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Person Asks “What Dishes Do Professional Chefs Dislike Preparing At A Restaurant?”, Gets 30 Various Responses
Any professional chef will always be happy to tell you about their signature dish, and maybe - if you ask them well - and cook it with no less pleasure. After all, people love to showcase their craft, whether it's singing, painting, dancing, or turning foods into culinary delights.
And people also love to complain. The weather, the government, taxes, the quarterback who threw a bunch of turnovers last week, and, of course, their own jobs. And, well, professional chefs are no exception! Just want to check it out? Here we go!
There is a thread on Quora whose topic starter asked just one question: "What dishes do professional chefs dislike preparing at a restaurant?" A lot of professionals of the highest level came to the comments, who literally revealed all the dark sides of their skills.
Bored Panda collected for you a selection of the most interesting, fascinating and simply very popular comments from this thread, so feel free to scroll to the very end and, of course, even if you did not learn cooking specifically, but just like to stand at the stove at home - please write, which dish is usually your personal nightmare to cook?
More info: Quora
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Gnocchi! I worked as a prep/line cook at an Italian restaurant in NY and making those tiny little ‘pillows’ would sometimes take all day(thank god we weren’t much of a lunch place) - from boiling huge amounts of potato’s, rolling them out with flour into perfectly sized ribbons, and cutting and shaping each one was the most mundane, seemingly endless tasks I had to complete on a regular basis. I still will not order gnocchi at a restaurant because I feel bad for whoever has to make them!
Nikki Sevven 3 years ago
This is why I reserve a day every couple of months to make and individually flash freeze hundreds of gnocchi in at least two flavors. Currently eating up potato/onion and sweet potato.
Disgruntled Pelican 3 years ago
Omg sweet potato gnocchi sounds DIVINE!!!
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asexualotl (she/her) 3 years ago (edited)
i'm craving gnocchi because it was mentioned here but also thinking twice about ordering it at dinner tonight...
Amy Broderick 3 years ago
my grandmother made them with ricotta instead of potato. Tastes exactly the same and way easier to make
Norman Woelk 3 years ago
The 'chef' doesn't make them, it is the jr cooks or apprentices who have to make them.
Yvette Desmarais 3 years ago
I'm still leaning toward ordering it because it's too tedious for me to make.
RELATED:
#2
I used to work with someone who once worked as a chef at Daniel, Daniel Boulud’s flagship restaurant on NYC’s Upper East Side. She told me that the dish she most hated making was chartreuse, which is a kind of a molding of game birds wrapped in vegetables.
They only do this dish a few times a year but she dreaded it. She had to take a massive pile of tiny game birds, which were hunted for this express purpose, de-bone and de-breast each one and then pack them into vegetable wraps that had to look like a perfect little food sculpture. It is not only a very complicated preparation requiring meticulous attention to detail (that describes many of the dishes at Daniel), but she said that butchering dozens and dozens of tiny birds all day is just gruesome work.
Alban Bizet 3 years ago
looks nice thoug, the actual one from this restaurant: 130729_r23..._g2048.jpg 
Bored cat 3 years ago
thanks😃this looks a lot better then the one in the picture
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Hugo Hackenbush 3 years ago
Generally a chartreuse is a molded dish of vegetables surrounding mashed potatoes, rice, or something like that.
Zachary Rea 3 years ago
As a butcher at a high end Manhattan restaurant, I would LOVE to prepare this on the regular
Anne McKinney 3 years ago
That sounds so gross and they probably pay big bucks for that! Lol. Just because it's fancy doesn't make it good.
#3
I utterly despise appetizers/hors d'oeuvres.
I don’t feel like a real cook when I’m making food one bite at a time.
At my age, having to repeatedly hold little pieces of food between my thumb and forefinger during preparation really starts killing the tendon at the base of my thumb (repetitive stress - I’m often doing this for groups of 200 or more people).
Spending an insane amount of time and effort putting ridiculous detail into an amazing display, when the only person who is going to care is the group’s event coordinator. She’ll “ooh” and “aah” over how stunning it is, and then the 200 people in her group will demolish it without looking at it because they’re really more interested in the open bar than the “snacks”.
Tired of people who don’t understand that “appetizers” during cocktail hour aren’t “dinner”, and complain about the tiny plates.
Nikki Sevven 3 years ago
This is why you're more likely to see "serve yourself" type appetizers outside of a restaurant, like at someone's home or a potluck event. I'm a huge fan of "here's a bag of carbs and a bowl of flavored fat (dairy or otherwise)...have at it" style of appetizers.
Trisha Howson 3 years ago
I know on how you are telling me this. I can imagine how annoying it must be. I'm sorry.
Lori 3 years ago
Just so you know, I absolutely appreciate it. I'll not only take as many pictures as I can, I'll describe them in great detail to anyone who will pay the least bit of attention for months afterwards. I'll even try to recreate them (and make an absolute mess of it).
Elaine Elder 3 years ago
The largest western American art museum in the world is in my hometown. The Booth Western Art Museum, Cartersville, Georgia. Best thing about the museum, aside from Over 120,000 square feet of American Art, is all the Cowboys. One of my favorites once called them "Horse Do Overs" and I just can NOT un-hear it that way and smile. But like all great artists, can't you enlist novice artistic students from the ranks of culinary wannabes at minimum wage? Put the bar with fruity drinks pink wine nobody actually likes the taste of at the entrance and the Horse Do Overs wandering around next to the silent auction items in the middle with another bar in back with beer and manly drinks. Keep um spinning between bars like a square dance.
#4
Anything that a customer requests that isn’t on the menu.
Eduard Korhonen 3 years ago
Don't male it. Simple. If it's not on the menu, it's not available.
Stannous Flouride 3 years ago
That would be great if you didn't have a manager or owner who insisted you do it. Often, they are not cooks and do not have any appreciation of what taking the time to do something you're not set up for involves.
