeled
03:20comeback.
03:21The mistake many make, however, is assuming that just because lobster is expensive, it's
03:24worth eating.
03:25In fact, lobster should be approached just like any other seafood dish.
03:29That is, it's best eaten at a restaurant located near the source, prepared and served by chefs
03:33who know how to do it.
03:34Have you ever had oysters?
03:37Did you know oysters are an aphrodisiac?
03:43And speaking of shellfish, oysters may be just as fancy, but bad ones can be lethal.
03:48Whoa!
03:50This looks weird.
03:51Where do I eat the shell or the inside?
03:54You might assume that eating raw oysters from a fine dining establishment would lessen the
03:57risk of illness, but an FDA report in 2015 showed that even reputable restaurants aren't
04:02guaranteed to be safe.
04:04If you just have to hit the raw bar, purchase oysters only from establishments that specialize
04:08in the dish.
04:09All the fish in the sea
04:11Dolphin is a delicacy in Japan, while whale is offered at many Scandinavian restaurants,
04:15and shark can even be found in the U.S.
04:17But there are a few reasons why you should avoid these dishes.
04:22Shark meat especially has been found to contain tremendously high levels of mercury, but most
04:26important are the ethical issues.
04:28Most shark populations are at historically low levels worldwide due to overfishing, and
04:33the whale and dolphin hunting industries are fraught with controversy, including wastefulness,
04:37toxicity to humans, cruelty, and endangerment.
04:39Hey man, you seen that movie, The Cove?
04:41The Cove?
04:42How you was gonna be talking about The Cove?
04:44I mean, I saw the movie, but I was like, oh, s**t!
04:48Next time you see a shark fin soup on the menu, pass.
04:52Foie gras faux pas
04:54Foie gras may be linked to luxury, but the controversy behind it is massive.
04:58I wanted to take this time to say that we're gonna be under a lot of media scrutiny.
05:04Foie gras is produced by force-feeding geese or ducks, which fattens the animals to ten
05:07times their normal size, at which point they're slaughtered for their livers.
05:11Everyone, stop.
05:13We can talk about this.
05:14We are adults!
05:15Unsurprisingly, animal rights activists aren't feeling the foie, so if you happen to see
05:19it on the menu, think twice.
05:21The only thing suffering for your night out should be your own liver.