/Really/ bad meal last night

[Peripatetic Phil]

I won't name the establishment concerned, because until last night it had exceeded all expectations, but last night's

[Les]

Maybe the regular chef had a night off, and left the cooking to one of his underlings.
BUT to eat Dutch Edam is really scraping the bottom of the barrel. 
A bit of Stilton on a few crackers and some pickle "Heaven"

Les

[Kashmiri Bob]

Rotten luck there Phil.  Had many similar experiences myself.  Amazing how traumatic even small amounts of uncooked chilli powder can be the next day.  Could indeed by down to the chef having a night off.  Be surprised if the tandoori chef there messed-up your kebab though.  Might have been a case of the kitchen porter dipping his toes.

For home deliveries I've found the delivery drivers are a valuable source of information on such matters.  Establishing if/when the chef is likely to be off is crucial.  You are still knackered though, if the chef has gone on holiday, for example, and the eatery hasn't found a competent replacement.

Chin up mate.  Hope if you go back there's significant improvement.

Rob     

[Peripatetic Phil]

I will go back, Rob :  the owner is a very pleasant and friendly chap, and I think I owe him the courtesy of one more attempt before giving up forever.  My wife thinks I should tell him how bad it was, but I am unsure :  I certainly would not do so if there were others in the shop, but if I could talk to him 1:1 I would be willing to, emphasising that I am not asking for a refund but simply want to draw his attention to the fact that a previously very happy customer was distinctly unhappy that evening.

** Phil.

[Gav Iscon]

If it was a restaurant I'd only been to once I wouldn't probably go back but if its one i've been to a few times and rated I would definitely have a word with the owner/manager. I'm sure he would value your personal feedback as a regular bearing in mind that most people nowadays would just grind the axe on Tripadvisor.

[Secret Santa]

I ended up eating Dutch Edam in preference...

Your only saving grace there was that you didn't call it cheese. That would have been unforgiveable! 

[Peripatetic Phil]

I ended up eating Dutch Edam in preference...

Your only saving grace there was that you didn't call it cheese. That would have been unforgiveable! 

Come come, Sir :  Messrs Evelyn & Crabtree don't produce cheese, they produce speciality soaps, of which the Dutch Edam fragrance is definitely my favourite

[Kashmiri Bob]

I will go back, Rob :  the owner is a very pleasant and friendly chap, and I think I owe him the courtesy of one more attempt before giving up forever.  My wife thinks I should tell him how bad it was, but I am unsure :  I certainly would not do so if there were others in the shop, but if I could talk to him 1:1 I would be willing to, emphasising that I am not asking for a refund but simply want to draw his attention to the fact that a previously very happy customer was distinctly unhappy that evening.

** Phil.

Indeed Phil. Chances are he will be grateful for the feedback.  Every customer should be important to a decent place, but from what I've seen it's the regulars that keep places going, even with the smaller orders.  A TA owner told me the regulars are also most likely to order mid-week, which was vital to keep their business ticking over.  Ideally of course they'd like to be busy every night, but the reality was with numerous competitors (not just from other Indian TAs) often the best they could hope for was that mid-week trade paid the bills; and the weekend was profit.  Regulars are also more likely to provide genuine feedback, whereas the occasional/one-off big order customers rarely complain directly if something is wrong;  they generally just don't come back.  The latter is still very much my policy, unless, like yourself, I know the TA are capable of better. Agree a quite word would be the way to go as they've produced the goods in the past.  Whether they are struggling or not, they are unlikely to want to lose a regular.

Rob