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Eliza 3 years ago
This depends, from someone who used to work at McDonald's, if they actually are asking for something entirely custom I understand. If they are asking for no pickles or something in that vein it should not be an issue. (While working there, the amount of people who couldn't reliably do the no pickles esque work was truly exasperating)
Theresa McCreary 3 years ago
If you cannot find something from this menu (that isn't special order) - you need to go home and cook some food.
#5
Nachos - not for what they are, just how our place did them. It was a small eatery. There was no line staff, you were the line. Which meant you were juggling things when it got busy.
Our nachos were interesting. We cut up our own tortillas and deep-fried them into chips. For nachos you put a heap of chips into a large ceramic soup bowl, drizzled a generous amount of two grated cheeses ( jalapeno and garlic jack ) over the top and then into the salamander for a few moments to melt and lightly brown the cheese. Serve with 2 kinds of salsa on the side.
The problem was the salamander. As most chefs know, it can be quite a bit more powerful than a home range’s broiler. A few seconds too long and the chips burn - forcing you to start over.
When the place got busy I just dreaded a nachos order. All the distractions going on it was too likely at least one time some corn chips turned to charcoal. A lower setting on the salamander would have been a god-send, but then sizzle-plates would have been slower to heat. All you could do is say a little prayer to the char-god hoping he didn’t want another sacrifice that day.
Shyla Clay 3 years ago
I had no idea nachos could be so complicated. I did get a fun visual of a salamander holding the chips over an open fire.
Theresa McCreary 3 years ago
The problem is they cannot be left unattended. Not many chefs have that kind of time. As far as the salamander - that was probably a special order LOL.
Stannous Flouride 3 years ago
If you read it again you'll see that that isn't the chip preparation that they mind.
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Anna Johnston 3 years ago (edited)
This sounds like a easier method than when my mom was a waitress in her younger days. She told me if they got a nachos order (which was VERY often, we live in South Texas), part of the process was smearing refried beans on each chip before adding on the other ingredients.
Mosheh Wolf 3 years ago
I just learned that nachos were created in a restaurant called "Nacho's" and they were just a way to use chips that were a bit older and no longer all that crunchy.
#6
When I had my first restaurant job, the least favorite menu items was the “Monte Cristo” sandwich. It was an egg batter dipped and griddled ham, turkey and gruyere sandwich served with raspberry jam, dusted with powdered sugar. Totally ridiculous food - and a favorite of closing managers and bartenders. It required that more containers and products be re-opened at the end of the night than any other menu item. It also required flat-top cooking (or pan sautee if you were crafty) and fried accompaniments. I fucking hated those days.
Nikki Sevven 3 years ago
Of all the dishes to hate, this one isn't all that difficult...unless you're making them for a dozen people.
AmAndA_Panda 3 years ago
No one said it was difficult. It's what dishes chef's hate to make. And OP specifically said they hated this because closing staff loved to order it. So at the end of the day, when they were trying to get everything cleaned up and ready to leave, the cooks had to get out all the extra containers and products it required to make this. Being irritated that closing crew wanted the most tedious sandwich on the menu on a regular basis is valid.
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Cashme Outside 3 years ago
I find it interesting boredpanda allows dropping the F bomb in the post, but you can’t say c r a p… see, look- c**p.
YouKiddingMe 3 years ago
One of my favorites. I LOVE a good Monte Cristo, I like to dip it in maple syrup, yummm
Ozymandias73 3 years ago
OMG....I haven't had one of these in the longest time! Sooooooooooooo delish!
Theresa McCreary 3 years ago
They are delicious if done correctly. Another dish that requires almost full attention.
DennyS (denzoren) 3 years ago
I wonder why they call it the Monte Cristo, is it a book reference? Also, yes this seems really messy for a sandwich.
Cashme Outside 3 years ago
Actually, yes! The idea is that, much like the Count (Edmond Dantes) the filling has a very developed taste. The dipping in egg and frying is like his harsh experience in prison and the powdered sugar and jam add the sweetness that Dantes has within himself. Further, and most importantly, none of this is true and I made it all up and I have no idea why the sandwich is named such.
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Anne McKinney 3 years ago
I've read more than one column like this that mentions the monte cristo. Must be a real pain in the a**e.
#7
Poached eggs. There are seemingly dozens of tricks which all result in nearly perfect poached eggs… almost. The yolk, the hard white and the soft white, including the chalazae. Once a cook masters an attractive, properly cooked poached egg… some customers want soft poached or hard poached. There is no fast, easy, perfect way to poach an egg. It can be fast or easy or perfect but not all three.
Louisa Alexander 3 years ago
I worked brunch shift in DC and could never make a beautiful poached egg. Luckily, chef extraordinaire David Yarbough worked brunch with me, and I traded the task of doing everything on the dessert table, so that he would do all the poached eggs.
Linda HS 3 years ago
Disagree. Takes exactly 2 minutes in the watch to poach a perfect egg! I do them at least four times a week…better alternative to frying them.
Tim Douglass 3 years ago
You forget that in that 2 minutes you are taking 6 other pans of eggs off the burners, plating them and then starting another 6 pans. Oh, and arguing with the bread delivery guy while begging the dishwasher to get some more plates onto the line pronto!
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Cashme Outside 3 years ago
Well yeah, if you overcook them, sure. They’re supposed to be soft though. (joking)
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Elizabeth Elliot 3 years ago
As long as the eggs are really fresh, they're just like doing boiled eggs without the shell! I always do them for salads as you don't have to f***y around peeling them!
Nitka Tsar 3 years ago
Yeah, I despair with those. But Scotch eggs on the other hand…. Relatively easy in comparison
#8
Anything with artichokes Lol! Pain in the but cleaning those things and the yield is so little!
SilverSkyCloud 2 years ago (edited)
i had one of these when i was in paris, it tasted like raw mushroom
marianne eliza 3 years ago
I strongly feel that a person must go through each leaf in order to earn the right to eat the heart. BTW, if you take a veg peeler to the stem and get rid of the fibrous outer skin, the stem will taste like heart.
