Food News, with Christine Rutter

EATING out is big business in Britain.

We spend a staggering £13.5 million on restaurant meals every year. But if your dinner turned into a recipe for disaster, would you know how to complain effectively?

Jim Potts, chief trading standards officer for Lancashire, says too many of us are willing to suffer in silence.

"The British people become almost like embarrassed children in restaurants," he said. "We are afraid to complain and draw attention to ourselves or embarrass our friends and family.

"Americans don't stand for bad service or food and they help drive up standards.

"Restaurants live on their reputation. They want satisfied customers and would rather you complain than tell family and friends how awful the meal was."

"The standards in local restaurants and cafes is very high. Lancashire isn't a big area for complaints."

But when the service is bad and the food inedible, what do you do?

The Trading Standards department has given readers this easy-to-follow guide to help them stand up for their rights.

If you are kept waiting for ages between courses and the waiter is rude, you are well within your rights to deduct something from the service charge on the bill.

If your table has been taken, complain. The restaurant is in breach of contract and you can claim a reasonable sum to compensate for travel costs, disappointment and inconvenience. But be warned - the same can happen if you do not show up. The restaurant can claim compensation from you for loss of business.

Restaurants and cafes are required to display a menu with prices in such a place that diners have a chance to survey the price before entering the dining area. Jim said: "This is to avoid people being seated and then presented with a menu to find it too expensive."

Any inescapable charges such as VAT and service charge should be included within the price of the meal. This should not be left to the small print.

Jim said: "We have had a number of prosecutions in the county of this kind. Restaurants advertise what seem like attractive prices and it is not until you get the final bill that you get the real price with service charge and VAT added. Restaurants can charge for under-occupancy but this is uncommon.

The Sale of Goods Act 1979 states "Any goods supplied to you should be of satisfactory quality."

Jim said: "If you pay £2 for egg and chips in a greasy spoon cafe it will not be a fantastic meal. If you go to a gourmet restaurant, you expect something special. You have to take the situation into account. There is no such thing as a standard meal. One man's delicious, well-cooked steak is another man's burnt steak. If you order a steak and it is burnt to a cinder then the chef has not exercised reasonable skill.

Complaining - do it straight away. Don't finish the meal and then complain. Tell the manager why it is unsuitable. Don't thump the table. Simply invite him to present a meal which is fit to eat If he refuses to do anything about it then you are only obliged to make a token payment of what you think the meal was worth, maybe half the original price.

Always leave your name and address and invite the manager to sue you in county court for the rest of the money. I can't think of anybody who has been. Don't walk out without paying. That is seen as theft. If they cannot serve the meal in a reasonable time then pay for what you have had and leave.

Jim said: "Waiting times in a fast food place would be different to those for a meal during a cabaret evening."

Some restaurants have misleading descriptions on menus - for instance, passing off packet soup as home-made. These places can be reported to Trading Standards.

Surprise award is royal chefs' crowning glory

YOU can be sure of a right royal treatment at the Auberge restaurant in Rishton.

Not only have chefs Paul Hogan and Stuart Lord served for royalty such as Princess Diana but their food has also been ranked among the best in the county.

Auberge owners Michael Edmundson and Lorraine Hamer were delighted when they received a prestigious award out of the blue.

Members of the Hi-Life Diners Club secretly dined at the restaurant in High Street throughout last year, after which they did a vote and placed the establishment at the top of the pack.

The certificate of excellence was awarded in recognition of the high standards of cuisine, ambience and service experienced by members of the largest dining-out organisation in the country, with 50,000 members.

It is a welcome seal of approval for the owners, who went into the business with no previous experience of running a restaurant. Michael, an engineer by trade, and his fiancee Lorraine, who worked as a clerk at National Westminster Bank in Blackburn, decided on a radical change of career. The pair bought an architecturally impressive building from Lorraine's employer and the pair set to work transforming it into an eating place with class.

"We've always wanted to open a restaurant but we had no experience so when we bought the building and changed it into a restaurant it was a real gamble. But it obviously paid off," said Michael.

The pair received a letter from Mark Southern, a partner at Hi-Life Diners Club, which stated: "Your restaurant has been recognised by many of our members in their votes as being of the highest standard."

Michael said: "We are absolutely delighted and this award recognises the hard work we, and most of all our chefs, have put into making the restaurant a success."

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