More Gary Eats reactions & chef reviews in the full playlist below 👇https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLO3CAJUNoEig

I really related to what you said about restaurants. I’m not a chef, but I cook very well and love doing it; when I go to a restaurant, I almost always feel that I could have made the dish better at home, about 80% of the time, but when I find something that surprises me, I truly appreciate it.

We all wanna see James go do a restaurant review!

I really like the way he spoke to the waiter. Some people have this mindset that, because they're spending money, if something isn't perfect, they have the right to be rude and demanding. I can't stand people like that.

Equally important is if you encounter excellence, let the wait staff, AND the chef know.  I used to have a regular traditional Mexican.  One day the coffee (which was always good) was different, and better.  I comment on this to the owner (she also acted as hostess).  She was overjoyed.  Turns out she grew up on a coffee plantation, and was proud of the coffee she served.  From then on, coffee was always on the house.  Beyond that, she delivered a pound of the coffee to my house!

Pride drove that restaurant, always spotless, dishes always impeccable, and service all that service can be.  Tipping above and beyond is good, adding personal thanks, with particulars of exactly what you found exceptional is even better.

Guga would have nightmares looking at that steak. No seasoning, no crust, not rested. He also hates grill marks, but that's a whole other debate.

The way the food looks I'm guessing Marco helped them make the menu in the 90s and nothings been updated since then except the prices.

This is the main reason I don't bother going to restaurants who have a named figure as the main sell point... they sell you most mediocre to horrible food with the excuse that you aren't there to eat but to get the "experience" of eating there.

Is it bad I want to see a Kitchen Nightmare do an episode here and Gordon comes in. “I save the restaurant that Marco used to be the chef.”

My kids would send that steak back to me if I cooked it that badly and I would cop the abuse to be fair. Just sad.

You and Gary don't turn an assessment into an excuse to be negative. So many of these food reviewers are looking to be savage and say bitchy insults: you two do not do this, and it's refreshing.

It’s true. The more I cook for myself, the more I don’t want to eat out because I like my food better. It’s a real struggle. And a frustrating thing is when I find a place I enjoy and then see them slowly start slipping and eventually close permanently. There’s this one restaurant where I get delivery and it seems like it alternates so that every other time I eat there, it’s delicious and then the next time, it’s horrible. Embarrassingly horrible. 🙂

7:12 My mistake - I failed to realize that this video was meant for 6 year old children who were finally allowed to sit at the dinner table with the adults.

When I was younger I never complained at restaurants unless it was a blatant screw-up (wrong order, burned, raw, etc).  As I got older I realized that if no one points out their mistakes they're just going to keep on making them and they won't be around long without repeat diners, so you're actually doing them a huge service by politely pointing out deficiencies.

35-odd years ago, I was determined that I wanted to be a chef. I jumped onto a course for cook/waiter, where we would get an introduction to the entire workflow over 8 months before moving on to the specific line we would choose.

One thing we were told again and again before we went out to our internship placements was to always check the bathrooms as one of the first things. If a restaurant knows how to keep its toilets clean, they can generally be trusted to keep a clean kitchen.

To this day, I always check the bathrooms whenever I rarely go out to eat. Even if I have a table reserved, if the bathrooms aren't clean, I am not staying.

So in Denmark, we have had a "smiley" system from the food inspections since 2001, covering food establishments including restaurants, cafés, shops and similar businesses.

If a place doesn't have the happiest smiley, don't eat there.
Sometimes you can't trust those review sites. It can be Karen's writing nasty things because no one told her the Hot Pockets would be burning hot.

China Garden Brighton, East Sussex. Had a terrible meal, so much so was inedible, complained to staff pointing out cold, oily, tasteless and mushy. Made us pay full price, then asked if we wanted boxed up, to take home. Did an online complaint and got ignored. So I recommend to steer clear of China Garden Brighton.

When I was younger my parents owned a restaurant (small town diner), and people were always trying to complain about the food to get a free meal. If they had finished everything they didn’t get comped, but if they hardly touched anything there was no charge at all. Followed by an apology, and a lot of conversation with the kitchen staff

I shared these two stories with Gary as well. First one happend to me, a couple of years ago. (I enjoy a good Steak, if possible, i order one and try to make different versions at home)  Anyway... I had a Steak in a restaurant near by, i ordered it rare, with peppercorn sauce. The dish arrived was cooked perfect, but the meat was chewy. That can happen, no big deal, bad piece of meat, bad cutting, so i called the waitress and told her. She went back to the kitchen and i was counting minutes. 6 minutes, for a new Steak.  15 !!! minutes later, she returned with a piece of meat, half the size of my Steak, drowned in peppercorn sauce. When i removed a bit of sauce from the top, idropped my knife and forke. The waitress looked at me "Whats wrong this time?" I stared at her "Are you f'ing kidding me? This is MY Steak, from before, but now its dead?! You burned it to half of its size!" She shrugged "Should i take another order?" I went furious and said "No, im leaving, im not paying for this shit. Have a fine day and keep this BS"  Normaly im not like this, but that was a no go.
Second story happend to my parents, they went to holiday and in a restaurant, my father ordered the Sunday-roast. While they waited, there was an old couple on the table next to them and the old guy was mumbling and cursing all the time.
When the roast came, my fathe said, the knife bounced of the beef. It was rubbery and sounded sqeezy. So he called the waiter and told him. He went to to the kitchen and came back 5 mins later, asking for a replacement and that the cook was sorry.  MY dad ordered the Steak and off the waiter went. A moment later the cook apeared and my dad was like "oh shit what have i done". The cook said to him, "I will not serve you any Steak." My dad was like "whats wrong, what did i do?" and the cook said "the roast and the Steak are from the same cow. I tried it, you are right and i called the butcher, he can pick up his whole delivery tomorrow."
So my dad went for pork. meanwhile the old man, next table was yelling to his wife, about the worst meal ever. The waiter came and asked if there was a problem? He said no, they finished their meals, paid and left.
Later, when it was time for my parents to pay, the waiter came and said "No, you made us aware of the bad quality, you dont pay today."  My father was stunned and could only say "What did you serve that poor guy, the table next to us?" the waiter smiled "Same as you....but i asked him, if there was a problem, he said no, ate his rubbery meat...so he had to pay the full price"

I've encountered this fear of seasoning the last time we were in an upscale restaurant with the office. the steak unseasoned, the soup unseasoned. as if they are afraid the customer returns it because it's "too salty".

Google maps reviews are usually spot on. Look for anything above 4.5 stars and you're fine