#9
I find that a lot of cooks really hate making fresh mayonnaise/aioli, and lots of dressings. I'm not sure why, but a lot of them hate it. I recently told one of my chefs that I used to make 5 gallons at a time, and he thought it would take hours, but it actually only takes about 20 minutes.
A lot of chefs hate having to do hollandaise. It's really not that bad.
The thing about cooking is that everything is pretty annoying, and if you feel like letting stuff get to you then there really is no end to it.
A lot of chefs hate having to measure anything. It's easier to not measure, but they act like it's the end of the world, or some skill that takes natural born talent. That's why most chefs are convinced that they can't be pastry chefs. I don't pay that any mind. I know it's because they just don't feel like being slightly more disciplined.
Anything that is a little time consuming is ripe to be hated. Being a chef is full of things that are difficult, time consuming, demanding, irritating, excessively hot or cold, slimy, and lots more. Being successful has much more to do with being able to do those things and still smile, be polite, be diligent, etc than it does with any sort of god given talent.
Oh, and most of them hate having to use the slicer because that means two things:
1 - They probably have to clean the slicer because someone else left it dirty.
2 - They have to clean the slicer after they are done using it.
Lisa H 3 years ago
Slicers can be pretty tedious to clean, especially if the person who used it before didn't bother. That's just bad manners.
Theresa McCreary 3 years ago
I think most people dislike about 40% of their job. It does not matter what the profession is, there are always going to be parts of a job that people feel is tedious or unnecessary.
Nitka Tsar 3 years ago
They could use a knife. That way they don‘t have to clean some slicer. It‘s not that hard and time consuming to use a proper knife. I work in a kitchen. We don‘t even have a slicer
Matthew Shelton 3 years ago
And slicers are expensive AF, and their expensive AF blades inevitably get banged up by some idiot trying to slice up a hard-frozen something or other. Gimme a knife any day.
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Marissa Taylor 3 years ago
oh god i HATE making mayo. it taste beter then store bought but is a pain in the ss i had to make it during cooking class..never again
gerard julien 3 years ago
I have never seen home made mayonnaise in the US ( at home or in restaurants ) sad!
Bored Turtle Princess 3 years ago
"it's easier to not measure." I disagree. A lot of foods taste different with different amounts of spices/salt/ whatever. Maybe it's easier to not measure, but the taste is going to be different, the food might even look different if the measurement is too off.
B 🇺🇦🇨🇦 3 years ago
As a former prep cook - trust me, when you make the same 20 recipes day after day, it can be a lot easier to “eyeball” a lot of ingredients. Some things HAVE to be measured (I would never eyeball salt, for example) but since cooks are trained to taste everything they make to check that it’s correct, I had no problem eyeballing mixed veggie slaws or splashes of whiskey in the whiskey peppercorn sauce, or how much cheese or filling goes on or in something :)
Load More Replies... #10
Roasted peppers are one of my top ten most hated items. You must char the skin so it’s as black as coal, then wrap in plastic bags so they steam as they cool. Then remove every scrap of blackened skin, then cut in half and meticulously remove the core and each and every seed. Then slice into thin batons.
Youre tempted to wash that off under the tap but doing so washes away the flavor too. Of course, when roasting peppers we’re doing a hundred at a time.
DennyS (denzoren) 3 years ago
This seems similar to how we roast tomatoes locally. We char on an open flame, scrape off the blackened skin (not all of it) then crush and season to taste. I've seen my dad wrap it in foil also when charring so to avoid the blackening but it just isn't the same without the burnt flavor. Lol
Mosheh Wolf 3 years ago
First, put it in a paper bag, not a plastic bag. Second, if it's done right it literally takes minutes. In fact, I just roasted a pound of Hatch chilis which are far more difficult, since you have to do it with gloves, unless you want to feel burning in many delicate parts of your body that you tend to rub...
#11
Cheese plates, hands down. Every time one of those orders comes through, it’s a show stopper where the person making it needs to stop doing everything else they’re doing and focus only on that for several minutes, which in the kitchen is a really long time.
Lisa H 3 years ago
Even if you sliced the cheese ahead of time, a decent cheese plate/board does require a certain amount of focus because you have to make it look nice and oftentimes, there are several different types of cheese that need to go on it in addition to any cracker/bread slices and little extras like grapes. It's not as simple as just plating food. This is one of those dishes that has to look nice and since everything is already prepped, it's not like you can go do something else because there's no cooking or simmering or anything like that involved. Sure, it only takes a few minutes, but like OP said, a few minutes in a busy restaurant is a lot of time, especially when there's other things you have to get done. I hope I explained it well. I'm not a pro chef, but I have worked in several different types of restaurants so I have had to do stuff like this before.
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Caro Caro 3 years ago
Meh, don't bother with all the little details. Just bring me ALL your cheese and some baguette or toast. That's all I require :D
GettingCereal 3 years ago
They did specify "several minutes, which in the kitchen is a really long time." I've never worked in a kitchen, but it sounds like it disturbs the flow.
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E Hall 3 years ago
Tell me you've never worked in a restaurant without telling me you've never worked in a restaurant.
Load More Replies... #12
Eggs Benedict.
As a diner operator with heavy breakfast counts on weekends, it ties up the line specially when a party of 4 orders it during heavy days. Took it out of our menu. If it was a slow morning, and a guest ask nicely, I'd do it.
Norman Woelk 3 years ago
What is so hard? You make your hollandaise, pre poach eggs and it comes together fast.
#13
Appreciate the A2A!!! I guess most dishes can be a pleasure or a pain. Having the proper, fresh ingredients that are properly prepped makes even difficult dishes enjoyable. However, I really do not like fresh fish anything. I do like salmon steaks. But I don't enjoy the handling and cleaning of fresh fish.
