Scott's Pet Peeve #9360

Scott Hardie | April 23, 2017
I am annoyed when restaurants do not mention that their food is spicy.

Kelly wanted steak yesterday, and there's an Outback around the corner, so we went there for dinner. The menu described a dish as "wood-fire grilled chicken and shrimp over fettuccine noodles tossed in a creamy Parmesan cheese sauce." They neglected to mention the Cajun-like spices that gave everything on the plate some heat. I ate it, but it turned into a gut bomb giving me painful indigestion for the rest of the night. (I'm sensitive to heartburn.)

Much worse was the Yak & Yeti Restaurant. I should have stuck with the Korean barbecue or roast duck that I was planning on ordering. When the waiter mentioned off-menu specials including a seafood mac & cheese dish with a havarti cream sauce and scallops and shrimp, it sounded like heavenly comfort food. The waiter neglected to mention that jalapeño and sriracha were major ingredients, the latter poured on generously. The dish was fiery hot, and I couldn't even force myself to eat half of it before I gave up. (I considered sending it back or ordering something else, but we had waited nearly an hour and I just wanted the meal to be over with.)

Plenty of people like spicy food. I don't begrudge them their preference in the least. I just wonder why there can't be more warnings for the rest of us. Some restaurants have little icons next to the spicy food, but not nearly enough do.