ottawa foodies

What do you do if you find a piece of hair in your food? I found one in my water and my dining companion told me to just drop it, I thought I should mention it to the server.

Do you mention it to the server, or just pretend it never happens. Does it make it a difference if you are in a pub, Franchise Resto or Fine Dining establishment?

Is it wrong that I found it to be gross and refused to eat anything else at the place? BTW, my experience happened at a pub during a Sens Game...

i always say something. if it is water, i would want a fresh glass. why would you not say anything? i would be nice about it and not approach it confrontationally. i can't imagine any establishment would expect you to ignore it and continue with your meal...

I'd want the glass of water replaced if I knew for sure it wasn't my hair, but I wouldn't expect a Royal Commission over it. Serving staff don't usually wear hair nets, and stuff happens, so no big deal. If it was in the food, that would a bigger deal since they should be wearing hair nets in the back. I think you're over-reacting by refusing to eat anything there over a hair in a glass of water, but in the end it's your decision.

I agree with hip&fun. There is however a big difference (which I think you might be asking) between complaining, yelling and screaming demanding a refund, and just politely asking for a NEW glass of water, as this one is dirty. Exactly the same for a dish with hair in it. Just politely send the plate back to the kitchen asking for a new one. If you are time constrained, ask if they can replace it with something that is immediately available. It only should become uncomfortable (to you or those around you) if you are demanding monetary reparation, instead of just trying to get the problem (no food) addressed as cleanly and quickly as possible.

Not exactly hair related, but I was recently at a Vietnamese place (that I have frequented many time) with my family and it was crazy slow. Ten minutes to get water, 45 minutes for a single order of salad rolls to arrive. This was not the whole meal. I politely asked the server why it was taking so long and got a weird brush off (she was obviously embarrassed and didn't know how to handle the situation). She was also making herself scarce. So, I approach the cashier and told them (once again politely) that I would like to pay. They seemed confused as our food had not arrived yet, but I explained that it was taking unreasonably long, and that I would pay for the salad rolls and leave. I don't think anyone should be embarrassed taking this sort of action. The staff were in a poor state (I don't care why) and I certainly wasn't going to wait and just get more and more angry. I was approached before leaving by both wait staff that seemed to offer some incomprehensible ( as in I understood the words, but couldn't figure out if it was an apology, or an explanation, or both, or neither ) but just said simply that I did not want to wait, and was leaving. My son was unhappy that he didn't get a fortune cookie, but what can you do.

I have had this sort of thing happen before at various places (very rarely) and most often the place comps then entire order, but it was not my intention, nor desire to get a 'reward' for my unhappiness... I find that a most counterintuitive reward system...

Pete: I also had a very similar experience at a Vietnamese restaurant.Service was really slow. MY friend and I were the only customer. I wonder if it is same place.

I would tell a server if I find hair in my food.
Cook should wear hairnet. Hair is not food, unless you have some kind of fetish...It reminds me my country a little, there are so many "kinky" food available.

My mom-in-law had a terrible experience regarding "hair in food."
It happened long time ago, when my hubby was 10.
Mom, pa, and my husband went to a famous steak house in Ottawa for dinner.
Mom was enjoying her steak, and after she ate half of the steak, she found a big chunk of hair ball, size of a small mouse under the steak. It was human hair, it seemed like someone removed hair from a comb or hair brush and tucked it under the steak on purpose. Poor mom screamed and almost passed out when she saw it. Pa and my hubby got really sick by seeing it.
Restaurant manager came and apologized, he also offered free meal and a coupon for the next visit, but they never returned.

Before getting into culinary, I would keep my mouth shut and not eat the food. AND I was younger. But it depends what type of food I'm eating and how it's fused with my food. Fast foods, I would just throw it out since I would probably "refund" (bleh) a replacement if I tried to eat it.

With dinners and such, I would bring it to the attention to the server and hope they replace it or (I hope this rarely happens) take the hair out and make it LOOK like it's new. I realize some places are tight for budget... that's as much as I want to say about that.
I've had an insect in a chinese dish one time and I'm pretty sure they just took it out because they brought it out very quickly. I did NOT eat it. My friends still ate it though. The restaurant was not a high classy place, but still.

That brings up the question...what did the server expect me to do? Just take it out myself and NOT complain?

This reminded me of a story I heard of. Two university students ordered lobsters at a Chinese restaurant on Somerset. These two students found a bug (likely cockroach) when they almost finished half of the lobster dish. They told the server about the bug. The server's response was "You already ate half of the lobster and you have to pay regardless". The two students refused and the server told other staff to lock the door and threatened to call police. My friend happened to be there. On his way out, he told these students quietly "Just wrap that bug and the portion of the food and report to the Health Department tomorrow." My friend told me that the two students paid and didn't know if they reported to Ottawa's health unit.

I just sometimes can't understand why the owner would allow the server to be so rude to their customers.

ASHLEY - That kind of threat ...locking the door and calling police... seems empty IMO. I'm sure the police would side with the students. If not, then worse comes to worse, pay and take the food to Health Department.

This type of situation seems sticky though. I can assume a lot of people will eat half the food and stick a bug in it just to get out of paying the bill. Intentional or not, it's disgusting either way.

Mine was an earwig. And I doubt it was part of the dish.

I guess I'm a lot less squeamish than most people: if I found a hair in my food, I'd probably just pull it out and keep eating. If I found a few hairs, I would definitely say something, but a single hair? No big deal. We're covered in hair; it's not surprising that one might accidentally wander into our food from time to time, and it's not like the people in the back are teeming with filth and disease (I hope not - if they were, a hair would be the least of my concerns :D).

Then again, I live with a husband, a large dog, and three cats. No matter how often vacuuming is done, everything has a hair in it at my house. I can take a sealed bottle of juice from the fridge and by the time it's opened seconds later, it's got three hairs in it. :D

I've pulled out hairs a few times, and just kept eating. Much for the same reasons as vorpal - it really is not the end of the world.

I guess it would also depend on the place - if it were some fancy-pants place I'd say something for sure. But nonetheless I'd be hesitant to send it back because I hate to see stuff go to waste.

I think it would depend on the TYPE of hair... if you know what I mean...

I....ah....know what you mean all TOO WELL Chimichimi. Not a pleasant experience.