DennyS (denzoren) 3 years ago
I was 50/50 on this until I did a class on finfish prep and we had tons for practice and then I started to enjoy it. Learning how to fillet and getting good at it was the most satisfying. I'd say if you're doing this you must have running water....and I'd recommend an outdoor sink if you have one.
Carolee Samuda 3 years ago
I don't like cleaning fish either. I usually have mine does at the fish mongers.
Elizabeth Elliot 3 years ago
I so agree with this - fish scales seem to get everywhere and filleting knives are so sharp you can cut yourself deeply without feeling it till later...
#14
I was a prep cook, dessert cook, and ocassional line cook,not a chef, for many years-
I liked making everything, especially new recipes, we went through about 6 chefs, so I got to do a lot of new recipes…I used to really love cooking, until I had kids…
*Except taking the poop out of the shrimp. Never grew to love “de-veining” shrimp.
Even though I’m a vegetarian I got a kind of perverse pleasure out of gutting (I called it “fisting”) the whole chickens and choppung heads off of halibut…
Being in charge of desserts for a couple of years was the best, especially when I got to do my own “specials” we had the basic chocolate torte, creme brulee, tiramisu, so I took it upon myself to uphold the family tradition and make many delicious cheesecakes during my tenure as dessert person…
*actual answer, the rest is just me waxing nostalgic about my professional cook days…
Brandon Marlowe 3 years ago
OMG. I bought a lot of fresh shrimp once that had the heads still on. Nastiest job I've ever done. That vile stuff that runs out smells horrid! Advice: Buy shrimp already de-headed.
Load More Replies... Stannous Flouride 3 years ago
I've worked in a half-dozen seafood restaurants and every one had a de-veining machine. They slice down the back of the shell, taking the poop vein out and making them easier to peel while leaving the flavor-rich heads on. Not cheap but they turn an hour's labor into just a few minutes. 55925-shri...e0b8d7.jpg 
Darla Taylor 3 years ago
Ditto on this, several years ago in the country clubs I had to also cook several hundred pounds of shrimp, shell them and devein them. To this day I don’t like shrimp or anything pertaining to them. And popcorn shrimp and smaller are very likely not getting deveined before being breaded. I never cleaned lobster but the smell of cooked ones make me gag.
Norman Woelk 3 years ago
Deveining shrimp is easily done, you can even order them shelled and deveined.
#15
My roommate was a chef, and I think the thing he least liked to do was chop green onions because they would always roll away. He called green onions rude food.
Lisa H 3 years ago
I actually like slicing green onions. They're easy for me. That's just me, though.
Claire Cochrane 3 years ago
Love green onions! I don't chop them tho, I slice them with scissors, faster & works well.
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Patti Vance 3 years ago
an easy fix for this is cutting them at a slight angle. eliminates the rolling little bastards
ThisIsNotTheOneYou'reLookinFor 3 years ago
I'm surprised herbs aren't on this list. Thyme, parsley and all those take forever when you have to prep for a large restaurant. Green onions were a breeze next to the small leaf herbs.
Heather Talma 3 years ago
I just use a scissors and snip them directly into whatever they're going into
Norman Woelk 3 years ago
One of the easiest to prep foods. Most of these complaints are from prep cooks and not 'chefs'. If you don't like the donkey work then get out of the kitchen. Not everyone gets a TV show.
#16
I always hated making a signature dish to someone's picky changes. If the dish I make doesn't suit your tastes, go somewhere else. This isn’t a McDonald's or Burger King, where a cook can simply pass up the pickles in the assembly line. If you don't want a steak with a marinade, don't order it. I can't change the flavor when it comes out of the marinade. If a particular side comes with that entree, I hate having to fix a different side just for you because I have to know every menu item and how to put that item together based on the item in its entirety. I really got a laugh out of orders for no salt on an entree that contains no salt to begin with. There's a request that won't piss me off when I have 12 orders backed up. That is a reason why I hated going out to eat with my stepdaughter. She will take as long to order as everyone else in a 6-person party combined, because she has to have substitutions, and want to know if she can get the sauce on another entree on what she is trying to order, and I just sit there and grind my teeth and hope the head chef doesn't appear at our table with a meat cleaver. When I'm the guy over the fire, I have to resist the urge to do just that when I get an order with enough notes to be the last great epistle to the gourmandians.
Nikki Sevven 3 years ago
I never do this. If the dish contains an ingredient I dislike, I order something else.
LH25 3 years ago
I will ask if an ingredient I don't like can be left out. If they say no, then I move on to another dish.
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Robert Trebor 3 years ago
If I order an omelet which the menu says has bell pepper, among other things, I as for the omission of bell pepper, not a substitution. I don't think that's a big feal. But to say, since I don't get the bell pepper, could you add more mushrooms, that's tacky.
Great Panda Mamu 3 years ago
Yes, and no. I think it's one thing with an omelet. It's not changing the fundamentals of the dish to change out peppers for mushrooms. And it's not a big difference in cooking to switch out one prepared item for another; you just grab a different thing. But most dishes don't work that way. Especially with sauces or other things that have to be prepared ahead of time. You can't order your chili without bell peppers, for instance. I think it's more about what can be easily accommodated. I certainly wouldn't ask for an integral part of the dish to be changed.
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Nancy Collins 3 years ago
I get not wanting to switch out actual ingredients in a specific dish, but it's not clear to me why it's hard to switch to a different side that the restaurant also serves.
E Hall 3 years ago
Because the price of an item on the menu is set by cost of the food.
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Mabelbabel 3 years ago
A popular restaurant near me has stopped doing substitutions. They do a set menu, and won't deviate from that, if you order X that comes with sides of Y and Z, that's what you get, no substituting sides A and B. And they won't modify dishes either, so won't remove tomatoes or onion for example. They have a good mix of vegan and vegetarian options, and clearly label which dishes contain which allergens, but if you want gluten-free, you have to order off the gluten free menu selection, not have a gluten containing dish re-made without gluten. The response has been mixed 50:50 in terms of approval or disapproval. I'm in the approval camp-if a chef has created a dish containing various ingredients, then there is a reason for them being in there and a professional obviously thinks they are necessary to the dish. It's not going to improve by me arbitrarily stripping out something and sticking in what I fancy.
