Um, maybe it's time to call in the sanitation crews...

Good lord, I would definitely not pay for a meal with some extra protein included with it. But, if you watch Kitchen Nightmares, especially the US version, it's really nasty the conditions that some restaurants are in now a days!

The most sanitary way to eat food = make it yourself. That way you know what you are getting.

Seven people, and only four bugs. That's nearly 50% satisfaction. Way better than the Comfort in guarantee.

And those aren't SMALL bugs! How the hell do they serve that crap when theres something THAT big in it? FOUR OF THEM!

I would have left and/or puked after pulling out ONE. That is gross beyond all possible situations. I'd even take spit in my food over that crap; BUGS!

BLEGH.

Wait, so they're getting additional protein at no charge - better yet, they're getting a discount for it? What's the big deal?

I noticed this took place in Dubai, as in Middle East. I'm not going to even pretend to be an expert on what goes on there, but maybe that's considered normal? It could be just a cultural miscommunication?

OK, so this is on topic but a complete other story.

Back a ways when I was waiting tables for a chain I did a couple store openings. I was down in Atlanta and that store (unlike most of the other ones) had a small patio with the bar. It was July and a group of 8 women who decided they didnt want to wait for a table on opening night decided to push together a couple of the small bar tables and sit on the patio (again, July in Atlanta, not a popular location). They decided to eat regular meals. My poor trainee came running over to me crying. The reason?

The women demanded that she comp the entire check because one found a fly in her Daquiri and another found one crawling on her pasta plate. They had accused her of serving them food with bugs in it because they were a different race.

I calmly went over to explain to them that we would not be comping the entire check over a couple bugs, since they were EATING OUTSIDE, and that, other then replacing the drink there was nothing that we could do to prevent that.
(In fact, you really cant prevent a couple flies from getting into a restaurant either, since the doors open all the time).

They actually called the police on us and refused to pay. The cops laughed at them and told them to pay or they would be arrested for theft. They left, paying the $150 to the penny with no tip, even though we auto added grat on parties. They simply deducted it. Poor girl quit that night.

Andrew Zimmern would eat it up.

Maybe "bu'g onfuud" is arabic for birthday party?

@Thassodar: Hey, not defending the situation at all, but we don't know the size of the bugs. If you're looking at the photo in the linked Reuters story, that is an archive photo not related to the story. Caption reads "A woman purchases a cooked giant water beetle from a Bangkok market April 4, 2007."

Regardless, I agree. One small bug, one large projectile vomit....

@ottawa_guy: Have you ever seen the back room of a grocery store? Just eat maximally-processed junk food. It's so bad for you that the bugs don't want it either.

@Thassodar: I assume you're referring to the picture on the Reuters story: "A woman purchases a cooked giant water beetle from a Bangkok market April 4, 2007." It's just there to gross out us westerners.

Please visit weirdmeat.com for more delicious bug-shit-, and ass-eating fun.

I see Applebee's has opened a location in Dubai.

I'll have to remember to skip that joint next time I'm in Dubai...

@Steve Trachsel, Ace. No, really, ACE: If you auto-added the grat and they deducted it, they didn't pay the whole check, especially if your restaurant had a "We automatically add X% gratuity on parties of 8 or more" policy posted somewhere like most do. If the cops stuck around you still could have had them arrested.

@DeeJayQueue: yeah, I thought about it. But it was opening night and "Restaurant arrest group for undertipping" wasnt the headline we wanted.

The issue as presented in the article is not that there were bugs in the food; the issue is that they printed "bug in food" on the receipt. They got a discount, who cares if the restaurant put that, or even "boobs" on the receipt? Why is that an issue???

@Steve Trachsel, Ace. No, really, ACE: In New York, at least, "mandatory gratuity" may not be legally enforceable. It probably depends on the jurisdiction and quite possibly the wording used.

That said, tip your servers and pay the surcharge as long as it was clearly stated in advance.

Will you learn how to write a headline? This is like the 4th time this week that I've had to re-read the article because the first read didn't make sense in light of the headline. I was expecting a story about some folks who got a birthday discount on their meal, but the server incorrectly put down 'bugs' as a reason.

Maybe it's my fault. Am I the only one?

I didn't mean to sound so harsh. Sorry about that. Had 2 cups of coffee this afternoon when I usually have none.

yay cheap food in dubai, lets ignore their horrid human rights violations

[travel.timesonline.co.uk]

Its possible that this is probably pretty common in a middleastern country.

IMO they shouldnt have had to pay for the meal at all because of the FOUR bugs in their food. But Like I said... this MAY be pretty common in middleastern countries.

Heck! I wouldnt be suprised if finding sand in your food over there is a common occurance.

As soon as I step outside of the country, regarding food, anything goes. Conditions just aren't the same everywhere.Getting uppity over it on the other side of the world isn't going to help anything.

Once I went to an Italian restaurant and one of my friends ended up with three or four bugs in her midori sour (I think it was a midori, anyway). They were in the middle of the drink, too. They brought her another one, but seriously.. three or four bugs concentrated in one area in the middle of a drink? At least they were relatively small.

@backbroken: You were a bit harsh, but the headline definitely sucked.

@Steve Trachsel, Ace. No, really, ACE:

Whoa, that's messed up. You know, once you see your server start to cry (or anyone for that matter), you should probably lighten up a bit. People seem to have no problems hurting other people, regardless of their overall involvement.

@rjhiggins: Yeah, I'm never going to get my star now. Curse you delicious Columbian bean!

Actually 'comping' is not done worldwide, it's probably a cultural thing. I know in my country (Netherlands) I've never been comped, they just give you a newly fixed plate or drink if there's something wrong with it, until you are satisfied. If you still aren't, don't eat it and then they might take it off the bill.

I was very surprised on a visit to the US, that part of my meal was comped (and I had no clue what the word meant) because our server had forgotten all about the appetizer and so we got it for free.

That was so weird to me.

They got a 25% discount on their meal, thats what maybe happens here in my country too in such conditions, but comping is a very USA kinda thing.