B 🇺🇦🇨🇦 3 years ago
Exactly! A woman left my last restaurant a bad review because she ordered a quinoa artichoke salad with no feta and no dressing (so…..a bowl of dry quinoa and unseasoned vegetables) and then complained that it was “dry and flavourless” 🙃
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Fish Fingers 3 years ago
I want the fried feet. But I don't like feet. Or fried stuff. Or food. Can you sell me a book?
Robin Roper 3 years ago (edited)
But what about food allergies? People who absolutely can't eat a certain food don't want to be pains and occasionally, they want to go out to eat. Come on!
Jen 3 years ago
You order something else. I have severe food allergies, if a dish is prepped to have an ingredient Im allergic to, then even asking for it without that ingredient (and noting my severe allergy) doesnt mean it is possible to remove all traces if it is a key ingredient as you cant undo the prepwork containing it. However when you do have an allergy jusy leaving it off if it is prepped separately and just a side or topping could be ok, it is a lot of work cleaning down the line first though. Better to just ask for something thaf already doesnt contain the allergen.
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Heidi Forney 3 years ago
It isnt always about “preference or being picky”. Some of us have allergies or serious issues (GI for example) with certain ingredients. I would think that any chef with integrity would want to make sure the food being cooked wasnt going to cause an issue for the customer.
E Hall 3 years ago
Ok. Chefs don't hate you because you have allergies, etc. We cannot absolutely guarantee no cross contamination will occur if said allergen is in the building. WE ARE LITERALLY AFRAID OF KILLING YOU!
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Viau Anna 3 years ago
Wow, you must be that bratty entitled stepdaughter that wants to substitute every single ingredient in the dish! You sound like a nightmare.
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lone dragon 3 years ago
You can "get a laugh" all you want for someone who requests no salt. This is probably due to a medical condition. A typical 'layperson' isn't going to know what has salt added.
#17
I haven’t conducted a poll, so I can only speak from personal experience… From my observation, most Chefs love what they do, and create recipes that flow effectively in their kitchens. If a dish is found to be too complicated, it is usually taken off the menu.
The only thing we hate- this is especially a conflict for Chef/Owners- is when we get “Hit”. We “Get Hit” when a bunch of customers show up unexpectedly- all at the same time. Sometimes several large groups of people who all order different things. It is at these times when your kitchen needs to perform at top ability, and it is more likely that mistakes are made.
The only specific dish I can think of that can be “high maintenance” is the basic Egg. Though they are the first thing taught in Culinary School, even the most talented kitchens have occasional problems with eggs arriving cold. Or overcooked yolks in poached, sunny side and over-easy eggs. I recently had to send back overcooked baked eggs at a trendy LA “Celebrity” restaurant, last weekend.
The only other one I can think of is Rare and Medium Rare Steaks. Unfortunately, only the best steakhouses seem to have the ability to get them right, consistently.
Hope this info helps.
Mick
Nicole Cabrera 3 years ago (edited)
*Amen* on the steak bit. Maybe I'm a neanderthal, but I like eggs. Sure a perfect over medium or scrambled would be great, but if they come out a little over poached, a little runny or a tad cold - it's not going to ruin my day. Now F up my bloody mary..... lol.
#18
I'm going to keep my answer short: hundreds of scotch eggs…making 12 is no sweat. Making hundreds is grueling, much like the deviled quail eggs previously mentioned.
Nimues Child 3 years ago
Making hundreds of anything can drive you batty. Heck, making dozens of anything can send you 'round the bend from the excruciating tedium of it all. (not to mention the RSI)
Jen 3 years ago
They would all be going to different people - this post is what restaurant chefs hate making, they arent the ones eating any of it.
Load More Replies... #19
Flan was a PITA. Especially the caramel topping—we made the caramel and then poured it, hot, into the baking pan and let it cool. After the flan was baked and inverted, the melted caramel would be on top. You have no idea how many times the caramel would come out grainy or worse, burned, because some dumba*s either turned down the heat while it was cooking, or turned their back when it started to color.
Mole sauce. Dear gods, it took well over an hour to prepare a batch with the recipe we used.
Anything that required reducing a sauce. We were perpetually short staffed, so every prep cook would be working on two or three things at once, and if you turned your back after adding your stock or wine, it was easy to have nasty black shallots or garlic stinking up the kitchen.
Julie Davis 3 years ago
Funny…mole that took over an hour. I watched that show with Gordon Ramsey and I think the guy in Mexico said their mole is a 24-hour process!
#20
I hate prepping squid for calamari, it's a dirty stinking job but needs doing!
Ace 3 years ago
No it doesn't. Best recipe for squid is to bypass the cooking and eating process and just bin it to save time.
Beverly Hasegawa 3 years ago
With respect, if your squid is dirty or bad-smelling it's not fit to eat. Time to buy some that you're sure is fresh.
#21
This is actually a funny question because it totally depends upon person to person that what actually in my career experience as a food blogger, what I have observed is that specifically professional chefs dislike is being asked to cook someone else’s specialty or signature dish from some other restaurant.
Once I was in a restaurant and came across an incident in a restaurant where a head chef was asked to prepare a dish from some other restaurant’s menu and he got offended by that thing.
I think every professional chef would not like that thing but that again too it depends upon person to person how someone takes this thing as a challenge or opportunity.
In my opinion, anyone would feel bad if challenged but yes If I were a professional chef and asked to do such a thing I would definitely do it and try to make a tastier dish for sure. Rest hats off to all the chefs here.
Sarah Pierce 3 years ago
I would refuse similar requests. A) if it's a specific dish it feels disrespectful to attempt to copy it in a professional setting. B) you're setting me up for failure. Regardless of how well I do *my* cooking you're asking me to match or better someone who made this particular dish their speciality.
Norman Woelk 3 years ago
This is just dumb. My brother had a friend that when he went out order Beef Stroganoff even if it wasn't on the menu as he thought any good cook should be able to make it. Only and idiot does that and a bigger idiot would accept the order.
Michael Davison 3 years ago
Just no. It's bad form to go to a restaurant and ask for a signature dish from another. Chef has every right to tell you to leave.
#22
Thanks for the A2A Garrick.
The question really comes down to the quality of the ingredients I am using.
As an example:
I love cooking scallops, but not out of a tin.
I like cooking asparagus, but not when they are frozen.
I like cooking chicken but not the battery chickens that are pumped with chemicals and salt.
I love cooking mushroom risotto, but not in the spring
I like making vanilla ice cream but only if I have Tahitian vanilla pods.
Andrea 3 years ago
Cause some mushroom can only be harvested in summer in autumn and they won't be very fresh or frozen
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#23
Here are my two pet peeves:
A steak ordered “well-done.”
Would you like some ranch dressing to dip that dried out piece of shoe-leather in as well? At least have the decency to beg forgiveness from God for wasting that poor animal’s precious life once you’re done.
2. Any time a guest decides to rewrite our recipes.
Why don’t I just bring you a list of all the ingredients we have in the kitchen, and you can tell me what should be on the menu.
Alison Hell 3 years ago
People have different tastes and preferences..so they like their meat cooked thoroughly...time to get over it.. you are cooking for the people so should be happy to make a beautifully well done steak...if they like it and enjoy it..I would say that is a success.
Ace 3 years ago (edited)
Quite right. I prefer a steak medium-rare myself, but only if it's a nice and tender cut to start with, if not I'd rather have in over than undercooked. Lamb chops I prefer Mediterranean style, very well cooked on a wood grill with lots of herbs and oil, done to a crisp. I get fed up with TV chefs telling everyone that there's only one 'right' way to cook meat.
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The leech 3 years ago
If you don't know how to make a well done, but still juicy, steak. Then that is sad. My mom knows how to do it and she is not a chef.
Notyomama 3 years ago
My Grandmother made then delicious and juicy too. When I was young, I would only eat well done. Now, I like them just slightly past medium rare. Basically, I like red center, but no puddles of blood.
Load More Replies... Emma Starr 3 years ago
I don't know why people get so hostile over this. I like the taste of meat that is completely cooked....no pink. Why have a coronary over it??
Glitterati 3 years ago
I HATE this. Just cook the food how the person who is paying for it would like it. You’re not the steak police. My husband asked for cream in a jug on the side of a desert the other day and the waiter told us that the chef had a tantrum over it. It was a beautiful desert that actually didn’t need the cream. We won’t eat there again as the chef acted like a petulant toddler rather than just let my adult husband work out for himself if he’d like cream with his food. It really ruins your night to know someone was cursing you out behind the scenes. If it matters the meal was nearly $200AUD for a very special occasion and I left sad.
Cashme Outside 3 years ago
Yeah, Id have asked for the Chef to come out and discuss it with me personally if he has such an issue with it. Take your attitude and stuff it. Its a simple request and if Im spending that much at your restaurant and want some cream, put it there. If it has a surcharge, fine, I expect that, but I also expect a) your staff to know when to shut their mouth about an issue in the back of the restaurant, and b) if a simple request throws you into ranting and raving you need to get therapy and a new job.
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Christopher Bowers 3 years ago
So many like well done steaks and they can be done right if the chef takes the time to make them right. One can make a tender and juicy well done steak too in various ways, they need to have more patience with people. And as for the recipes, some may not be able to eat certain things within them due to allergies or possibly gives them acid reflux or even due to doctors telling them not to eat certain things as well. So again be more understand chefs you don't know what a customer could be going through.
Jen 3 years ago
With the recipes, most are premade and ready to be heated up before the restaurant opens, asking for a change means going back to the prep work that was completed hours before. I have severe allergies, if the recipe contains something Im allergic to I ORDER SOMETHING ELSE that doesnt. And if you tell them you have an allergy tbey will happily tell you want is safe on the menu.
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Melanie Kirk 3 years ago
I am not allowed to eat undercooked meat. Let me know where you work so I don't frequent your establishment. People who shame others for wanting not bloody meat are just jerks.
Jen 3 years ago
Rare isnt undercooked, it is cooked exactly to the temperature the CDC recommends to kill all pathogens.
Load More Replies... Yourname942 3 years ago
Well done steaks are genuinely the best though (to me) I've tried the same steak at different rarities and found it to be my favorite.
iseefractals 3 years ago
Chef's cook for other people. Not themselves, so ultimately when someone is paying for a meal, what you think, want and feel doesn't really matter, does it? Your job is to make what someone orders as best as it can possibly be, if it's not something that you would personally eat, well good news! YOU AREN"T THE ONE EATING IT. Sometimes people just have different taste preferences, sometimes they have allergies or just don't process certain food well or don't process them well unless cooked to a certain doneness, and sometimes some aspect of the menu is just repulsive, but the details really don't matter, because you aren't paying for the food. If you want to give it away for free, than you can do whatever you want, short of that so long as it's something reasonable...stfu and do your job.
Seedy Vine 3 years ago (edited)
I promise that well-done steak will not go to waste with me around! I just... I don't wanna get worms lol raw meat makes me paranoid https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/taeniasis/gen_info/faqs.html#:~:text=Taeniasis%20in%20humans%20is%20a,raw%20or%20undercooked%20beef%20(T.
Jen 3 years ago
The minimum temperature to kill off anything dangerous is rare - that isnt raw it is cooked just enough to prevent food poisoning without destroying the flavor or texture of the meat.
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Jen 3 years ago
A properly cooked rare steak also wont give you food poisoning, that is the temperature needed to kill all bacteria.
Load More Replies... #24
RISOTTO!
What a pain in the butt! Even though most kitchens par cook risotto to about 80% ahead of time it still takes a cook to be dedicated to finishing it without distraction. That’s why (IMO) many restaurant kitchens don’t do risotto very well. It doesn’t meld well into the workflow of a modern kitchen.
Make it at home!
The Scout 3 years ago
Risotto is more of an art form than an actual dish. You can wrap up a "fast" risotto-like rice dish in a few minutes, but a real creamy risotto takes time (unless you cheat and add things like actual cream or starch, which should never be in a risotto). Unfortunately most restaurants do not bother.
Exotic Butters 3 years ago
I LOVE RISOTTO. So quit bitchen and make it for me a smile while you do it please. You chose to be a chef
Seedy Vine 3 years ago (edited)
To me, risotto always seems like rice that never gets fully cooked, no matter how long it's on the stove.
Mario Strada 3 years ago
I never have risotto at a restaurant, especially here in the US. I prefer to make my own and by the nature of how I cook it, mine will always be superior to something that was cooked to 80% and then finished hours later. There are automated mixers for Risotto, because the hard part is the constant mixing. If I had a restaurant I'd invest in some of those and put it on the menu that it takes 45 minutes to have the risotto ready. Can't wait? Eat refried rice.
Scrapiechick 3 years ago
Being allergic to most nuts and vegan I'm surprised youd say risotto is a huge pain. If I know in advance I'll check the menu and if nothing is suitable I'll contact the restaurant before the meal, the last 3 times nothing was suitable I've been offered risotto. You dont have to spend hours adding liquid slowly, so especially if its veggie you can knock out a decent vegan/veggie risotto in about 25 minutes
#25
My answer as would be, a dish that is not often prepared alot. The more you do of one, the better it will always be. I cannot affirm one particular dish that I do not like to prepare. This is just one persons view. I love to cook.
Nimues Child 3 years ago
I cannot stop looking at the trio of food in the picture. Are the cupcakes in the middle for dogs?
Jess-a-men 3 years ago
I think they're supposed to look like chicken drumsticks.
Load More Replies... #26
Set pieces are a pain in the a**, where ‘it has to look like this’. Or s**t like “‘nightengales drowned in brandy’ served in a hood” (is a thing). But generally, BRUNCH!
Rachael Peterson 3 years ago
I looked up “‘nightingales drowned in brandy’ served in a hood’ and I’m more than slightly horrified. 🥺
Mer☕️🧭☕️ 3 years ago
It even SOUNDS horrible...definitely not going to look it up!
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#27
Traditional stews, pies and layered which are cooked in many steps.
Dishes with too many steps basically
marianne eliza 3 years ago
That's a shame. The foremost reason I go to restaurants is to have something I couldn't easily cook at home. Something complicated with infrequent or hard to get ingredients.
Anne McKinney 3 years ago
Soooo...things that are complicated? Most of those are par cooked. I suppose fast food might be in order for this chef.
#28
I asked this question to my Grandson and he said that the dishes he dislikes are the ones where the food sticks to them and that most people including his mother, prefer non stick dishes or frying pans!
Shyla Clay 3 years ago
I have Asperger's, and I hate my food touching, much less stuck together.
B 🇺🇦🇨🇦 3 years ago
I think they were talking about the actual cooking dishes themselves!
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#29
I would imagine this includes dishes either that are insanely and overly complicated , extremely simple and even fast-food, or the extremely mundane and done everywhere.
The first is well covered here.
The second you run into almost always because of kids. they have limited palates and will go to a 1-star place and dare to ask for an off-the menu thing like fish sticks or mac and cheese! They don’t yet get scallops or salmon, capers or morel mushrooms. I’ve seen them ask for a hamburger and fries in a 3-star establishment. First of all, why are parents even bringing kids into such a place. But I’m sure it peeves some cooks to make just a hamburger. You can get that at any McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy’s , Carl’s Jr, or In & Out. Worse that that, possible cooked bv some 17 year old with no culinary training. It’s an ego-killer.
The third would like ordering “Duck L’Orange” in the 1970s or Beef Tartar or Chicken al La King in the 1980s or heck anything pitched as Srirachi in the past decade. It starts off as cool and hip and a few top cooks latch onto it. The next year or two, every ‘trendy’ menu has it available. Heck, it’s like ordering ‘the souffle’ when you sit down in the 1960s. When you have 120 covers in a night and you get 90 orders for a “duck l’orange” and only 30 of the dishes you made, resentment sets in. Also, an ego-killer. The chef may soon realize “Hey, just bring some staff great at this one dish, what do you need my creativity for?”
Sarah Pierce 3 years ago
Please please please stop bringing your children to restaurants that aren't set up for them. If there's no kids menu and the normal menu isn't simple/kid friendly what makes you think anything else about the place is set up for kids? *All* the staff will be silently hating you.
Muffy Pease 3 years ago
Suggest slight pivot - perhaps do not bring children to a restaurant if one is not prepared to parent them there. Well-mannered children eating quietly and cheerfully attract positive reinforcement (and occasional gratis amuse bouches).
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Mosheh Wolf 3 years ago
Oh Americans and their hate of children" "Why are parents bringing their kids into a restaurant! Kids should be fed junk food in a fast food place and hidden where they won't bother adults with their existence". You bring kids to a restaurant so that they can learn to be adults. I also think that restaurants should get rid of "children's menus" which are nothing more than a bunch of shitty junk food for parents who let their kids run their lives.
Philipp Bubmann 3 years ago (edited)
I make myself a cheeseburger with fresh onions almost every day as a second breakfast around 11 or 12 o'clock, because I usually can only stomach a very simple bread as a first meal without getting queasy, and I don't think it's that simple of a dish. mine is certainly better than anything by mcdonalds or burger king ;) the other ones we don't have in Germany. and fries properly done and fresh are awesome, our portugese restaurant in the neighborhood makes the best
Sinkvenice 3 years ago
I saw an episode of Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares where a man made duck l'orange with orange squash/cordial. Yuck.
#30
Steak and seafood. There’s a fine line.
Seedy Vine 3 years ago
Maybe it's like cooking two entrees even though they're cooking only one, so they consider it too much work?
Powerful Musk Ox 3 years ago
Exactly, plus they have incredibly different cooking times, so timing is everything.
Load More Replies... Norman Woelk 3 years ago
This is another dumb one. If you cannot prepare steaks and seafood maybe try lawn mowing.
What do you think ?
Darth Kittius 3 years ago
I work at Subway right now. My least favorite thing to make is any Flatbread sub with meat that isn't flat, such as the steak or chicken. Heaven forbid someone ask for a meatball Flatbread. But I'll still make it, and smile while doing it, because I'm making $8.25 an hour and the only reason my paycheck is over $300 is because very kind people give me generous tips
Kendra Miller 3 years ago
I work at a German restaurant, I've heard the owners complain (there's three of them and they take turns working on the line in the kitchen) they complain about how people only ever want our schnitzel and butter potatoes, it's a neverending repetition prepping those all day every day. They try to try new things and break the monontony with their specials, but customers get difficult. Such as why is there olives in my salad? Um because you ordered a Greek schnitzel salad special? But why? It's really not that weird or hard.
Anne S. 3 years ago
As a chef, I can say the worst is when people order something that's not on the menu or used to be on the menu (years ago). We don't always have those ingredients/the prep. Or when someone comes in with a incredibly long list of "allergies" when it's really only preference. Changing lots of things out to prevent cross contamination.
Seedy Vine 3 years ago
I can never find any restaurant that will even put a knish on their menu. Are they that difficult? (I can't figure out how to do them, but then again I don't get paid to cook, either.)
Stannous Flouride 3 years ago
I concur with almost everything on the list above but what I had the hardest time was when I was asked to leave one item out of one of a signature menu item. You develop muscle memory when you do an item and aren't really conscious of what you're doing when it's busy. I once had to remake and omelet three times because they asked for one of its six ingredients to be left out.
Eunice Probert 3 years ago
So people who work in restaurants would really rather there were no diners at all?
Jacqueline Pie Francis 3 years ago
I’m a personal chef because I hated working in restaurants. Now I collaborate with the clients and make weekly menus. I don’t love it when they give me new recipes (my schedule is so is packed, and it takes more time to learn a new recipe), or when I have to make cauliflower “mash” or “rice” but even then, my job is so much fun.
Stannous Flouride 3 years ago
I did it on the road for several big name country music stars in the 1970s. I had my own portable set-up that I could use inside or out in a motel. I'd go to the next city on the tour a day ahead, check in, go shopping, and then have meals ready for them when they arrived, made paper bag lunches for musicians and crew for them while they did sound check and set up and then, after the gig, have a nice hearty meal ready for them. Only did it for a few months but it was the best cooking gig I ever had.
Load More Replies... gerard julien 3 years ago
if you are a so-called chef and don't like preparing most of these then it's time for you to get another job ! lol
Jen 3 years ago
Its kinda like potato dumplings but not served in soup, but similar consistency on the inside and served like pasta.
Load More Replies... Darth Kittius 3 years ago
I work at Subway right now. My least favorite thing to make is any Flatbread sub with meat that isn't flat, such as the steak or chicken. Heaven forbid someone ask for a meatball Flatbread. But I'll still make it, and smile while doing it, because I'm making $8.25 an hour and the only reason my paycheck is over $300 is because very kind people give me generous tips
Kendra Miller 3 years ago
I work at a German restaurant, I've heard the owners complain (there's three of them and they take turns working on the line in the kitchen) they complain about how people only ever want our schnitzel and butter potatoes, it's a neverending repetition prepping those all day every day. They try to try new things and break the monontony with their specials, but customers get difficult. Such as why is there olives in my salad? Um because you ordered a Greek schnitzel salad special? But why? It's really not that weird or hard.
Anne S. 3 years ago
As a chef, I can say the worst is when people order something that's not on the menu or used to be on the menu (years ago). We don't always have those ingredients/the prep. Or when someone comes in with a incredibly long list of "allergies" when it's really only preference. Changing lots of things out to prevent cross contamination.
Seedy Vine 3 years ago
I can never find any restaurant that will even put a knish on their menu. Are they that difficult? (I can't figure out how to do them, but then again I don't get paid to cook, either.)
Stannous Flouride 3 years ago
I concur with almost everything on the list above but what I had the hardest time was when I was asked to leave one item out of one of a signature menu item. You develop muscle memory when you do an item and aren't really conscious of what you're doing when it's busy. I once had to remake and omelet three times because they asked for one of its six ingredients to be left out.
Eunice Probert 3 years ago
So people who work in restaurants would really rather there were no diners at all?
Jacqueline Pie Francis 3 years ago
I’m a personal chef because I hated working in restaurants. Now I collaborate with the clients and make weekly menus. I don’t love it when they give me new recipes (my schedule is so is packed, and it takes more time to learn a new recipe), or when I have to make cauliflower “mash” or “rice” but even then, my job is so much fun.
Stannous Flouride 3 years ago
I did it on the road for several big name country music stars in the 1970s. I had my own portable set-up that I could use inside or out in a motel. I'd go to the next city on the tour a day ahead, check in, go shopping, and then have meals ready for them when they arrived, made paper bag lunches for musicians and crew for them while they did sound check and set up and then, after the gig, have a nice hearty meal ready for them. Only did it for a few months but it was the best cooking gig I ever had.
Load More Replies... gerard julien 3 years ago
if you are a so-called chef and don't like preparing most of these then it's time for you to get another job ! lol
Jen 3 years ago
Its kinda like potato dumplings but not served in soup, but similar consistency on the inside and served like pasta.
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